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wood block

wood block

1 4.8
A block of wood with a carved design used to make prints on paper or cloth
  • noun
  • /wʊd blɑk/
translation icon : bloque de madera
  • In traditional art, a wood block is often used to produce multiple prints of the same design.
  • a wood block print
  • use wood blocks

And so it's not the same amount of ink transferred from the wood block to the paper.

Examples

  • Primitive movable type, usually in the form of wood blocks, existed before Gutenberg.

    Academic text (2005)
  • What that means is they are carving a wood block print that was already carved once back in the old days.

  • Girls arrived, put their food on the table, and painted a wood block.

    Blog text (24)
  • And so it's not the same amount of ink transferred from the wood block to the paper.

  • And that design is then carved into wood blocks and printed into a print.

  • Two exquisite wood-block prints are hanging over the bed.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • It is actually difficult to find wood blocks in toy stores in today's high-tech world.

    Academic text (2007)
  • The allure of wood blocks goes back for centuries, and all children (and most adults!) spontaneously begin to play with them as soon as they see them.

    Academic text (2007)
  • After the initial dyeing, subsequent colors are applied by hand using felt-padded wood blocks, resulting in a slight overlapping and misalignment of color areas.

    Academic text (1994)
  • The artist used a carved wood block to create an intricate pattern on the fabric.

Synonyms

woodcut
vswood block
4 6.5

A picture printed from a carved block of wood or the carved block itself

refers only to the carved piece pressed to print images
woodblock
vswood block
1 4.0

A carved block of wood used to print pictures onto paper or cloth

has the same meaning but is written as two separate words
line block
vswood block
  • Specialized
9.5

A piece of wood or metal cut to print pictures made mostly of lines

is a carved piece pressed to transfer images rather than an etched plate

Surface Forms

wood block singular
wood blocks plural

Morphology

wood + block

The compound is partly compositional: a B1 learner who knows 'wood' and 'block' will readily infer it denotes a block made of wood. However, the specific specialised sense of a carved printing block (used to print images or patterns) is narrower and usage-specific, so that functional meaning is not fully predictable without exposure.

Etymology

Wood block comes from a simple, old printing tool: an artist cut a design into a piece of wood called a block, put ink on it and pressed it onto paper. That's why 'wood block' means 'a block of wood with a design cut into it that is used to print images'.