n. [ F. blanchet, OF. also blanket, a woolen waistcoat or shirt, the blanket of a printing press; prop. white woolen stuff, dim. of blanc white; blanquette a kind of white pear, fr. blanc white. See Blank, a. ] 1. A heavy, loosely woven fabric, usually of wool, and having a nap, used in bed clothing; also, a similar fabric used as a robe; or any fabric used as a cover for a horse. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Print.) A piece of rubber, felt, or woolen cloth, used in the tympan to make it soft and elastic. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A streak or layer of blubber in whales. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The use of blankets formerly as curtains in theaters explains the following figure of Shakespeare. Nares. [ 1913 Webster ]

Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark
To cry, “Hold, hold!” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Blanket sheet, a newspaper of folio size. --
A wet blanket, anything which damps, chills, dispirits, or discour&unr_;ges. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blanketed; p. pr. & vb. n. Blanketing. ] 1. To cover with a blanket. [ 1913 Webster ]

I'll . . . blanket my loins. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To toss in a blanket by way of punishment. [ 1913 Webster ]

We'll have our men blanket 'em i' the hall. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To take the wind out of the sails of (another vessel) by sailing to windward of her. [ 1913 Webster ]

Blanket cattle. See Belted cattle, under Belted. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Law) A clause, as in a blanket mortgage or policy, that includes a group or class of things, rather than a number mentioned individually and having the burden, loss, or the like, apportioned among them. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. 1. Cloth for blankets. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act or punishment of tossing in a blanket. [ 1913 Webster ]

That affair of the blanketing happened to thee for the fault thou wast guilty of. Smollett. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ or }. One that covers a group or class of things or properties instead of one or more things mentioned individually, as where a mortgage secures various debts as a group, or subjects a group or class of different pieces of property to one general lien. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

. A buttonhole stitch worked wide apart on the edge of material, as blankets, too thick to hem. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

{ . }[ From Mackinac, the State of Michigan, where blankets and other stores were distributed to the Indians. ] 1. A thick blanket formerly in common use in the western part of the United States. [ wns=2 ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. a heavy woolen cloth heavily napped and felted, often with a plaid design. [ wns=4 ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]