white space

noun

|Updated on: 9 Jun 2018

Definition of white space

: the areas of a page without print or pictures

Recent Examples of white space from the Web

Image The Room My room took the spare, clean look to new levels, with just a copper light fixture and two art sketches warming up the nearly all-white space.

— New York Times, "An Ottawa Hotel Is an Ode to Canada," 2 June 2018
What must happen is clear, such is the sorry state of our world: The two will have to duke it out over whether black bodies have the right to enter white space.

— lily janiak, San Francisco Chronicle, "Comic more interesting than author in PlayGround’s ‘Scapegoat’," 24 May 2018
The couple worked with renowned Belgian architect Axel Vervoordt, whose clients include Robert DeNiro and Calvin Klein, to transform the property into a minimalist, all-white space, with an almost cathedral-like quality.

— mackenzie schmidt, PEOPLE.com, "Kanye West Says He Wants to Build His Own 'Community' as He Shares New Photos of $60M Home," 1 May 2018
Check out the 15 Nordic interior trends that go way beyond all-white spaces.

— sara tardiff, ELLE Decor, "15 New Scandinavian Trends That Are About To Take Off," 12 Aug. 2017
In one of the whitest spaces in modern England, Bishop Michael Curry gave a rousing sermon that mentioned Dr. Martin Luther King, and spirituals sung by slaves in the American south.

— sophie gilbert, The Atlantic, "Thoroughly Modern Meghan," 21 May 2018
Other sweet touches throughout the primarily tan and white space include a Babyletto crib, a rug by Lorena Canals and accessories by Rylee + Cru — plus a few knickknacks to add whimsical pops of color.

— karen mizoguchi, PEOPLE.com, "Inside Brie Bella's Daughter Birdie's 'Boho Minimalist' Nursery — with Pops of Rainbow," 13 Apr. 2018
The finished volume is a funky panoply of arabesques, polygons and polyhedra, a fantasy of spikes, spines and spires, left levitating in white space or emerging spectrally from backgrounds dark as night.

— christoph irmscher, WSJ, "‘The Art and Science of Ernst Haeckel’ Review: The Zoologist as Artist," 13 Apr. 2018
Leave some white space and paint strokes of yellow paint that extend to the bottom of the box.

— lindsey desimone, ELLE Decor, "3 DIY Gift Wrap Ideas For Fashion Lovers," 18 Sep. 2015

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