I feel terrible: I hit it off with someone I've never met before and we text each other dozens of times a day. But then they start replying less and less. And then it tapers off completely. I wonder if they've blocked me.

The answer is, "Maybe." If you're looking for a definitive way to know if someone has blocked your phone number, the bad news is that it hasn't. The good news (well, as good as any news about this situation is) is that there are some tried and true methods you can use to make a reasonably good guess.

If you're worried that someone is blocking your number, here are three simple ways to test that proposition. And this goes without saying, but if someone has blocked you: for the love of all that is good and holy, leave them alone. I promise you that any attempt to invade their privacy will only make the situation worse.

If you call someone who has blocked your phone number, you will not receive any sort of notification about it. However, your ringtone/voicemail pattern will not work properly. If you call an unblocked number, you will hear three to twelve rings and a voicemail prompt. Alternatively, if the other party's phone is turned off or already busy, it will go straight to voicemail.

Blocked numbers work a little differently. After one ring tone, the caller will immediately go to voicemail. You are free to leave a voicemail, but it will not go directly to the recipient's inbox. Instead, there is a separate location for voicemails from blocked numbers. (How you access it depends on the type of call and has little to do with this article.)

Basically, if you get a lot of ringtones or immediate voicemail, it may not be blocked. If you get one ringtone and then a voicemail prompt, it is probably blocked.

Another thing to watch for is a pre-recorded message that the number is "unavailable." The exact message will vary depending on the recipient's wireless carrier, but if the number is unavailable, especially if other phones can reach that number, your number is almost certainly blocked.

Text messages can provide some clues as to whether the other party has blocked you, but it is a more reliable method on iOS than on Android. on iOS, after you send a text, there are usually two notifications right below the message of two notifications: "Delivered" or "Read." The former means that your text message has been sent but has not yet been read by the recipient. The latter is self-explanatory.

However, if they have blocked you, neither notification will appear. Instead, there is just a blank space below your text.

Being blocked is not the only reason why notifications do not appear. If a user has their phone in Do Not Disturb mode, they will not receive any notifications until they turn that option off. However, if nothing appears after a few days, you can consider blocking the most likely explanation.

However, if you and/or your intended recipient have an Android phone, the process is much less straightforward. Some Android phones have this feature, some do not; some message reception works perfectly with iOS, some do not; if you have an Android phone, your best bet is to just send a text and hope you get a reply.

Sometimes the simplest solution is really the best. If you think you've been blocked, try calling the person's phone number from another phone. You can use your work phone or borrow a friend's phone. The important thing to remember is that if you cannot reach the person on your own phone, but you can reach them on another phone, they are most likely blocked.

Try this sequence: Choose a time when the person is likely to be available. Call their cell phone. See what happens. Then immediately call another phone. Just check how long it takes to get to voicemail.

Best case scenario: you can talk to the person and find out why they don't want to take your call. (If they hang up immediately, you will also know why.) Worst case scenario: you spend the rest of your life with the mystery of whether or not you were blocked.

Still, when you get down to it, it is not the worst mystery in the world. Whether they have blocked your calls forever or blocked them completely, the end result is the same. Your best bet is usually to honor it and try again in a few months to see if the situation has calmed down.