bloc

[blok] /blɒk/
noun
1.
a group of persons, businesses, etc., united for a particular purpose.
2.
a group of legislators, usually of both major political parties, who vote together for some particular interest:
the farm bloc.
3.
a group of nations that share common interests and usually act in concert in international affairs:
the Soviet bloc.
Origin
1900-05; < French; see block
Can be confused
bloc, block.
Synonyms
coalition.
Examples from the web for bloc
  • Few farm-bloc legislators made the connection between farm policy and the obesity epidemic.
  • Our world is choc a bloc with stuff you do not find in space.
  • More likely, they're kowtowing to their campaign contributors and voting bloc.
  • Goa is choc-a-bloc with places to stay, spanning all price brackets.
  • Progress in this country depends upon maneuvering around this solid bloc of recalcitrant dunces.
  • It is the first under the bloc's overhauled structure.
  • These voters are expected to make up a significant voting bloc for the candidate.
  • McCloskey's mercantile insistence on guarding trade secrets has put him at odds with another bloc within the wine establishment.
  • Yet the board has some power, as last week's vote showed, and a determinedly ideological bloc can organise accordingly.
  • Their spirited exchange, in a battleground state where seniors are a key voting bloc, was telling.
British Dictionary definitions for bloc

bloc

/blɒk/
noun
1.
a group of people or countries combined by a common interest or aim: the Soviet bloc
Word Origin
C20: from French: block
Word Origin and History for bloc
n.

1903, in reference to alliances in Continental politics, from French bloc "group, block," from Old French bloc "piece of wood" (see block (n.)).