a. [ OE. blank, blonc, blaunc, blaunche, fr. F. blanc, fem. blanche, fr. OHG. blanch shining, bright, white, G. blank; akin to E. blink, cf. also AS. blanc white. &unr_;98. See Blink, and cf. 1st Blanch. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Of a white or pale color; without color. [ 1913 Webster ]

To the blank moon
Her office they prescribed. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Free from writing, printing, or marks; having an empty space to be filled in with some special writing; -- said of checks, official documents, etc.; as, blank paper; a blank check; a blank ballot. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Utterly confounded or discomfited. [ 1913 Webster ]

Adam . . . astonied stood, and blank. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Empty; void; without result; fruitless; as, a blank space; a blank day. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Lacking characteristics which give variety; as, a blank desert; a blank wall; destitute of interests, affections, hopes, etc.; as, to live a blank existence; destitute of sensations; as, blank unconsciousness. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Lacking animation and intelligence, or their associated characteristics, as expression of face, look, etc.; expressionless; vacant. “Blank and horror-stricken faces.” C. Kingsley. [ 1913 Webster ]

The blank . . . glance of a half returned consciousness. G. Eliot. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Absolute; downright; unmixed; as, blank terror. [ 1913 Webster ]

Blank bar (Law), a plea put in to oblige the plaintiff in an action of trespass to assign the certain place where the trespass was committed; -- called also common bar. --
Blank cartridge, a cartridge containing no ball. --
Blank deed. See Deed. --
Blank door, or
Blank window (Arch.), a depression in a wall of the size of a door or window, either for symmetrical effect, or for the more convenient insertion of a door or window at a future time, should it be needed. --
Blank indorsement (Law), an indorsement which omits the name of the person in whose favor it is made; it is usually made by simply writing the name of the indorser on the back of the bill. --
Blank line (Print.), a vacant space of the breadth of a line, on a printed page; a line of quadrats. --
Blank tire (Mech.), a tire without a flange. --
Blank tooling. See Blind tooling, under Blind. --
Blank verse. See under Verse. --
Blank wall, a wall in which there is no opening; a dead wall. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Any void space; a void space on paper, or in any written instrument; an interval void of consciousness, action, result, etc; a void. [ 1913 Webster ]

I can not write a paper full, I used to do; and yet I will not forgive a blank of half an inch from you. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

From this time there ensues a long blank in the history of French legislation. Hallam. [ 1913 Webster ]

I was ill. I can't tell how long -- it was a blank. G. Eliot. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A lot by which nothing is gained; a ticket in a lottery on which no prize is indicated. [ 1913 Webster ]

In Fortune's lottery lies
A heap of blanks, like this, for one small prize. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A paper unwritten; a paper without marks or characters a blank ballot; -- especially, a paper on which are to be inserted designated items of information, for which spaces are left vacant; a bland form. [ 1913 Webster ]

The freemen signified their approbation by an inscribed vote, and their dissent by a blank. Palfrey. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A paper containing the substance of a legal instrument, as a deed, release, writ, or execution, with spaces left to be filled with names, date, descriptions, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The point aimed at in a target, marked with a white spot; hence, the object to which anything is directed. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let me still remain
The true blank of thine eye. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Aim; shot; range. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I have stood . . . within the blank of his displeasure
For my free speech. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. A kind of base silver money, first coined in England by Henry V., and worth about 8 pence; also, a French coin of the seventeenth century, worth about 4 pence. Nares. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Mech.) A piece of metal prepared to be made into something by a further operation, as a coin, screw, nuts. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. (Dominoes) A piece or division of a piece, without spots; as, the “double blank”; the “six blank.” [ 1913 Webster ]

In blank, with an essential portion to be supplied by another; as, to make out a check in blank. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blanked p. pr. & vb. n. Blanking. ] [ Cf. 3d Blanch. ] 1. To make void; to annul. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To blanch; to make blank; to damp the spirits of; to dispirit or confuse. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Each opposite that blanks the face of joy. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. ]

adv. 1. In a blank manner; without expression; vacuously; as, to stare blankly. G. Eliot. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Directly; flatly; point blank. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]