Cockblock

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To intervene or act in a way that stops someone from successfully engaging with a potential romantic or sexual partner
2. To obstruct or hinder another person's attempt to connect with someone they are interested in romantically or sexually
3. To block or interrupt someone’s efforts to establish a romantic or sexual interaction with another person

Etymology: "Cockblock" is a compound of "cock," in its slang sense of the penis, and "block," meaning to obstruct. The verb's core sense is to stand in the way of someone trying to get together with a person they desire, and the image is literal: a body placed in the path of another man's advance. The word appears to have been formed as a back-formation from "cockblocker," the agent noun for someone who does this. That is, speakers first made "cockblocker" and then the verb was derived by dropping the "-er" ending. The earliest known use dates to around 1972, and the word belongs to the informal slang of the period, which is why it has stayed firmly in casual speech rather than entering formal writing.

Synonyms: interfere, prevent, obstruct, hinder, block