block out
verb1
to prevent from entering or penetrating.
- High-factor suncream blocks out the sun's rays.
- First Class has curtains throughout, and they are sturdy, dark and block out the light very well.2019 October 23, Pip Dunn, “The next king of Scotland”, in Rail, page 51:
2
Idiomatic to prevent (a thought) from entering one's mind.
- After finding out she had terminal cancer, she tried to block out any thoughts of her own mortality.
- Wow, way to go, baby! I gotta block out how much better you are than me...2004, Intelligent Systems, translated by Nintendo of America, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Nintendo, GameCube, level/area: Glitzville:
3
to cover something, so as to make it impossible to see.
4
to begin to reduce to shape; to mark out roughly; to lay out.
- to block out a plan