blank

comparative blanker · comparative more blank · superlative blankest · superlative most blank

1. archaicWhite or pale; without colour.

   To the blanc Moone / Her office they preſcrib'd,

   1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 656–657

2. Free from writing, printing, or marks; having an empty space to be filled in.

   a blank CD

   4 more examples

   blank paper

   a blank check

   a blank ballot

   Referee Michael Oliver failed to detect a foul in a crowded box and the Canaries escaped down the tunnel with the scoreline still blank.

   2011 December 27, Mike Henson, “Norwich 0 - 2 Tottenham”, in BBC Sport

3. figurativelyLacking characteristics which give variety; uniform.

   Not a cloud in the blank blue sky.

   1 more example

   a blank desert; a blank wall; blank unconsciousness

4. Abject; absolute; complete; downright; sheer; utter.

   a blank refusal to cooperate

   1 more example

   There was a look of blank terror on his face.

5. figurativelyWithout expression, usually because of incomprehension.

   a blank glassy look

   1 more example

   Failing to understand the question, he gave me a blank stare.

6. Utterly confounded or discomfited.

   Adam […] Aſtonied ſtood and Blank,

   1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 888–890

7. Empty; void; without result; fruitless; futile.

   a blank day

8. Devoid of thoughts, memory, or inspiration.

   The shock left his memory blank.

9. governmentOf ammunition: having propellant but no bullets; unbulleted.

   The recruits were issued blank rounds for a training exercise.

plural blanks

1. archaichistoricalobsoleteA small French coin, originally of silver, afterwards of copper, worth 5 deniers; also a silver coin of Henry V current in the parts of France then held by the English, worth about 8 pence.First known use 15th–17th century

   Whosoeuer brought a fagot before the kynges tent, he shulde haue a blanke of Fraunce.

   1523, Jean Froissart, transl. by John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners, Cronycles of Englande, Fraunce etc.

2. obsoleteA nonplus.
3. The white spot in the centre of a target; hence (figuratively) the object to which anything is directed or aimed, the range of such aim.First known use since the 16th century

   Kent. See better, Lear, and let me still remain / The true blank of thine eye. (Act I, scene 2)

   1606, William Shakespeare, King Lear

   1 more example

   Des. […] And stood within the blank of his displeasure / For my free speech! (Act III, scene 11)

   1603, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice

4. A lot by which nothing is gained; a ticket in a lottery on which no prize is indicated.

   […] and in Fortune's Lottery lies / A heap of Blanks, like this, for one ſmall Prize.

   1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, Thomas Creech, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC, page 257

5. An empty space; a void, for example on a paper.
   1. A space to be filled in on a form or template.First known use since the 16th century

      Write your answers in the blanks.

   2. Provisional words printed in italics (instead of blank spaces) in a bill before Parliament, being matters of practical detail, of which the final form is to be settled in committee.First known use since the 16th century
6. USA document, paper, or form with spaces left blank to be filled in at the pleasure of the person to whom it is given (e.g. a blank charter, ballot, form, contract, etc.), or as the event may determine; a blank form.First known use since the 16th century

   […] and the freemen signified their approbation by an inscribed vote, and their dissent by a blank.

   1859, John Gorham Palfrey, History of New England, volume 1

   1. USAn empty form without substance; anything insignificant; nothing at all.
   2. USAn unprinted leaf of a book.
7. literatureBlank verse.First known use since the 16th century

   Synonyms: blank cartridge, blank bullet

8. A piece of material roughly cut, forged, cast, etc. to the size and shape of the thing to be made, and ready for the finishing operations; (coining) the disc of metal before stamping.
   1. engineeringAny article of glass on which subsequent processing is required.First known use since the 16th century
   2. electric recordingengineeringThe shaved wax ready for placing on a recording machine for making wax records with a stylus.First known use since the 16th century
9. figurativelyA vacant space, place, or period; a void.

