draw a blank

verb

To be unable to recall a required piece of information.

“I should know that person's name, but I'm drawing a blank.”

Similar
forgetblockblank out
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Meanings

verbdraw a blank (third-person singular simple present draws a blank, present participle drawing a blank, simple past drew a blank, past participle drawn a blank)

present singular third person draws a blank · participle present drawing a blank · past drew a blank · participle past drawn a blank

  1. idiomaticTo be unable to recall a required piece of information.

    I should know that person's name, but I'm drawing a blank.

  2. idiomaticTo fail; not to find anything; to produce no successful response.

    When she brainstormed about what else she would do, where else she would go, her mind drew a blank.

    2022, Ling Ma, “Office Hours”, in Bliss Montage, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN
    1 more example

    "Oh," she replied, "when I came to think of it, I saw, that you were right. I thought, 'twas quite likely it [the lottery ticket] would draw a blank.[…]"

    1856, Lucius Manlius Sargent, Dealings with the Dead, volume 2, page 472

Synonyms & antonyms

verbbe unable to remember

Similar
forgetblockblank out
Broader
thinkcogitatecerebrate
Also see
blankblank outblockforget

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Probably from the idea of drawing of a blank (losing) ticket in an old-fashioned lottery.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish ei tulla mieleen, vetää vesiperä
  • ei tulla mieleenbeing unable to recall a piece of information
  • vetää vesiperäidiomatic: to fail
French avoir un trou de mémoire
  • avoir un trou de mémoirebeing unable to recall a piece of information
Polish mieć pustkę w głowie, nie znaleźć rozwiązania
  • mieć pustkę w głowiebeing unable to recall a piece of information
  • nie znaleźć rozwiązaniaidiomatic: to fail
Portuguese dar um branco
  • dar um brancobeing unable to recall a piece of information
Spanish quedar en blanco, tener la mente en blanco
  • quedar en blancobeing unable to recall a piece of information
  • tener la mente en blancobeing unable to recall a piece of information
  • quedarse en blancobeing unable to recall a piece of information
  • no ocurrirse nadabeing unable to recall a piece of information
Cite this entry
APA

draw a blank. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/draw%20a%20blank

MLA

“draw a blank.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/draw%20a%20blank. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “draw a blank,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/draw%20a%20blank.

Source: draw a blank on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.