Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
💾 Unusable storage ⛓️ Invalid blockchain data
bad block

bad block

7.5
A block in a blockchain that the network computers do not accept because it breaks the rules
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : bloque inválido
  • The node discarded the bad block after validation failed because it contained invalid transactions.

Examples

  • Miners quickly rejected the bad block, and the network continued building the honest chain.

  • After discovering a malformed header, the client logged the bad block and refused to relay it.

  • The bad block caused issues.

  • What is a bad block?

  • The node discarded the bad block after validation failed because it contained invalid transactions.

  • Miners quickly rejected the bad block, and the network continued building the honest chain.

  • After discovering a malformed header, the client logged the bad block and refused to relay it.

How Valid

staleness
  • Specialized
6.1
bad block
  • Specialized
7.5

Surface Forms

bad block singular
bad blocks plural

Morphology

bad + block

The meaning is directly compositional: 'bad' (defective) + 'block' (a unit) yields 'a block that is defective or invalid', which matches the blockchain sense of failing validation. Although the specific technical sense of 'block' (in distributed ledgers) requires domain exposure, the overall interpretation is literal and predictable from the constituents, so a B1 learner who knows both words can reasonably infer the meaning.

Etymology

Bad block in blockchain comes from thinking of the chain as a line of toy blocks where one block can be 'bad' or wrong and not fit with the others, like a block with the wrong shape. That's why a 'bad block' is a block the network refuses to accept.