blank

From Middle English blank, blonc, blaunc, blaunche, from Anglo-Norman blonc, blaunc, blaunche, from Old French blanc, feminine blanche, from Frankish *blank (“gleaming, white, blinding”), from Proto-Germanic *blankaz (“white, bright, blinding”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleyǵ- (“to shine”). Akin to Old High German blanch (“shining, bright, white”) (German blank), Old English blanc (“white, grey”), blanca (“white steed”), Spanish blanco. More at blink, blind, blanch. Doublet of blanc.

• IPA^(key): /blæŋk/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æŋk

blank (comparative blanker or more blank, superlative blankest or most blank)

1. (archaic) White or pale; without colour.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 656–657:

     To the blanc Moone / Her office they preſcrib'd,

2. Free from writing, printing, or marks; having an empty space to be filled in

   blank paper

   a blank check

   a blank ballot

   a blank CD

   • 2011 December 27, Mike Henson, “Norwich 0 - 2 Tottenham”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:

     Referee Michael Oliver failed to detect a foul in a crowded box and the Canaries escaped down the tunnel with the scoreline still blank.

3. (figurative) Lacking characteristics which give variety; uniform.

   a blank desert; a blank wall; blank unconsciousness

4. Absolute; complete; downright; sheer.

   a blank refusal to cooperate

   There was a look of blank terror on his face.

5. (figurative) Without expression, usually because of incomprehension.

   Failing to understand the question, he gave me a blank stare.

6. Utterly confounded or discomfited.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 888–890:

     Adam […] Aſtonied ſtood and Blank,

7. Empty; void#Adjectivevoid]]; without result; fruitless; futile.

   a blank day

8. Devoid of thoughts, memory, or inspiration.

   The shock left his memory blank.

9. (military) Of ammunition: having propellant but no bullets; unbulleted.

   The recruits were issued blank rounds for a training exercise.

• Belizean Creole: blank

blank (plural blanks)

1. (archaic, historical, obsolete) A small French coin, originally of silver, afterwards of copper, worth 5 deniers; also a silver coin of Henry V current in the parts of France then held by the English, worth about 8 pence [15th–17th century].
   • 1523, Jean Froissart, transl. by John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners, Cronycles of Englande, Fraunce etc.:

     Whosoeuer brought a fagot before the kynges tent, he shulde haue a blanke of Fraunce.

2. (obsolete) A nonplus [16th century].
3. The white spot in the centre of a target; hence (figuratively) the object to which anything is directed or aimed, the range of such aim [since the 16th century].
   • 1603, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice‎^[2]:

     Des. […] And stood within the blank of his displeasure / For my free speech! (Act III, scene 11)

   • 1606, William Shakespeare, King Lear‎^[3]:

     Kent. See better, Lear, and let me still remain / The true blank of thine eye. (Act I, scene 2)

4. A lot by which nothing is gained; a ticket in a lottery on which no prize is indicated [since the 16th century].
   • 1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, Thomas Creech, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: Printed for Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC, page 257:

     […] and in Fortune's Lottery lies / A heap of Blanks, like this, for one ſmall Prize.

5. An empty space; a void, for example on a paper [since the 16th century].
   1. A space to be filled in on a form or template.

      Write your answers in the blanks.

   2. Provisional words printed in italics (instead of blank spaces) in a bill before Parliament, being matters of practical detail, of which the final form is to be settled in committee [since the 19th century].
6. (now chiefly US) A document, paper, or form with spaces left blank to be filled in at the pleasure of the person to whom it is given (e.g. a blank charter, ballot, form, contract, etc.), or as the event may determine; a blank form [since the 16th century].
   • 1859, John Gorham Palfrey, History of New England‎^[4], volume 1:

     […] and the freemen signified their approbation by an inscribed vote, and their dissent by a blank.

   1. An empty form without substance; anything insignificant; nothing at all [since the 17th century].
   2. An unprinted leaf of a book [20th century].
7. (literature) Blank verse [since the 16th century].
8. (mechanics, engineering) A piece of material roughly cut, forged, cast, etc. to the size and shape of the thing to be made, and ready for the finishing operations; (coining) the disc of metal before stamping [since the 16th century].
   1. Any article of glass on which subsequent processing is required [since the 19th century].
   2. (electric recording) The shaved wax ready for placing on a recording machine for making wax records with a stylus [20th century].
9. (figurative) A vacant space, place, or period; a void [since the 17th century].
   • c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv], page 263, column 1:

     Du. And what's her hiſtory?
     Vio. A blanke my Lord:

10. The ¹ / ₂₃₀₄₀₀ of a grain [17th century].
11. An empty space in one's memory; a forgotten item or memory [since the 18th century].
    • 1736, Jonathan Swift, Letters‎^[5]:

      My head is so ill that I cannot write a paper full as I used to do; and yet I will not forgive a blank of half an inch from you.

