blank

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Middle English blank, blonc, blaunc, blaunche, from Anglo-Norman blonc, blaunc, blaunche from Old French blanc, feminine blanche, from Frankish *blank (“gleaming, white, blinding”) from Proto-Germanic *blankaz (“white, bright, blinding”), from Proto-Indo-European *bhleg- (“to shine”). Akin to Old High German blanch (“shining, bright, white”) (German blank), Old English blanc (“white, grey”), blanca (“white steed”), English blink, blind. See also blink, blind, and blanch.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

blank (comparative blanker or more blank, superlative blankest or most blank)

  1. (archaic) White or pale; without colour.
    • Milton
      To the blank moon / Her office they prescribed.
  2. Free from writing, printing, or marks; having an empty space to be filled in; as, blank paper; a blank check; a blank ballot.
    • 2011 December 27, Mike Henson, “Norwich 0 - 2 Tottenham”, BBC Sport:
      Referee Michael Oliver failed to detect a foul in a crowded box and the Canaries escaped down the tunnel with the scoreline still blank.
  3. (figuratively) Lacking characteristics which give variety; uniform.
    a blank desert; a blank wall; blank unconsciousness
  4. Absolute; downright; unmixed; sheer.
    blank terror
  5. Without expression.
    Failing to understand the question, he gave me a blank stare.
  6. Utterly confounded or discomfited.
    • Milton
      Adam […] astonied stood, and blank.
  7. Empty; void; without result; fruitless.
    a blank day
  8. Devoid of thoughts, memory, or inspiration.

Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

blank (plural blanks)

  1. A cartridge that is designed to simulate the noise and smoke of real gunfire without actually firing a projectile.
  2. An empty space; a void, as on a paper, or in one's memory.
    • Jonathan Swift
      I cannot write a paper full, I used to do; and yet I will not forgive a blank of half an inch from you.
    • Hallam
      From this time there ensues a long blank in the history of French legislation.
    • George Eliot
      I was ill. I can't tell how long — it was a blank.
  3. A space to be filled in on a form or template.
  4. A paper without marks or characters, or with space left for writing; a ballot, form, contract, etc. that has not yet been filled in.
    • Palfrey
      The freemen signified their approbation by an inscribed vote, and their dissent by a blank.
  5. A lot by which nothing is gained; a ticket in a lottery on which no prize is indicated.
    • Dryden
      In Fortune's lottery lies / A heap of blanks, like this, for one small prize.
  6. (archaic) 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.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Nares to this entry?)
  7. (engineering) A piece of metal prepared to be made into something by a further operation, as a coin, screw, nuts.
  8. (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.
  9. The space character; the character resulting from pressing the space-bar on a keyboard.
  10. The point aimed at in a target, marked with a white spot; hence, the object to which anything is directed.
    • Shakespeare
      Let me still remain / The true blank of thine eye.
  11. Aim; shot; range.
    • Shakespeare
      I have stood […] within the blank of his displeasure / For my free speech.

Synonyms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

blank (third-person singular simple present blanks, present participle blanking, simple past and past participle blanked)

  1. (transitive) To make void; to erase.
    I blanked out my previous entry.
  2. (transitive, slang) To ignore.
    She blanked me for no reason.
  3. (transitive) To prevent from scoring, as in a sporting event.
    The team was blanked.
  4. (intransitive) To become blank.

Usage notes[edit]

  • Almost any sense of this can occur with out. See blank out.

Translations[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from the adjective, noun, or verb blank

Afrikaans[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Dutch blank.

Adjective[edit]

blank (attributive blanke, comparative blanker, superlative blankste)

  1. white
  2. White; Caucasian

Antonyms[edit]

Dalmatian[edit]

Adjective[edit]

blank m (plural blanke, feminine blanca)

  1. white

References[edit]

  • 2000, Matteo Giulio Bartoli, Il Dalmatico: Resti di un’antica lingua romanza parlata da Veglia a Ragusa e sua collocazione nella Romània appenino-balcanica, Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana.

