Slang dictionary
cock-block
[kok blok]
What does cock-block mean?
Cock-blocking听is the action of preventing someone (usually a man) from having sex by intentionally or unintentionally stopping (blocking) someone else’s cock听from reaching its intended destination. This behavior could be driven by jealousy, competition, genuine concern for one of the people involved, or simple obliviousness.
The person who does the blocking may be called a听cock-block or a听cock-blocker.
Where does cock-block come from?
In 1990,听Run DMC and Kid Rock both rapped about people trying to cock-block them. By the next year, the term was common enough to show up in an English-to-Italian dictionary of slang.
For a guy to cock-block another guy is generally considered bad form. The action is condemned in a 2010s book of “Man Rules” called听The ComMANdments.听A writer in 1994 described a hand signal for committing the foul, like the incomplete pass signal from football but in front of his crotch.听
Women also like to have sex, in case you didn’t know, and find interference just as annoying. Some women may still call the action a听cock-block, in this case being prevented from receiving the cock. Many other names have been suggested for the female equivalent, which is also useful for pairings that don’t involve a cock. Some examples include: clam jam, twat swat, box out, or beaver dam.
In 2015, a comedy sketch on听Inside Amy Schumer featured a humanoid rooster (get it?), a personified听cock block听who walks around a bar ruining guys’ chances with women. The cock’s over-the-top personality seems to paint the whole idea of cock-blocking as absurd.
Riffing on the same cock/rooster idea, in the 2017 board game听Cock Block players are roosters trying to score “chicks” (actually hens) while blocking each other.
The 2018 comedy movie听Blockers features three girls trying to lose their virginity on prom night while their parents try to block them. In case the title wasn’t obvious enough, the posters featured the silhouette of a rooster.
Examples of cock-block
Who uses cock-block?
The desire to not be seen as a cock-block听may have unintended consequences. A 2011 paper on sexual violence noted that social norms around听cock-blocking may make male bystanders less likely to intervene in potentially abusive situations. An anti-sexual assault group called the Girl Code Movement (脿 la Man Rules or Bro Code), offers sexual assault prevention tips under the heading “Cock Block Tips.”
Of course, cock blocking听people who do mutually want to have consensual sex is still pretty annoying. Due to their innocence, kids are especially good at unintentionally doing this to their parents.听Women’s Health even published a whole article of stories from parents who got听cock-blocked by their kids.听And, someone even wrote a 2016 faux-children’s book about it called听.
Cock-blocking can also be metaphorical, a colorful or humorous way to say “interfere.” In his 2012 song “,” for example, Macklemore hopes that “the soundman doesn’t cockblock the drums.”
Big boobs are the biggest cockblock for cute clothes
— vanessa 馃悵 (@VanessaVartuli)
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of cock-block like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of cock-block that will help our users expand their word mastery.