blind

Alternative forms

• blinde (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English blynd, from Old English blind, from Proto-West Germanic *blind, from Proto-Germanic *blindaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blaɪnd/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪnd

Adjective

blind (comparative blinder, superlative blindest)

1. (not comparable) Unable to see, or only partially able to see.

   Synonym: sightless

   Antonyms: seeing, sighted

   Even a blind hen sometimes finds a grain of corn.

   Braille is a writing system for the blind.

   his blind eye

   • c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

     He that is strucken blind cannot forget / The precious treasure of his eyesight lost.

   • 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:

     He was plainly blind, for he tapped before him with a stick, and wore a great green shade over his eyes and nose...

2. (comparable) Failing to recognize, acknowledge or perceive.

   The lovers were blind to each other’s faults.

   Authors are blind to their own defects.

   • 2012, Katy Perry, Max Martin, Bonnie McKee, Dr. Luke, Cirkut (lyrics and music), “Wide Awake”, in Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection‎, performed by Katy Perry:

     God knows that I tried / Seeing the bright side / (I’m wide awake) / But I’m not blind anymore

3. (not comparable, of a place) Having little or no visibility.

   a blind path

   a blind ditch

   a blind corner

   • 1634 October 9 (first performance), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, […], published 1637, →OCLC; reprinted as Comus: […] (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, →OCLC:

     the blind mazes of this tangled wood

5. (not comparable) Closed at one end; having a dead end; exitless.

   a blind alley

   a blind fistula

   a blind gut

   • 1898, Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, page 498:

     The naric-hypophysial canal was blind at both ends, and paired olfactory sacs opened into it, as well as a narrow canal from the front of the gut.

   • 1914, James Joyce, Araby:

     North Richmond street, being blind, was a quiet street except at the hour when the Christian Brothers' School set the boys free.

6. (not comparable) Having no openings for light or passage; both dark and exitless.

   a blind wall

   a blind alley

7. (in certain phrases, chiefly in the negative) Smallest or slightest.

   I shouted, but he didn’t take a blind bit of notice.

   We pulled and pulled, but it didn't make a blind bit of difference.

8. (not comparable) Without any prior knowledge.

   He took a blind guess at which fork in the road would take him to the airport.

   I went into the meeting totally blind, so I really didn’t have a clue what I was talking about.

10. (not comparable) Unconditional; without regard to evidence, logic, reality, accidental mistakes, extenuating circumstances, etc.

    blind deference

    blind justice

    blind punishment

    • 1787–1788, John Jay, The Federalist Papers

      This plan is recommended neither to blind approbation nor to blind reprobation.

    • 1977, Dennis DeYoung (lyrics and music), “The Grand Illusion”, in The Grand Illusion, performed by Styx:

      America spells competition / Join us in our blind ambition / Get yourself a brand-new motor car

11. (sciences) Using blinded study design, wherein information is purposely limited to prevent bias.

    a blind trial

12. Unintelligible or illegible.

    a blind passage in a book; blind writing

13. (horticulture) Abortive; failing to produce flowers or fruit.

    blind buds

    blind flowers

14. (LGBTQ, slang) Uncircumcised.^[1]

Noun

blind (plural blinds)

2. A movable covering for a window to keep out light, made of cloth or of narrow slats that can block light or allow it to pass.

   Hyponyms: roller blind, Venetian blind

   • 1941 June, “Notes and News: The Derelict Glyn Valley Tramway”, in Railway Magazine, page 279:

     A blind bearing the monogram G.V.T. is pulled down over the waiting room window as if still in mourning for the passing of the railway.

   • 1956, Delano Ames, chapter 12, in Crime out of Mind‎:

     Light filtered in through the blinds of the french windows. It made tremulous stripes along the scrubbed pine floor.

3. A destination sign mounted on a public transport vehicle displaying the route destination, number, name and/or via points, etc.
4. A place where people can hide in order to observe wildlife.

   a duck blind

   • 2010, Jennifer Egan, A Visit from the Goon Squad, Corsair (2011):

     A gang of children […] stampede along a slatted path to a blind beside a watering hole: a wooden hut full of long benches with a slot they can peek through, invisible to the animals.

5. Something to mislead the eye or the understanding, or to conceal some covert deed or design; a subterfuge.
6. (military) A blindage.
7. A hiding place.
   • 1697, Virgil, “The Fourth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

     So, when the watchful shepherd, from the blind,
     Wounds with a random shaft the careless hind

8. (rugby, colloquial) The blindside.
9. (baseball, slang, 1800s) No score.
10. (poker) A forced bet: the small blind or the big blind.

    The blinds are $10 and $20, and the ante is $1.

11. (poker) A player who is forced to pay such a bet.

    The blinds immediately folded when I reraised.

Verb

blind (third-person singular simple present blinds, present participle blinding, simple past and past participle blinded)

1. (transitive) To make temporarily or permanently blind.

   The light was so bright that for a moment he was blinded.

   Don’t wave that pencil in my face—do you want to blind me?

   • May 9, 1686 (date of preaching), Robert South, The Fatal Imposture and Force of Words (sermon)

     A blind guide is certainly a great mischief; but a guide that blinds those whom he should lead is […] a much greater.

2. (slang, obsolete) To curse.
   • 1890, Rudyard Kipling, The Young British Soldier:

     If you’re cast for fatigue by a sergeant unkind,
     Don’t grouse like a woman, nor crack on, nor blind;
     Be handy and civil, and then you will find
     That it’s beer for the young British soldier.

