gapers' block
- noun
- /ˈɡeɪpərz blɑk/
- Literature
:
congestión por mirones
- The car accident caused a significant gapers' block on the highway, as drivers slowed down to see what happened.
Examples
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As the fire truck passed, a gapers' block formed, with many vehicles creeping along to catch a glimpse.
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The parade created a gapers' block every time it reached an intersection, as onlookers stopped to take photos.
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You're in the middle of a gaper's block.
Synonyms
35
1.0
Many cars are stuck and move very slowly on a road
1
2.1
A time when cars and other vehicles move slowly and sometimes stop because of heavy traffic or an accident
How Severe
Surface Forms
Morphology
gapers' + block
The phrase is compositional: 'gapers'' denotes people who gape or stare at a spectacle and 'block' denotes an obstruction or traffic stoppage. A learner who knows those constituent meanings and the possessive construction can infer that it refers to a traffic slowdown caused by gawking drivers, so the sense is directly derivable even if the compound is somewhat regional or rare.
Etymology
Gapers' block comes from the picture of drivers who gape, that is, 'stare with their mouths open', and so make a block of cars. So the phrase describes a traffic jam caused when drivers 'slow down to look' at an accident or other event.