block booking

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable or uncountablebusiness

   The reservation of a large number of seats, rooms or tickets at once, usually by a group.

   Grammar: Can be a block booking or just block booking.

   Patterns

   • a block booking of something
   • make a block booking

   The company made a block booking of thirty hotel rooms for the conference.

   A block booking usually earns a discount.

   The school arranged a block booking for the theater matinee.

2. 2noununcountablespecialist

   The practice of a film distributor selling a group of films together to cinemas, forcing them to take weaker ones to get the best ones.

   Grammar: Used without an in this sense: block booking was banned.

   Patterns

   • block booking of films

   Block booking forced cinemas to show films they did not want.

   The courts ruled that block booking limited competition.

   Early Hollywood studios used block booking to control theaters.

Word forms

Common combinations

make a block booking

The club made a block booking for the match.

block booking discount

The hotel offered a block booking discount.

cancel a block booking

He had to cancel the block booking at short notice.

block booking of seats

A block booking of seats will be held for staff.

hotel block booking

A hotel block booking gives wedding guests lower prices.

Synonyms and how they differ

group booking

Group booking is the plainer everyday phrase and has no film meaning.

bulk booking

Bulk booking stresses the large quantity, while block booking suggests a connected set of seats or rooms.

reservation

Reservation is any booking, so it does not suggest large numbers.

Opposites

Word family

book verb

to reserve in advance

booking noun

a reservation

block noun

a large group of things together

rebook verb

to book again

Commonly confused: block booking or blockbuster?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “block booking”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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