# blank

Pronunciation: say "BLANGK" /blæŋk/

## Adjective

1. Free from writing, printing, marks, or other distinguishing features, often with space left to be filled in.
   - Simple: With nothing written, printed, or marked on it, and no features to notice.
   - _Please leave the bottom section blank if it does not apply to you._
   - _He stared at the blank page, unsure how to begin his essay._
3. Showing no expression or understanding on the face, usually because the person does not comprehend.
   - Simple: Showing no expression on the face, often because of not understanding.
   - _The students returned blank stares when the teacher posed the problem._
   - _His expression stayed blank as the instructions grew more confusing._
5. Empty of thoughts, memories, or ideas, as when the mind produces nothing, leaving one at a complete loss.
   - Simple: Having no thoughts in your mind at that moment, so you cannot think what to say or do.
   - _When the interviewer asked about his weaknesses, his mind went blank._
   - _The composer sat at the piano, his imagination utterly blank._
15. Of ammunition, containing propellant but no bullet, so it produces a report without firing a projectile.
   - Simple: Holding gunpowder but no bullet, so it makes noise without firing anything.
   - _The reenactors loaded blank cartridges for the battle scene._
   - _Every round in the prop weapon was blank._
19. Empty or void; without result or success, and so essentially fruitless and futile.
   - Simple: Ending with no result or success, so that nothing is gained.
   - _The police checked every lead, but each one came up blank._
   - _After a week of interviews, the reporters came up blank and had no story._
23. Complete and unqualified; sheer or utter.
   - Simple: Total and complete, with nothing held back.
   - _Her confession was greeted with blank disbelief._
   - _He stared at the wreckage in blank astonishment._

## Noun

2. An empty space on a form or template that is meant to be filled in.
   - Simple: An empty space on a form where you write an answer.
   - _Each applicant must complete every blank on the registration form._
   - _She left several blanks unanswered because she didn't know the dates._
4. A vacant space, place, or period of time where something might be expected; also, something that comes to nothing at all.
   - Simple: An empty space or time where something should be, or something that turns out to be nothing.
   - _Between the two careers lay a blank she could never quite explain._
   - _His calendar showed nothing but a blank for the entire month._
6. Short for blank cartridge: a gun cartridge loaded with powder but no bullet, fired for its bang and flash in training, ceremonies, and films. — Ellipsis of blank cartridge.
   - Simple: Short for blank cartridge: a gun round that makes a bang but shoots no bullet.
   - _The officer loaded a blank before the ceremonial salute._
   - _Film armorers rely on blanks to simulate gunfire safely._
8. A document, paper, or form with spaces left empty to be filled in at the discretion of the recipient or as circumstances require. *(US)*
   - Simple: A form or paper with empty spaces left to be filled in later.
   - _He was given a blank and told to enter the amount himself._
   - _The agent kept signed blanks ready for urgent contracts._
9. A piece of material roughly cut, cast, or formed to the size and shape of the object to be made, ready to be finished, stamped, or recorded on, like a metal disk before coining.
   - Simple: A piece of material roughly shaped and ready to be finished, stamped, or recorded on.
   - _A machinist clamped the aluminum blank in the vise and began milling it into a bracket._
   - _At the mint, blanks are fed between two dies and struck into coins._
11. An empty space in one's memory; a forgotten item or memory that cannot be recalled.
   - Simple: An empty place in your memory where something has been forgotten.
   - _She tried to recall his name, but found only a blank._
   - _The witness admitted that the moments after the crash were a total blank._
16. In tile-based word games, a zero-point tile that may stand for any letter.
   - Simple: A game piece that can be used as any letter and is worth no points.
   - _Using a blank for the second E, she completed the high-scoring word._
   - _Both blanks came out early, which limited his options later._
17. The space character produced by pressing the space bar on a keyboard.
   - Simple: The empty space you make when you press the space bar.
   - _The parser treats every blank as a delimiter between tokens._
   - _Remove the extra blanks at the end of each line._
18. A dash written in place of a letter or word that has been omitted.
   - Simple: A dash written instead of a letter or word that is left out.
   - _The censored letter was full of blanks where sensitive names had been._
   - _He printed a blank rather than spell out the offensive term._
13. An attempt that has no effect and comes to nothing, used in the expression shooting blanks, especially in sports.
   - Simple: An effort that gets no result, used in the phrase shooting blanks, often in sports.
   - _The Rangers outshot their opponents 40 to 12 but kept shooting blanks against a goalie who stopped everything._
   - _After a month of shooting blanks, the league's top scorer finally found the net on Saturday._
20. A leaf of a book that carries no printed text.
   - Simple: A page in a book with nothing printed on it.
   - _The binder added a blank at the front for the owner's bookplate._
   - _Marginal notes spilled onto the blanks bound between sections._
22. A domino on which at least one half is unmarked.
   - Simple: A domino with no dots on one or both of its ends.
   - _The double blank is often the lowest piece in the set._
   - _He matched his blank to the empty end of the chain._
14. Semen that is incapable of causing pregnancy, heard chiefly in the slang phrase 'shooting blanks'. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Semen (a man's sperm fluid) that cannot make a woman pregnant, used in the slang phrase 'shooting blanks'.
   - _When a year passed without a pregnancy, he quietly feared he was shooting blanks, but his test results came back normal._
   - _Once a test confirmed his vasectomy had worked, he joked to his brother that he was officially shooting blanks._

## Verb

7. To prevent an opposing team or player from scoring, especially in a sporting contest.
   - Simple: To stop the other team or player from scoring any points.
   - _The defense managed to blank their rivals for the entire match._
   - _The pitcher blanked the opposing lineup through seven innings._
10. To go blank; to become empty of content, thought, or expression, especially to be briefly unable to think of or remember something.
   - Simple: To suddenly become empty, or to suddenly be unable to think of or remember something.
   - _Halfway through the speech, my mind blanked and I forgot my next line._
   - _The old television would blank if you bumped it._
12. To render void or to erase, removing whatever content was previously there.
   - Simple: To wipe out or erase something completely.
   - _The editor blanked the offending paragraph from the final proof._
   - _You can blank the entire form with a single click._
21. To deliberately ignore a person, refusing to acknowledge their presence or greeting. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To deliberately ignore someone and act like they aren't there.
   - _He completely blanked his ex when she walked into the room._
   - _If you blank the new coworker again, she'll think you're rude._

## Other meanings

- (noun) Unrhymed verse written in a regular meter, typically iambic pentameter; blank verse.
- (noun) The white spot at the center of a target, and by extension the object aimed at or the reach of such aim.
- (noun) A control sample that contains none of the substance being analyzed, run to produce a deliberate non-detection so that a true detection can be distinguished from it.
- (verb) To render ineffective by enveloping in turbulent airflow, such as the wake of an aircraft or the wash of reverse thrust.
- (adjective) Lacking color, so that something looks white or washed out.
- (noun) A coin of medieval France worth five deniers, struck first in silver and later in copper, or a similar silver piece Henry V issued in English-held France.
- (noun) A state of complete bewilderment in which a person cannot think how to act or reply.
- (noun) A lottery ticket or drawn lot that wins nothing.
- (noun) In a British parliamentary bill, italicized placeholder wording for practical details whose final form is decided later in committee.
- (noun) An old, extremely small unit of weight equal to one 230,400th part of a grain.

## