BLESS (blest)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: blest   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bless mean? 

• BLESS (verb)
  The verb BLESS has 4 senses:

1. give a benediction to

2. confer prosperity or happiness on

3. make the sign of the cross over someone in order to call on God for protection; consecrate

4. render holy by means of religious rites

  Familiarity information: BLESS used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BLESS (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they bless    ... he / she / it blesses   
Past simple: blessed / blest   
Past participle: blessed / blest   
-ing form: blessing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Give a benediction to

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

The dying man blessed his son

Hypernyms (to "bless" is one way to...):

arouse; bring up; call down; call forth; conjure; conjure up; evoke; invoke; put forward; raise; stir (summon into action or bring into existence, often as if by magic)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bless"):

anele; anoint; embrocate; inunct; oil (administer an oil or ointment to; often in a religious ceremony of blessing)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Antonym:

curse (wish harm upon; invoke evil upon)

Derivation:

blessing (the act of praying for divine protection)

blessing (a ceremonial prayer invoking divine protection)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Confer prosperity or happiness on

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "bless" is one way to...):

bestow; confer (present)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make the sign of the cross over someone in order to call on God for protection; consecrate

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

bless; sign

Hypernyms (to "bless" is one way to...):

gesticulate; gesture; motion (show, express or direct through movement)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 4

Meaning:

Render holy by means of religious rites

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

bless; consecrate; hallow; sanctify

Hypernyms (to "bless" is one way to...):

declare (state emphatically and authoritatively)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bless"):

reconsecrate (consecrate anew, as after a desecration)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

 Context examples 

And yet you saw how she thanked me, with her so beautiful dying eyes, her voice, too, so weak, and she kiss my rough old hand and bless me?

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

"You Wolf, you!" and "You blessed Wolf!" the man and woman called out to him.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

The blessed woman was an unfailing fount of power to me.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Why, bless my soul! here is her carriage at the door.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Halfway down I slipped, but, by the blessing of God, I landed, torn and bleeding, upon the path.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I finished by saying, “I'll give you Steerforth! God bless him! Hurrah!”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Haven't one to bless myself with.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

“Alas! fair sir,” cried the blind old man, “I have not seen the blessed blue of heaven this two-score years, since a levin flash burned the sight out of my head.”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Why, bless you, Mrs. Warren, if I were your lodger you often would not see me for weeks on end.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Well, I reckon it's about the blessed same to me, shipmate,” he replied; “so it's strong, and plenty of it, what's the odds?”

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)