Definitions for: Blank


[n] a cartridge containing an explosive charge but no bullet
[n] a piece of material ready to be made into something
[n] a blank gap or missing part
[n] a substitute for a taboo word; "I hit the blank blank car"
[n] a blank character used to separate successive words in writing or printing; "he said the space is the most important character in the alphabet"
[adj] void of expression; "a blank stare"
[adj] of a surface; not written or printed on; "blank pages"; "fill in the blank spaces"; "a clean page"; "wide white margins"
[adj] not charged with a bullet; "a blank cartridge"
[v] keep the opposing team from winning, in baseball



Webster (1913) Definition: Blank, 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. ?98.
See Blink, and cf. 1st Blanch.]
1. Of a white or pale color; without color.

To the blank moon Her office they prescribed.
--Milton.

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.

3. Utterly confounded or discomfited.

Adam . . . astonied stood, and blank. --Milton.

4. Empty; void; without result; fruitless; as, a blank space;
a blank day.

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.

6. Lacking animation and intelligence, or their associated
characteristics, as expression of face, look, etc.;
expressionless; vacant. ``Blank and horror-stricken
faces.'' --C. Kingsley.

The blank . . . glance of a half returned
consciousness. --G. Eliot.

7. Absolute; downright; unmixed; as, blank terror.

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.


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.

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.

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

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

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

In Fortune's lottery lies A heap of blanks, like
this, for one small prize. --Dryden.

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.

The freemen signified their approbation by an
inscribed vote, and their dissent by a blank.
--Palfrey.

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.

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

Let me still remain The true blank of thine eye.
--Shak.

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

I have stood . . . within the blank of his
displeasure For my free speech. --Shak.

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.

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

9. (Dominoes) A piece or division of a piece, without spots;
as, the ``double blank''; the ``six blank.''

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


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

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

Each opposite that blanks the face of joy. --Shak.

Synonyms: blank shell, clean, dummy, empty, incommunicative, lacuna, space, uncommunicative, unloaded, white

See Also: cartridge, character, crack, euphemism, flat solid, gap, grapheme, graphic symbol, keep, prevent, sheet

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