   Du. And what's her hiſtory? Vio. A blanke my Lord:

   c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv], page 263, column 1

10. The ¹ / ₂₃₀₄₀₀ of a grain.
11. An empty space in one's memory; a forgotten item or memory.

    “I was ill. I can't tell how long — it was a blank. […]”

    1863, George Eliot, Romola

    2 more examples

    My head is so ill that I cannot write a paper full as I used to do; and yet I will not forgive a blank of half an inch from you.

    1736, Jonathan Swift, Letters

    From this time there ensues a long blank in the history of French legislation.

    1818, Henry Hallam, View of the State of Europe During the Middle Ages

12. A dash written in place of an omitted letter or word.
13. The space character; the character resulting from pressing the space bar on a keyboard.
14. dominoesA domino without points on one or both of its divisions.

    the six blank

    1 more example

    the double blank

15. Words With FriendsScrabbleA tile that can be played as any letter and having a point value of zero.
16. abbreviationellipsisengineeringEllipsis of blank cartridge.

    It was an unloaded gun that fired only blanks.

17. An ineffective effort which achieves nothing.
    1. figurativelychemistryA sample for a control experiment that does not contain any of the analyte of interest, in order to deliberately produce a non-detection to verify that a detection is distinguishable from it.
    2. figurativelyslanghobbiesInfertile semen.
18. Used as a substitute for a profanity.

    The Beatles have fabulous music, a tough sound! Who gives a blank if they can read music!

    1965 January, Lou Sullivan, Letter to Keen Teen (unpublished, preserved in personal diary)

present singular third person blanks · participle present blanking · participle past blanked · past blanked

1. transitiveTo make void; to erase.

   I blanked out my previous entry.

2. slangtransitiveTo ignore (a person) deliberately.

   She blanked me for no reason.

   1 more example

   Taylor Swift goes viral for blanking Celine Dion on stage at Grammys 2024 […] Taylor Swift received backlash for being 'disrespectful' by 'ignoring' Celine Dion while accepting the award for Album of the Year at the Grammys on Sunday.

   2024 February 4, Sonia Horon, “Taylor Swift goes viral for BLANKING Celine Dion on stage at Grammys 2024 after diva emerges from battle with stiff-person syndrome to present her with historic Album of the Year”, in dailymail.co.uk

3. transitiveaeronauticsTo render ineffective by blanketing with turbulent airflow, such as from aircraft wake or reverse thrust.

   At high angles of attack, the shuttle’s rudder is blanked by the fuselage and wings, forcing it to use its RCS thrusters for yaw control.

4. transitiveTo prevent from scoring; for example, in a sporting event.

   The team was blanked.

   1 more example

   England blanks Wales to advance to the final.

5. intransitiveTo become blank.

   In OPS 6, the 2 EO color field does blank at SSME fine count. Once in fine count in route to an RTLS MECO, the energy state is such that one engine can carry the orbiter though powered pitch-down to a healthy MECO condition with standard RTLS guidance.

   2007 February 14, NASA, “4.5.2 Two-Engine-Out Contingency Software Termination”, in Contingency Aborts 21007/31007, archived from the original on 08 Mar 2022, page 45

6. informalintransitiveTo experience a temporary lapse of memory; to be temporarily unable to remember a particular fact. (Commonly used in the first person, present progressive tense, and commonly followed by on to create a transitive phrasal verb.)

   I’m blanking on her name right now.

   1 more example

   She asked him a simple question during the interview, and he blanked.

   Synonyms: draw a blank, freeze, freeze up

1. A surname.

   The same preoccupation with developing a conceptual framework is evident in David Blank's Venezuela: Politics in a Petroleum Republic, a modified version of Blank's early theses.

   1987, Latin American Research Review, page 238

2. datedUsed as an anonymous placeholder for a person's name.

   Miss Compton, in 'Other People's Worries,' asks rhetorically whether a young rip was not in the Blank divorce case.

   1922, The Saturday Review, volume 133, page 359