3. To darken; to obscure to the eye or understanding; to conceal.
   • 1717, John Dryden [et al.], “(please specify |book=I to XV)”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

     Such darkness blinds the sky.

   • 1676, Edward Stillingfleet, A Defence of the Discourse Concerning the Idolatry Practised in the Church of Rome:

     The state of the controversy between us he endeavored, with all his art, to blind and confound.

4. To cover with a thin coating of sand and fine gravel, for example a road newly paved, in order that the joints between the stones may be filled.

Adverb

blind (comparative more blind, superlative most blind)

1. Without seeing; unseeingly.
   • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 196:

     It was just robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale, and men going at it blind - as is very proper for those who tackle a darkness.

2. (colloquial) Absolutely, totally.

   to swear blind

   • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 195:

     It was just robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale, and men going at it blind - as is very proper for those who tackle a darkness.

3. (poker, three card brag) Without looking at the cards dealt.
4. (cooking, especially in combination with ‘bake’) As a pastry case only, without any filling.

   Blind bake your pie case for fifteen minutes, then add the filling. This will help avoid a “soggy bottom”.

   • 2012, Frank D. Conforti, Food Selection and Preparation: A Laboratory Manual, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 63:

     If the shell is going to be baked without a filling, “baking the crust blind,” prick the bottom and sides of the crust to allow the steam to escape. Another variation: line the bottom of the crust with parchment paper […]

   • 2013, Dorie Greenspan, Baking: From My Home to Yours, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 490:

     PIE WEIGHTS: When you are baking a crust blind, which means when you are partially or fully baking it without filling (see blind-baking, page 474), you need something to keep the crust from puffing up: weights.

References

Etymology

From Dutch blind, from Middle Dutch blint, from Old Dutch *blint, from Proto-Germanic *blindaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blənt/

Adjective

blind (attributive blinde, comparative blinder, superlative blindste)

1. blind (unable to see)

Etymology

From Old Norse blindr, from Proto-Germanic *blindaz.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -end

Adjective

blind

1. blind

References

• “blind” in Den Danske Ordbog

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blɪnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: blind
• Rhymes: -ɪnt

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch blint, from Old Dutch *blint, from Proto-West Germanic *blind, from Proto-Germanic *blindaz.

Etymology 2

From blinden.

Etymology

From Middle High German and Old High German blint, from Proto-West Germanic *blind.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blɪnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

blind (strong nominative masculine singular blinder, comparative blinder, superlative am blindesten)

1. blind

   blind für Realität ― blind to reality

   blind auf einem Auge ― blind in one eye

2. (of a mirror or windowpane) cloudy
   • 1918, Elisabeth von Heyking, Die Orgelpfeifen, in: Zwei Erzählungen, Phillipp Reclam jun. Verlag, page 9:

     So dunkel und schauerlich die Gruft aussah, wenn man durch die blinden, bestaubten Scheibchen der kleinen Fenster hineinblickte, so hell und freundlich war oben die Kirche.

     Just as dark and eerie the crypt looked like, if one looked in it through the cloudy, dusted little panes of the small windows, as bright and friendly was the church above.

See also

• blenden

Further reading

• “blind” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “blind” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “blind” in Duden online

Etymology

From Middle Low German blint, from Old Saxon blind. Cognate to Dutch blind, German blind.

Adjective

blind (comparative blinner, superlative blinnst)

1. blind

Adjective

blind

1. inflection of blindur:
   1. feminine singular nominative strong positive degree
   2. neuter plural nominative strong positive degree
   3. neuter plural accusative strong positive degree

Etymology

From Old Norse blindr, from Proto-Germanic *blindaz.

Adjective

blind (neuter singular blindt, definite singular and plural blinde)

1. blind

References

• “blind” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Etymology

From Old Norse blindr, from Proto-Germanic *blindaz. Akin to English blind.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blɪnː/, /blɪnd/

Adjective

blind (neuter blindt, definite singular and plural blinde, comparative blindare, indefinite superlative blindast, definite superlative blindaste)

1. blind

Verb

blind

1. imperative of blinda

References

• “blind” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *blind.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blind/

Adjective

blind (comparative blindra, superlative blindost)

1. blind
   • late 10th century, Ælfric, Lives of Saints

     Fif and twentiġ manna myslīċe ġeuntrume cōmon tō þām hālgan heora hǣle biddende; sum wǣron blinde, sume wǣron healte, sume ēac dēafe, and dumbe ēac sum and hī ealle wurdon ānes dæġes ġehǣlede þurh þæs hālgan þingunge and him hām ġewendon.

     Twenty-five men, sickened in various ways, came to the saint begging for the health; some were blind, some were lame, some were also deaf, and some were dumb, and they were all healed in one day through the intercession of the saint and went home.

   blind, dēaf, and dumb

   blind, deaf, and dumb

2. (substantive) a blind person

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *blind.

Adjective

blind

1. blind

Etymology

From Old Swedish blinder, from Old Norse blindr, from Proto-Germanic *blindaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blɪnːd/

Adjective

blind (comparative blindare, superlative blindast)

1. blind; unable or failing to see

   Om man är blind så kan man inte se

   If you are blind, you cannot see

   Jag litade blint på honom

   I trusted him blindly

   Jag var blind för vad som pågick

   I was blind to what was going on

References

• blind in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• blind in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• blind in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)