Chock

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /tʃɒk/

Definitions

1. A wedge or block placed to prevent something from moving ; to fill a space fully and tightly without room to spare
2. Something used to lock or stop movement by blockage ; to pack tightly so that nothing else can be added
3. An object set as a stopper to keep an item in place ; to squeeze or cram into a space completely

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "chock" is that it is a doublet of "stock": both descend from one ancient Germanic word for a stick or piece of wood. The Proto-Germanic "stukkaz meant "stick, stock, piece of wood," and it was borrowed into Gaulish, the Celtic language of ancient Gaul, as "tsukka. Forms of that Celtic word survive in Breton "soc'h," meaning "thick," and in Old Irish "tócht," meaning "part, piece." The French version, "çouche," meant "block, log," and reached English through Anglo-Norman "choque." The sense of a wooden block became the sense of a block used to stop something moving. A chock is a wedge placed under a wheel or barrel to hold it still, and the idea of blocking movement carried over into the second meaning, packing something so tightly that nothing more can fit. Middle English may have had a form "chokke," as in the word "chokkefull," meaning "chock-full."

Synonyms: stopper, block, wedge, plug, filler