blank Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a blank character used to separate successive words in writing or printing
    space.
    • he said the space is the most important character in the alphabet
  2. noun a blank gap or missing part
    lacuna.
  3. noun a piece of material ready to be made into something
  4. noun a cartridge containing an explosive charge but no bullet
    dummy; blank shell.
  5. verb keep the opposing (baseball) team from winning
  6. adjective satellite (of a surface) not written or printed on
    white; clean.
    • blank pages
    • fill in the blank spaces
    • a clean page
    • wide white margins
  7. adjective satellite void of expression
    vacuous.
    • a blank stare
  8. adjective satellite not charged with a bullet
    • a blank cartridge

WordNet

Blank adjective
Etymology
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.
Definitions
  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 noun
Definitions
  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."
Blank transitive verb
Etymology
Cf. 3d Blanch.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Blanked present participle & verbal noun Blanking
Definitions
  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.

Webster 1913