    • 1818, Henry Hallam, View of the State of Europe During the Middle Ages‎^[6]:

      From this time there ensues a long blank in the history of French legislation.

    • 1863, George Eliot, Romola‎^[7]:

      “I was ill. I can't tell how long — it was a blank. […] ”

12. A dash written in place of an omitted letter or word [since the 18th century]
13. The space character; the character resulting from pressing the space bar on a keyboard.
14. (dominoes) A domino without points on one or both of its divisions.

    the double blank

    the six blank

15. (firearms) Short for blank cartridge. [since the 19th century].

    It was an unloaded gun that fired only blanks.

16. (figurative, in the expression ‘shooting blanks’, sports) An ineffective effort which achieves nothing [since the 20th century].
    1. (chemistry) A sample for a control experiment that does not contain any of the analyte of interest, in order to deliberately produce a non-detection to verify that a detection is distinguishable from it.
    2. (slang) Infertile semen.

• (bullet that doesn't harm): blank cartridge, blank bullet

blank (third-person singular simple present blanks, present participle blanking, simple past and past participle blanked)

1. (transitive) To make void; to erase.

   I blanked out my previous entry.

2. (transitive, slang) To ignore (a person) deliberately.

   She blanked me for no reason.

   • 2024 February 4, Sonia Horon, “Taylor Swift goes viral for BLANKING Celine Dion on stage at Grammys 2024 after diva emerges from battle with stiff-person syndrome to present her with historic Album of the Year”, in dailymail.co.uk‎^[8]:

     Taylor Swift goes viral for blanking Celine Dion on stage at Grammys 2024 […] Taylor Swift received backlash for being 'disrespectful' by 'ignoring' Celine Dion while accepting the award for Album of the Year at the Grammys on Sunday.

3. (transitive, aviation, of a control surface) To render ineffective by blanketing with turbulent airflow, such as from aircraft wake or reverse thrust.

   At high angles of attack, the shuttle’s rudder is blanked by the fuselage and wings, forcing it to use its RCS thrusters for yaw control.

4. (transitive) To prevent from scoring; for example, in a sporting event.

   The team was blanked.

   England blanks Wales to advance to the final.

5. (intransitive) To become blank.
   • 2007 February 14, NASA, “4.5.2 Two-Engine-Out Contingency Software Termination”, in Contingency Aborts 21007/31007‎^[9], archived from the original on 8 March 2022, page 45:

     In OPS 6, the 2 EO color field does blank at SSME fine count. Once in fine count in route to an RTLS MECO, the energy state is such that one engine can carry the orbiter though powered pitch-down to a healthy MECO condition with standard RTLS guidance.

6. (intransitive, informal) To experience a temporary lapse of memory; to be temporarily unable to remember a particular fact. Note: Usually used in the first person, present progressive tense; and commonly followed by on to create a transitive phrasal verb.

   Synonyms: draw a blank, freeze, freeze up

   I’m blanking on her name right now.

   She asked him a simple question during the interview, and he blanked.

• Almost any sense of this can occur with out. See blank out.

From Dutch blank.

• IPA^(key): /blaŋk/

• Audio:

  (file)

blank (attributive blanke, comparative blanker, superlative blankste)

1. white
2. White; Caucasian

• swart

blank m (plural blanke, feminine blanka)

1. Alternative form of blanc

From Middle Low German blank, from Old Saxon blank, from Proto-West Germanic *blank.

blank

1. shiny, reflective, glossy

   Antonym: mat

2. (of e.g. paper) empty, blank, bearing no inscription or drawings
3. direct, without circumvention or additions
   • 2023 January 17, Malte Bruhn, Altinget‎^[10]:

     “En samlet opposition siger blankt nej til regeringens adgangsbillet til forsvarsforlig.”

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

4. (colloquial) broke (without money)

   Synonym: flad

5. (colloquial) ignorant, clueless

• “blank” in Den Danske Ordbog

From Middle Dutch blanc, from Old Dutch *blank, from Proto-West Germanic *blank, from Proto-Germanic *blankaz.

