blockage and blockade

[longsongjia]

They both mean act of blocking, right?

I look them up in the dictionary.com. It seems to me that blockade refers to certain specific blockage.

But I am still confused over the difference. Could anyone tell me of the differece between those two words, please?

 

[Matching Mole]

Blockade is only used in certain special circumstances. Chiefly, the blocking of a port, harbour, or similar place to prevent movement of shipping or other transport, usually during a war. There are other lesser known uses, particularly in US English (e.g. a stoppage on the railroad system).

Blockage is used more generally, such as a blockage in plumbing, tubing, or in the body, such as in the windpipe.

 

[mouri]

Hello,

The medical term blockage means some kind of obstruction or clogging, e.g. blockage of veins, intestine, urethra etc, whereas the term blockade is used in relation to ligands, for example cholinergic blockade, which is manifested by the binding of a pharmacologic antagonist to the cholinergic receptor, resulting in blocking the active site of the receptor where the cholinergic agonist is supposed to bind.

I guess that means blockage is used in a broad sense of terms whereas the term blockade is used at molecular level. Hope this helps.

Thanks.

 

[longsongjia]

I actually saw both the words on the same page of a medical book so that I was confused about the usage. Thanks for clearing it up.