on the block—(coll.)
1. offered for sale (at an auction):
- The Seattle radio station has been on the block for a year with no offers to buy it.
2. at risk; in serious and threatening situation:
- Her reputation is on the block now, and it’s nobody’s fault but hers.
Cf.: put one’s head on the block—risk one’s reputation or position when taking a particular course of action:
- When the Prime Minister called a by-election, he put his head on the block.
Note: The expression does not fully correlate in meaning with the phrase on the chopping block— = on the block 2:
- Our whole future is on the chopping block now.
on the blocks—
1. said of runners or swimmers positioned on their starting blocks prior to the starting signal:
- When standing on the blocks waiting for the gun to go off, it all boils down to what one’s body can do.
2. ready and waiting to start an activity:
- If it were a question of replacing a man or a pony, the management would sooner replace a man because there were so many other men up on the blocks, waiting for a job.