Definitions for blank
blæŋkblank

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:4.0 / 2 votes

1. space, blanknoun

   a blank character used to separate successive words in writing or printing

   "he said the space is the most important character in the alphabet"

2. lacuna, blanknoun

   a blank gap or missing part

3. blanknoun

   a piece of material ready to be made into something

4. blank, dummy, blank shelladjective

   a cartridge containing an explosive charge but no bullet

5. blank, clean, whiteadjective

   (of a surface) not written or printed on

   "blank pages"; "fill in the blank spaces"; "a clean page"; "wide white margins"

6. blank, vacuousadjective

   void of expression

   "a blank stare"

7. blankverb

   not charged with a bullet

   "a blank cartridge"

8. blankverb

   keep the opposing (baseball) team from winning

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. blanknoun

   A bullet that does not harm; a cartridge inserted into a gun that fires no projectile.

2. blanknoun

   A void space on a paper.

3. blanknoun

   A space to be filled in on a form or template.

4. blanknoun

   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.

5. blanknoun

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

6. blanknoun

   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.

7. blanknoun

   The space character; the character resulting from pressing the space-bar on a keyboard.

8. blankverb

   To make void; to erase.

   I blanked out my previous entry.

9. blankverb

   To ignore.

   She blanked me for no reason.

10. blankverb

    To prevent from scoring, as in a sporting event.

    The team was blanked.

11. blankverb

    To become blank.

12. blankadjective

    Without color; lacking characteristics which give variety.

13. blankadjective

    Free from writing, printing, or marks; having an empty space to be filled in; as, blank paper; a blank check; a blank ballot.

14. blankadjective

    Without expression.

    When asked, his answer was a blank stare. When asked again his stare was even more blank.

15. Etymology: blank, blonc, blaunc, blaunche, from blonc, blaunc, blaunche from blanc, feminine blanche, of origin, from *blank "gleaming, white, blinding" from blankaz, from bhleg-. Akin to blanch (blank), blanc, blanca, blink, blind. See also blink, blind and blanch.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. BLANKadjective

   Etymology: blanc, Fr. derived by Gilles Ménage from Albianus, thus: Albianus, albianicus, bianicus, biancus, bianco, blanicut, blancus, blanc; by others, from blanc, which, in Danish, signifies shining; in conformity to which, the Germans have blancker, to shine; the Saxons, blæcan; and the English, bleach, to whiten.

   1. White.

   To the blank moon
   Her office they prescrib’d: to th’ other five
   Their planetary motions. Parad. Lost, b. x. l. 656.

   2. Without writing; unwritten; empty of all marks.

   Our substitutes at home shall have blank charters,
   Whereto, when they know that men are rich,
   They shall subscribe them for large sums of gold. William Shakespeare, Richard II.

   Upon the debtor side, I find innumerable articles; but, upon the creditor side, little more than blank paper. Joseph Addison, Spectat.

   3. Confused; crushed; dispirited; subdued; depressed.

   There without such boast, or sign of joy,
   Solicitous and blank, he thus began. Par. Regained, b. ii.

   Adam soon as he heard
   The fatal trespass done by Eve, amaz’d,
   Astonied stood, and blank, while horrour chill
   Ran through his veins, and all his joints relax’d. John Milton, Paradise Lost, b. ix. l. 888.

   But now no face divine contentment wears;
   ’Tis all blank sadness, or continual fears. Alexander Pope.

   4. Without rhime; where the rhime is blanched, or missed.

   The lady shall say her mind freely, or the blank verse shall halt for it. William Shakespeare, Hamlet.

   Long have your ears been fill’d with tragick parts;
   Blood and blank verse have harden’d all your hearts. Joseph Addison, Drummer, Prologue.

   Our blank verse, where there is no rhime to support the expression, is extremely difficult to such as are not masters in the tongue. Joseph Addison, Remarks on Italy.

2. Blanknoun

   Etymology: from the adjective.

   1. A void space.

   I cannot write a paper full as I used to do; and yet I will not forgive a blank of half an inch from you. Jonathan Swift.

   2. A lot, by which nothing is gained; which has no prize marked upon it.

   If you have heard your general talk of Rome,
   And of his friends there, it is lots to blanks
   My name hath touch’d your ears. William Shakespeare, Coriolanus.

   In fortune’s lottery lies
   A heap of blanks, like this, for one small prize. Dryden.

   The world the coward will despise,
   When life’s a blank, who pulls not for a prize. Dryden.

   3. A paper from which the writing is effaced.

   She has left him
   The blank of what he was;
   I tell thee, eunuch, she has quite unmann’d him. Dryden.

   4. A paper unwritten; any thing without marks or characters.

   For him, I think not on him; for his thoughts,
   Would they were blanks, rather than fill’d with me. William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night.

   Omission to do what is necessary,
   Seals a commission to a blank of danger. William Shakespeare, Tr. and Cr.

   For the book of knowledge fair,
   Presented with an universal blank
   Of nature’s works, to me expung’d and ras’d. Par. Lost.

   A life so spent is one great blank, which, though not blotted with sin, is yet without any characters of grace or virtue. John Rogers, serm. xii.

   5. The point to which an arrow is directed; so called, because, to be more visible, it was marked with white.

   Slander,
   Whose whisper o’er the world’s diameter,
   As level as the cannon to his blank,
   Transports its poison’d shot. William Shakespeare, Hamlet.

   6. Aim; shot.

   The harlot king
   Is quite beyond my aim; out of the blank
   And level of my brain. William Shakespeare, Winter’s Tale.

   I have spoken for you all my best,
   And stood within the blank of his displeasure,
   For my free speech. William Shakespeare, Othello.

