*blank*

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 ]

n. The state of being blank. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ . }[ 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 ]

n. [ F. point point + blanc white. ] 1. The white spot on a target, at which an arrow or other missile is aimed. [ Obs. ] Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mil.) (a) With all small arms, the second point in which the natural line of sight, when horizontal, cuts the trajectory. (b) With artillery, the point where the projectile first strikes the horizontal plane on which the gun stands, the axis of the piece being horizontal. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Directed in a line toward the object aimed at; aimed directly toward the mark. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence, direct; plain; unqualified; -- said of language; as, a point-blank assertion. [ 1913 Webster ]

Point-blank range, the extent of the apparent right line of a ball discharged. --
Point-blank shot, the shot of a gun pointed directly toward the object to be hit. [ 1913 Webster ]