| English Dictionary |
BLANK
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does blank mean?
• BLANK (noun)
The noun BLANK has 4 senses:
1. a blank character used to separate successive words in writing or printing
2. a blank gap or missing part
3. a piece of material ready to be made into something
4. a cartridge containing an explosive charge but no bullet
Familiarity information: BLANK used as a noun is uncommon.
• BLANK (adjective)
The adjective BLANK has 4 senses:
1. (of a surface) not written or printed on
2. without comprehension
3. not charged with a bullet
4. complete and absolute
Familiarity information: BLANK used as an adjective is uncommon.
• BLANK (verb)
The verb BLANK has 1 sense:
1. keep the opposing (baseball) team from winning
Familiarity information: BLANK used as a verb is very rare.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
A blank character used to separate successive words in writing or printing
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Synonyms:
blank; space
Context example:
he said the space is the most important character in the alphabet
Hypernyms ("blank" is a kind of...):
character; graph; grapheme; graphic symbol (a written symbol that is used to represent speech)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A blank gap or missing part
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Synonyms:
blank; lacuna
Hypernyms ("blank" is a kind of...):
Sense 3
Meaning:
A piece of material ready to be made into something
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("blank" is a kind of...):
flat solid; sheet (a flat artifact that is thin relative to its length and width)
Sense 4
Meaning:
A cartridge containing an explosive charge but no bullet
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Synonyms:
blank; blank shell; dummy
Hypernyms ("blank" is a kind of...):
cartridge (ammunition consisting of a cylindrical casing containing an explosive charge and a bullet; fired from a rifle or handgun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
(of a surface) not written or printed on
Synonyms:
Context example:
wide white margins
Similar:
empty (holding or containing nothing)
Derivation:
blankness (the state of being blank; void; emptiness)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Without comprehension
Context example:
When I called her name, she gave me a blank look, as though she didn't know me
Similar:
unperceiving; unperceptive (lacking perception)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Not charged with a bullet
Context example:
a blank cartridge
Similar:
unloaded ((of weapons) not charged with ammunition)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Complete and absolute
Synonyms:
blank; utter
Context example:
blank stupidity
Similar:
complete (having every necessary or normal part or component or step)
| Conjugation: |
... he / she / it blanks Past simple: blanked
Past participle: blanked
-ing form: blanking
Sense 1
Meaning:
Keep the opposing (baseball) team from winning
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Hypernyms (to "blank" is one way to...):
keep; prevent (stop (someone or something) from doing something or being in a certain state)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s somebody
Context examples
Looking back, as I was saying, into the blank of my infancy, the first objects I can remember as standing out by themselves from a confusion of things, are my mother and Peggotty.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Each cuff was a check, and Martin went over them anxiously, in a fever of expectation, but they were all blanks.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
Now, here's a useful tool—.470, telescopic sight, double ejector, point-blank up to three-fifty.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I have had a blank day, Watson.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Then, friend John, am I to take it that you simply accept fact, and are satisfied to let from premise to conclusion be a blank?
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
“Most preposterous!” I exclaimed, and then suddenly realizing how he had echoed the inmost thought of my soul, I sat up in my chair and stared at him in blank amazement.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The stout old English counsellor looked somewhat blank at this prompt acceptance of his master's bounty.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
You would look rather blank, Henry, if your menus plaisirs were to be limited to seven hundred a year.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
Researchers are then able to guide these “blank slate” cells into different cell types by using various chemical and physical stimuli.
(Early stimulation improves performance of bioengineered human heart cells, National Institutes of Health)
Blank silence followed, no one protesting; only the maid lifted her voice and now wept loudly.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
"One finger cannot lift a pebble." (Native American proverb, Hopi)
"Give the dough to baker even if he eats half of it." (Arabic proverb)
"One swats the fly only if it annoys that person." (Cypriot proverb)