Danish[edit]

Adjective[edit]

blank (neuter blankt, definite and plural blanke, comparative blankere, superlative blankest)

  1. bright, shining, glossy
  2. empty
  3. blank
  4. broke (be without money)

Dutch[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Dutch *blank, from Proto-Germanic *blankaz.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

blank (comparative blanker, superlative blankst)

  1. white, pale
  2. (race) White, Caucasian.

Declension[edit]

Declension of blank
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial blank blanker het blankst
het blankste
indefinite m./f. sing. blanke blankere blankste
n. sing. blank blanker blankste
plural blanke blankere blankste
definite blanke blankere blankste
partitive blanks blankers —

Derived terms[edit]

German[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

blank (comparative blanker, superlative am blanksten)

  1. pure, sheer
    Blanke Wut packte ihn. — Sheer anger seized him.

Declension[edit]

Positive forms of blank
gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter all genders
predicative er ist blank sie ist blank es ist blank sie sind blank
strong declension
(without article)		 nominative blanker blanke blankes blanke
genitive blanken blanker blanken blanker
dative blankem blanker blankem blanken
accusative blanken blanke blankes blanke
weak declension
(with definite article)		 nominative der blanke die blanke das blanke die blanken
genitive des blanken der blanken des blanken der blanken
dative dem blanken der blanken dem blanken den blanken
accusative den blanken die blanke das blanke die blanken
mixed declension
(with indefinite article)		 nominative ein blanker eine blanke ein blankes (keine) blanken
genitive eines blanken einer blanken eines blanken (keiner) blanken
dative einem blanken einer blanken einem blanken (keinen) blanken
accusative einen blanken eine blanke ein blankes (keine) blanken
Comparative forms of blank
gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter all genders
predicative er ist blanker sie ist blanker es ist blanker sie sind blanker
strong declension
(without article)		 nominative blankerer blankere blankeres blankere
genitive blankeren blankerer blankeren blankerer
dative blankerem blankerer blankerem blankeren
accusative blankeren blankere blankeres blankere
weak declension
(with definite article)		 nominative der blankere die blankere das blankere die blankeren
genitive des blankeren der blankeren des blankeren der blankeren
dative dem blankeren der blankeren dem blankeren den blankeren
accusative den blankeren die blankere das blankere die blankeren
mixed declension
(with indefinite article)		 nominative ein blankerer eine blankere ein blankeres (keine) blankeren
genitive eines blankeren einer blankeren eines blankeren (keiner) blankeren
dative einem blankeren einer blankeren einem blankeren (keinen) blankeren
accusative einen blankeren eine blankere ein blankeres (keine) blankeren
Superlative forms of blank
gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter all genders
predicative er ist am blanksten sie ist am blanksten es ist am blanksten sie sind am blanksten
strong declension
(without article)		 nominative blankster blankste blankstes blankste
genitive blanksten blankster blanksten blankster
dative blankstem blankster blankstem blanksten
accusative blanksten blankste blankstes blankste
weak declension
(with definite article)		 nominative der blankste die blankste das blankste die blanksten
genitive des blanksten der blanksten des blanksten der blanksten
dative dem blanksten der blanksten dem blanksten den blanksten
accusative den blanksten die blankste das blankste die blanksten
mixed declension
(with indefinite article)		 nominative ein blankster eine blankste ein blankstes (keine) blanksten
genitive eines blanksten einer blanksten eines blanksten (keiner) blanksten
dative einem blanksten einer blanksten einem blanksten (keinen) blanksten
accusative einen blanksten eine blankste ein blankstes (keine) blanksten

Derived terms[edit]

Swedish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle Low German blank, from Old Saxon blank, from Proto-Germanic *blankaz. Displaced native Swedish black, from Old Norse blakkr.

Adjective[edit]

blank (comparative blankare, superlative blankast)

  1. reflective, shiny

Inflection[edit]

Declension of blank
Inflections of
blank		 Absolute Comparative Superlative
Attributive Predicative
Indefinite
singular		 Common blank blankare blankast
Neuter blankt
Definite
singular		 Masc. blanke blankaste
All blanka blankaste
Plural blanka blankaste
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