blessing

noun bless·ing

Updated on: 15 Apr 2018

Definition of blessing

1 a : the act or words of one that blesses

say the blessing over the wine

a priestly blessing

b : approval, encouragement

asked her parents for their blessing before he proposed

2 : a thing conducive to happiness or welfare

My daughter is a blessing to me in my old age.

Their absence turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Count your blessings.

3 : grace (see ¹grace 5) said at a meal

said the blessing before dinner

See blessing defined for English-language learners

See blessing defined for kids

Examples of blessing in a Sentence

Presumably he was acting with the government's blessing.
They got married without their parents' blessing.
We asked the Lord's blessing on us and on our project.
He said a blessing before the meal.

Recent Examples of blessing from the Web

Calling Hours will be held at Holmes-Watkins Funeral Home, 400 Main St., Manchester, Ct. on Thursday, April 12, 2018 between the hours of 4:00-6:00PM with a short blessing and memorial following.

— hartford courant, courant.com, "Marion Charlotte Jackson Hanson," 8 Apr. 2018
Isn't blessing people what popes and other holy men and women are supposed to do?

— daniel burke, CNN, "Seeing the Pope help strangers made me tear up. Later I learned why.," 6 Apr. 2018
Qualcomm has obtained eight out of nine necessary antitrust approvals for the deal, which was first announced in October 2016; only China’s blessing remains.

— stephen wilmot, WSJ, "Could China Scuttle Qualcomm’s $44 Billion NXP Deal?," 6 Apr. 2018
Northwest The mild winter personally felt like a blessing, but warm conditions also helped ants survive the season.

— caroline picard, Good Housekeeping, "Bug Populations Are Expected to Explode This Spring," 4 Apr. 2018
Mr Sewing must wonder if his rise is a blessing or a stitch-up.

— The Economist, "Deutsche Bank gets a new chief executive," 12 Apr. 2018
Tot Shabbat services precede general Shabbat morning services at 11 a.m. Young children sing along with clergy, hear stories and receive special blessings.

— Courant Community, "Community," 10 Apr. 2018
That kind of cultural saturation (achieved in this case through aggressive, widespread marketing as much as anything else) is always a blessing to film studios that are competing for audience attention and focus.

— tasha robinson, The Verge, "What the Armada adaptation can learn from Ready Player One’s successes," 9 Apr. 2018
Congratulations and blessings to you all for the wonderful giving of your help, service, and love.

— Daily Southtown, "Speak Out," 9 Apr. 2018

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