blinding

1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of blind

comparative more blinding · superlative most blinding

1. Very bright (as if to cause blindness).

   On it came, and with it came the glorious blinding cloud of many-coloured light, and stood before us for a space, turning, as it seemed to us, slowly round and round, and then, accompanied by its attendant pomp of sound, passed away I know not whither.

   1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC

2. Making blind or as if blind; depriving of sight or of understanding.

   blinding tears;  blinding snow

   1 more example

   Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.

   1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, chapter III (Accessory After the Fact), page 382, column 1

3. UKslangBrilliant; marvellous.

   “How’s it going?” “Blinding, mate.”

comparative more blinding · superlative most blinding

1. nonstandardTo an extreme degree; blindingly.

   certain 'details' of 'scientifically realized socialism' became blinding obvious

   1983, Régis Debray, Critique of Political Reason, page 6

   5 more examples

   He made the basket on his second attempt, after an exchange of moves so blinding fast that Derek could barely distinguish them.

   1997, Steven Barnes, Blood Brothers, page 190

   I was in a nightmare, and everything was blinding bright, inky black, blinding bright; and fading, and fading

   2003, Sally Prue, The Devil's Toenail, page 139

   It's the blinding obvious fact that American football is the real-life equivalent of Quidditch. Or maybe Fireball - the game invented by Joey and Chandler

   2005 February 8, “The greatest show on earth”, in Guardian Unlimited

   WHILST IT'S blinding obvious that converged networks are the way to go, it's also apparent that C21 [21st Century] networks won't get rapidly rolled out

   2006 November 28, “Converged networks lack adequate business tools”, in Inquirer

   Roger Yates, chief executive officer of Henderson Group Plc in London, which oversees about $125 billion said Greenspan's remarks were "blinding obvious".

   2007 May 24, “US Note Yields Near 4-Month High Before Durable Goods Report”, in Bloomberg

plural blindings

1. The act of causing blindness.
2. A thin coat of sand or gravel used to fill holes in a new road surface.
3. A thin sprinkling of sand or chippings laid on a newly tarred surface.