   7. Object to which any thing is directed.

   See better, Lear, and let me still remain
   The true blank of thine. William Shakespeare, King Lear.

3. To Blankverb

   Etymology: from blank; blanchir, Fr.

   1. To damp; to confuse; to dispirit.

   Each opposite, that blanks the face of joy,
   Meet what I would have well, and it destroy. William Shakespeare, Haml.

   Dagon must stoop, and shall ere long receive
   Such a discomfit, as shall quite despoil him
   Of all these boasted trophies won on me,
   And with confusion blank his worshippers. John Milton, Agonist.

   If the atheist, when he dies, should find that his soul remains, how will this man be amazed and blanked? John Tillotson.

   2. To efface; to annul.

   All former purposes were blanked, the governour at a bay, and all that charge lost and cancelled. Edmund Spenser, on Ireland.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:1.0 / 1 vote

1. Blankadjective

   of a white or pale color; without color

2. Blankadjective

   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. Blankadjective

   utterly confounded or discomfited

4. Blankadjective

   empty; void; without result; fruitless; as, a blank space; a blank day

5. Blankadjective

   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. Blankadjective

   lacking animation and intelligence, or their associated characteristics, as expression of face, look, etc.; expressionless; vacant

7. Blankadjective

   absolute; downright; unmixed; as, blank terror

8. Blanknoun

   any void space; a void space on paper, or in any written instrument; an interval void of consciousness, action, result, etc; a void

9. Blanknoun

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

10. Blanknoun

    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

11. Blanknoun

    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

12. Blanknoun

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

13. Blanknoun

    aim; shot; range

14. Blanknoun

    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

15. Blanknoun

    a piece of metal prepared to be made into something by a further operation, as a coin, screw, nuts

16. Blanknoun

    a piece or division of a piece, without spots; as, the "double blank"; the "six blank."

17. Blankverb

    to make void; to annul

18. Blankverb

    to blanch; to make blank; to damp the spirits of; to dispirit or confuse

FreebaseRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Blank

   A blank is a type of cartridge for a firearm that contains gunpowder but no bullet or shot. When fired, the blank makes a flash and an explosive sound. Blanks are often used for simulation, training, for signaling, and Cowboy Mounted Shooting. Blank cartridges differ from dummy cartridges, which are used for training or function testing firearms; these contain no primer or gunpowder, and are inert. Specialized blank cartridges are also used for their propellant force in fields as varied as construction, shooting sports, and fishing.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Blank

   blangk, adj. without writing or marks, as in white paper: empty, empty of results: vacant, confused: (poetry) not having rhyme.—n. a paper without writing: a lottery-ticket having no mark, and therefore valueless: an empty space, a void, or vacancy: (archery) the white mark in the centre of a target at which an arrow is aimed, hence the object or aim of anything: a form of document having blank spaces afterwards to be filled in.—v.t. to make pale: (Milton) to confuse.—n. Blank′-cart′ridge, a cartridge without a bullet.—p.adj. Blanked, a minced form of damned, from the usual form of printing d——d.—adv. Blank′ly.—ns. Blank′ness; Blank′-verse, verse without rhyme, esp. the heroic verse of five feet. [Fr. blanc, from root of Ger. blinken, to glitter—Old High Ger. blichen, Gr. phlegein, to shine.]

Dictionary of Nautical TermsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. blank

   Level line mark for cannon, as point-blank, equal to 800 yards. It was also the term for the white mark in the centre of a butt, at which the arrow was aimed.

Military Dictionary and GazetteerRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. blank

   The point of a target at which aim is taken, marked with a white spot; hence, the object to which anything is directed.

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. blank

   Song lyrics by blank -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by blank on the Lyrics.com website.

Surnames Frequency by Census RecordsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. BLANK

   According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Blank is ranked #2765 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
   
   The Blank surname appeared 13,050 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 4 would have the surname Blank.
   
   94.7% or 12,361 total occurrences were White.
   2.1% or 277 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
   1.2% or 162 total occurrences were Black.
   0.9% or 128 total occurrences were of two or more races.
   0.6% or 78 total occurrences were Asian.
   0.3% or 44 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.

Matched Categories

1. • Character
   • Gap
   • Prevent
   • Sheet

British National Corpus

1. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'blank' in Written Corpus Frequency: #3113

2. Adjectives Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'blank' in Adjectives Frequency: #768

How to pronounce blank?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say blank in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of blank in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of blank in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of blank in a Sentence

1. Hal Buell:

   It's exquisite, you have this strong, diagonal line made by the flag staff. You have the flag snapping in the breeze. You have the pyramid-like shape of the Marines pushing the flag up. The men obviously are separate, but they appear as one. The blank background enhances the action by providing no distractions. Also, the photo is gifted with a softly filtered light. A very thin haze of clouds filters the light so that the shadows aren't harsh, but there is detail in all the shadows on the uniforms and the flag.

2. Eish Singhal:

   She was able to identify him point blank and there is no doubt over this.

3. Leonard Augsburger:

   Most' obstructed error' notes result from a loose piece of paper, scotch tape, band-aid, or other detritus becoming attached to the currency stock during the printing process and later falling off. Most notes of this class thus exhibit a blank area somewhere on Del Monte note.

4. Alex Chan:

   Wherever there are protests nearby I'll come ... I'm out tonight for a simple reason. You don't shoot a teenager at point blank range, these protests will continue and we won't give up.

5. Corey Rich:

   There’s not a set of rules to shoot in VR or 360 degrees, it’s a blank slate for how these cameras are going to be used.

Popularity rank by frequency of use