"gapers' block" meaning in All languages combined

See gapers' block on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

Forms: gapers' blocks [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun|head=gapers' block}} gapers' block (plural gapers' blocks)
  1. (chiefly US and Canada, idiomatic) A traffic jam resulting from motorists slowing to look at a motor vehicle collision or other roadside distraction. Tags: Canada, US, idiomatic Categories (topical): Road transport Synonyms: gawkers' block, gawker blocker, gapers block Related terms: rubbernecking, train wreck Translations (traffic jam resulting from motorists slowing to look at a motor vehicle collision or other roadside distraction): kijkfile [feminine] (Dutch), efecto mirón [masculine] (Spanish), tittkö [common-gender] (Swedish)

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "gapers' blocks",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "head": "gapers' block"
      },
      "expansion": "gapers' block (plural gapers' blocks)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Canadian English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Dutch translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Swedish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Road transport",
          "orig": "en:Road transport",
          "parents": [
            "Transport",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1967 March 10, “Above It All”, in Time:",
          "text": "In the lingo of the traffic reporters, \"gapers' block\" is a tie-up caused by motorists slowing down to gape at an accident.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2001, \"Rocky Road Rocky Mountain National Park boasts as ear-popping drive full of peak experiences,\" Wichita Eagle (Kansas), 25 Mar., p. 1G",
          "text": "In the pretty, tranquil valley, elk were feeding just off the highway, creating a gapers block."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A traffic jam resulting from motorists slowing to look at a motor vehicle collision or other roadside distraction."
      ],
      "id": "en-gapers'_block-en-noun-HM4NrKBz",
      "links": [
        [
          "traffic jam",
          "traffic jam"
        ],
        [
          "motorist",
          "motorist"
        ],
        [
          "motor vehicle",
          "motor vehicle"
        ],
        [
          "collision",
          "collision"
        ],
        [
          "roadside",
          "roadside"
        ],
        [
          "distraction",
          "distraction"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly US and Canada, idiomatic) A traffic jam resulting from motorists slowing to look at a motor vehicle collision or other roadside distraction."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "rubbernecking"
        },
        {
          "word": "train wreck"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "gawkers' block"
        },
        {
          "word": "gawker blocker"
        },
        {
          "word": "gapers block"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US",
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "traffic jam resulting from motorists slowing to look at a motor vehicle collision or other roadside distraction",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "kijkfile"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "traffic jam resulting from motorists slowing to look at a motor vehicle collision or other roadside distraction",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "efecto mirón"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "traffic jam resulting from motorists slowing to look at a motor vehicle collision or other roadside distraction",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "tittkö"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "gapers' block"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "gapers' blocks",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "head": "gapers' block"
      },
      "expansion": "gapers' block (plural gapers' blocks)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "rubbernecking"
    },
    {
      "word": "train wreck"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "Canadian English",
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Terms with Dutch translations",
        "Terms with Spanish translations",
        "Terms with Swedish translations",
        "en:Road transport"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1967 March 10, “Above It All”, in Time:",
          "text": "In the lingo of the traffic reporters, \"gapers' block\" is a tie-up caused by motorists slowing down to gape at an accident.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2001, \"Rocky Road Rocky Mountain National Park boasts as ear-popping drive full of peak experiences,\" Wichita Eagle (Kansas), 25 Mar., p. 1G",
          "text": "In the pretty, tranquil valley, elk were feeding just off the highway, creating a gapers block."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A traffic jam resulting from motorists slowing to look at a motor vehicle collision or other roadside distraction."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "traffic jam",
          "traffic jam"
        ],
        [
          "motorist",
          "motorist"
        ],
        [
          "motor vehicle",
          "motor vehicle"
        ],
        [
          "collision",
          "collision"
        ],
        [
          "roadside",
          "roadside"
        ],
        [
          "distraction",
          "distraction"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly US and Canada, idiomatic) A traffic jam resulting from motorists slowing to look at a motor vehicle collision or other roadside distraction."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "gawkers' block"
    },
    {
      "word": "gawker blocker"
    },
    {
      "word": "gapers block"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "traffic jam resulting from motorists slowing to look at a motor vehicle collision or other roadside distraction",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "kijkfile"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "traffic jam resulting from motorists slowing to look at a motor vehicle collision or other roadside distraction",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "efecto mirón"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "traffic jam resulting from motorists slowing to look at a motor vehicle collision or other roadside distraction",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "tittkö"
    }
  ],
  "word": "gapers' block"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.