Dictionary entry

Blank

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Blank (�), a. [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.]

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 bar(Law), a plea put in to oblige the plaintiff in an action of trespass to assign the certain place where the trespass was committed; — called also common bar. — Blank cartridge, a cartridge containing no ball. — Blank deed. See Deed. — Blank door, orBlank window(Arch.), a depression in a wall of the size of a door or window, either for symmetrical effect, or for the more convenient insertion of a door or window at a future time, should it be needed. — Blank indorsement(Law), an indorsement which omits the name of the person in whose favor it is made; it is usually made by simply writing the name of the indorser on the back of the bill. — Blank line(Print.), a vacant space of the breadth of a line, on a printed page; a line of quadrats. — Blank tire(Mech.), a tire without a flange. — Blank tooling. See Blind tooling, under Blind. — Blank verse. See under Verse. — Blank wall, a wall in which there is no opening; a dead wall.