• IPA^(key): /blɑŋk/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: blank
• Rhymes: -ɑŋk

blank (comparative blanker, superlative blankst)

1. white, pale
2. white (having a light skin tone)

   Synonym: wit

   Coordinate terms: zwart, bruin, donker

3. not written or printed on

   Synonym: blanco

   Heb je nog een blank velletje papier voor me?

   Do you have a blank sheet of paper for me?

4. colorless, transparent
5. pure

• (having a light skin tone): Blank is the traditional word for “white” in Dutch, particularly in Europe, and is usually intended as a neutral descriptor. It is sometimes asserted to be tainted by the colonial era and to have a supposed connotation of cleanliness and purity. Certain people, particularly people of colour, activists, and media in Europe therefore prefer wit since the late 2010s, possibly influenced by English, although blank remains very common among white people. See Blank en wit in het racismedebat on the Dutch Wikipedia.

• blank staan
• blankvoorn

• Afrikaans: blank

From Middle High German blanc, from Old High German blanc (“shining, bright”), from Proto-West Germanic *blank. Doublet of Plenk.

• IPA^(key): /blaŋk/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aŋk

blank (strong nominative masculine singular blanker, comparative blanker, superlative am blanksten)

1. (archaic) bright
2. spotlessly clean; shining; polished

   Du musst die Platte blank scheuern.

   You must rub the platter until it is shining.

3. bare; naked; uncovered

   mit blankem Hintern ― with one’s behind uncovered

4. pure; sheer

   Blanke Wut packte ihn.

   Sheer anger seized him.

5. (colloquial) broke; out of money
6. (card games) being a player’s last one of a respective grouping of cards (which means that the card is unprotected when the player must follow suit in trick-taking games)

   Hätte ich Trumpf ausgespielt, wäre mein Fuchs blank gewesen.

   If I had played trump, my “fox” [ace of diamonds in Doppelkopf] would have been my last trump card.

• blitzblank

• “blank” in Duden online
• “blank” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “blank” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.

From Middle Low German blank.

blank (masculine and feminine blank, neuter blankt, definite singular and plural blanke, comparative blankere, indefinite superlative blankest, definite superlative blankeste)

1. glossy, shining, shiny
2. bright, clear, glittering, sunny
3. blank (e.g. cheque, paper, mind)

• speilblank

• “blank” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “blank_1” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

• IPA^(key): /blɑŋk/

blank (neuter blankt, definite singular and plural blanke, comparative blankare, indefinite superlative blankast, definite superlative blankaste)

1. shiny, reflective

   Dei pussa sølvtøyet så det vart blankt.

   They shined the silver until it was shiny.

2. exactly, point zero (of time)

   Han sprang 100 meter på ti blank.

   He ran 100 meters in ten point zero seconds.

3. blank, empty

   Ho gav dottera eit blankt ark til å teikna på.

   She gave her daughter a blank piece of paper to draw on.

4. without knowledge about something

   Eg er heilt blank om dette temaet.

   I know nothing about this subject.

• “blank” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

From Middle Low German blank, from Old Saxon blank, from Proto-West Germanic *blank.

blank

1. shiny, lustrous, glittering

Borrowed from German blank.

• IPA^(key): /ˈblaŋk/
• Rhymes: -aŋk
• Syllabification: blank

blank

1. completely, entirely, wholly
2. necessarily
3. very

• blank in silling.org
• Barbara Podgórska, Adam Podgóski (2008) “blank”, in Słownik gwar śląskich [A dictionary of Silesian lects], Katowice: Wydawnictwo KOS, →ISBN, page 39

From Middle Low German blank, from Old Saxon blank, from Proto-West Germanic *blank. Displaced native Swedish black, from Old Norse blakkr.

blank (comparative blankare, superlative blankast)

1. smooth and shiny, glossy

   en blank yta

   a smooth and shiny surface

   polera ytan blank

   polish the surface smooth and shiny

   blank is / blankis

   smooth, shiny (and sometimes by implication slippery) ice

   Pokalen var skinande blank

   The trophy was smooth, clean, and super shiny / had a spotless shine ("skinande blank" (shining blank) is a common collocation)

2. blank (without text, of something ordinarily having text)

   en blank sida

   a blank page

3. (in some expressions) unequivocal, straight-up

   Jag säger blankt nej

   I reject it absolutely

• ge blanka fan

• blänka

• blank in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• blank in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• blank in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
• blank in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)