blank

adjective \ ˈblaŋk \

Updated on: 16 May 2018

Definition of blank

1 archaic : colorless

2 a : appearing or causing to appear dazed, confounded, or nonplussed

stared in blank dismay

b : expressionless

a blank stare

3 a : devoid of covering or content; especially : free from writing or marks

blank paper

b : having spaces to be filled in

c : lacking interest, variety, or change

blank hours

4 : absolute, unqualified

a blank refusal

5 : unfinished; especially : having a plain or unbroken surface where an opening is usual

a blank key

a blank arch

—

blankly

adverb

—

blankness

noun

See blank defined for English-language learners

See blank defined for kids

Examples of blank in a Sentence

a blank sheet of paper
a book with blank pages

Recent Examples of blank from the Web

And new lines were added in between older ones, presumably to fill in blank space.

— kiona n. smith, Ars Technica, "Neanderthals etched a message on this 36,000-year-old stone tool," 3 May 2018
The cardboard is a blank canvas, and my youngsters have really enjoyed decorating the Labo kits with markers and stickers.

— andrew webster, The Verge, "How well does Nintendo Labo cardboard hold up after a few weeks?," 3 May 2018
Pimentel, who stopped Lopez for a traffic violation in the small town 20 miles southeast of San Antonio, was shot at point-blank range.

— emilie eaton, San Antonio Express-News, "Man accused of killing Elmendorf police chief is insane, experts say, reducing the likelihood of trial," 2 May 2018
Randi Gorenberg, the 52-year-old mother of two, had been shot in the head at point-blank range.

— juan ortega, www.feloniousflorida.com, "Randi," 1 May 2018
Aledo goalkeeper Konrad Garbowski recorded four saves, including two from point-blank range in the 70th minute by Cesar Montelongoa and Eduardo Salgado.

— eric zarate, star-telegram, "Aledo boys advance to 5A soccer final with end-to-end persistence | Fort Worth Star-Telegram," 19 Apr. 2018
The Department of Defense's quarterly troop statistics, released in December, now has blank spaces for those Middle Eastern countries.

— kathryn watson, CBS News, "Pentagon takes down troop numbers in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan: Report," 10 Apr. 2018
For a while there were blank spaces—empty rectangles where once there were portraits—throughout the capital.

— karan mahajan, The New Republic, "After the Strongman," 26 Mar. 2018
The test is composed of 50 questions which include multiple choice, fill in the blank and true and false.

— brandon patterson, Detroit Free Press, "How to become an expert morel mushroom hunter in 1 day," 21 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'blank.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of blank

Middle English, from Anglo-French blanc colorless, white, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German blanch white; probably akin to Latin flagrare to burn — more at black

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First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

blank Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of blank

empty, vacant, blank, void, vacuous mean lacking contents which could or should be present. empty suggests a complete absence of contents.

- an empty bucket

vacant suggests an absence of appropriate contents or occupants.

- a vacant apartment

blank stresses the absence of any significant, relieving, or intelligible features on a surface.

- a blank wall

void suggests absolute emptiness as far as the mind or senses can determine.

- a statement void of meaning

vacuous suggests the emptiness of a vacuum and especially the lack of intelligence or significance.

- a vacuous facial expression

blank

noun

Definition of blank

1 obsolete : the bull's-eye of a target

2 a : an empty space (as on a paper)

b : a paper with spaces for the entry of data

an order blank

3 a : a piece of material prepared to be made into something (such as a key) by a further operation

b : a cartridge loaded with propellant and a seal but no projectile

4 a : an empty or featureless place or space

my mind was a blank

b : a vacant or uneventful period

a long blank in history

5 : a dash substituting for an omitted word

See blank defined for English-language learners

Examples of blank in a Sentence

The form has a blank for your signature.
The actors are shooting blanks.

Recent Examples of blank from the Web

Confused, Meghan ended up leaving the question blank.

— caroline picard, Good Housekeeping, "What Is Meghan Markle's Relationship With Her Dad, Thomas Markle?," 9 May 2018
Simply browse through the categories and fill in the blanks with your choices.

— birmingham magazine, AL.com, "Best of Birmingham 2018: Vote for your favorite spots in the city," 23 Apr. 2018
The accident occurred after O'Keeffe, who was having trouble loading his rifle with a magazine full of blanks, used a magazine containing live rounds to test his weapon and lost track of the magazine.

— noelle crombie, OregonLive.com, "Deputy's alleged beating of defendant in court prompts investigation," 18 Apr. 2018
The researchers believe that these additions to communicating with each other, like expressing emotions using eyebrows, help fill in one of the blanks as to why modern humans cooperated better than the hominins who went extinct.

— ashley strickland, CNN, "This could be why our eyebrows evolved," 9 Apr. 2018
In the first days after his disappearance, conspiracy theorists filled in their own blanks.

— lisa gutierrez, kansascity, "Missing CDC scientist Timothy Cunningham found dead in river that runs by his home | The Kansas City Star," 5 Apr. 2018
The remaining pages are left blank, to be filled later with a running diary detailing how every exercise makes his body feel.

— alex prewitt, SI.com, "The Legend of Z: Zdeno Chara Remains Obsessed in His Pursuit of Outsized Excellence," 3 Apr. 2018
The cost was a bit of danger which would be mitigated by the (obvious) use of blanks as opposed to live shells.

— eric limer, Popular Mechanics, "The 20th Century Scarecrow That's Just a Shotgun in a Box," 2 Apr. 2018
Toffoli hit the crossbar in the opening minutes of the game and Pearson was stopped point blank by Anton Forsberg in the second period.

— curtis zupke, latimes.com, "What we learned from the Kings' 3-1 win over the Blackhawks," 20 Feb. 2018

First Known Use of blank

circa 1570

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

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blank Synonyms

Synonyms

black hole, blankness, emptiness, vacancy, vacuity, void;

Near Antonyms

fullness (also fulness), repleteness;

Related Words

nothingness;

inane, vacuum;

air, open, waste;

bareness, barrenness, bleakness, desolateness, hollowness;

cavity, gap, hole, hollow;

blank

verb

Definition of blank

transitive verb

1 a : obscure, obliterate

blank out a line

b : to stop access to : seal

blank off a tunnel

2 : to keep (an opponent) from scoring

were blanked for eight innings

intransitive verb

1 : fade —usually used with out

the music blanked out

2 : to become confused or abstracted —often used with out

his mind blanked out momentarily

See blank defined for English-language learners

Examples of blank in a Sentence

The goalie blanked the Falcons for two periods in the hockey game.

Recent Examples of blank from the Web

Anderson-Meyer Insurance blanked Monaco Ford, 3-0, in the opening night game.

— steve smith, Courant Community, "Glastonbury Little League Opening Night," 2 May 2018
The result was a 3-0 victory for the Chicago Cubs, who blanked Milwaukee for the fourth time this month.

— tom haudricourt, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Cubs 3, Brewers 0: José Quintana stretches his scoreless streak vs. Milwaukee to 24 innings," 28 Apr. 2018
Other score In Susquehanna play, Joppatowne was blanked by visiting Perryville, 31-0, Monday.

— randy mcroberts, The Aegis, "Bel Air leads baseball winners on opening day," 27 Mar. 2018
The thermometer hovered around zero as a family of four, toting folding chairs, parked the seats in front of a big screen in a park in downtown Minneapolis to watch the Minnesota Vikings blank the Green Bay Packers in December.

— elaine glusac, chicagotribune.com, "Hygge vibe makes Minneapolis a winter winner," 25 Jan. 2018
The Lakers opened the season with 12-0 victories over Duxbury and Pembroke before being blanked by Bridgewater-Raynham, 8-0, last Wednesday.

— brandan blom, BostonGlobe.com, "Whittier softball embracing the new challenge of D2," 24 Apr. 2018
Cueto no-hit the Angels through five and blanked them on two hits through six, striking out seven, walking two and hitting two batters while lowering his major league-leading ERA from 0.45 to 0.35.

— mike digiovanna, latimes.com, "Ohtani bats fourth in Angels' 4-2 loss to Giants and Cueto," 23 Apr. 2018
Keller blanked Haltom 10-0 on Friday night to cap off the regular season.

— brian gosset, star-telegram, "Watch what the Keller softball team did for one of its moms | Fort Worth Star-Telegram," 21 Apr. 2018
Those aspirations were put under a spotlight a year ago when Reagan was blanked 2-0 by Clark in the second round.

— terrence thomas, San Antonio Express-News, "Rattlers embrace history, title chase," 19 Apr. 2018

First Known Use of blank

1764

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

See Words from the same year

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BLANK Defined for English Language Learners

blank

adjective

Definition of blank for English Language Learners

: without any writing, marks, or pictures
: having empty spaces to be filled in with information : not yet written in or filled out
: without any recorded sound or information

blank

noun

Definition of blank for English Language Learners

: an empty space on a document where you put information
: a period of time that you cannot remember anything about
: a gun cartridge that is filled with powder but that does not contain a bullet

blank

verb

Definition of blank for English Language Learners

: to keep (the opposing team) from scoring
: to behave in an unfriendly way toward (someone you have been friendly with in the past) : to ignore or refuse to talk to (someone)

BLANK Defined for Kids

blank

adjective \ ˈblaŋk \

Definition of blank for Students

1 : not having any writing or marks

a blank page

2 : having empty spaces to be filled in

a blank order form

3 : not showing emotion or understanding

a blank look

blank

noun

Definition of blank for Students

1 : an empty space in a line of writing or printing

2 : a paper with empty spaces to be filled in

“Do you have your entry blank for the dog show?”
—Beverly Cleary, Henry Huggins

3 : a cartridge loaded with powder but no bullet

4 : events or a time that cannot be remembered

Everything after the accident is a blank.

Learn More about blank

See words that rhyme with blank Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for blank Spanish Central: Translation of blank Nglish: Translation of blank for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of blank for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about blank

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blankly

blankness

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blank

Definition of blank

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blank

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BLANK Defined for English Language Learners

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Definition of blank for English Language Learners

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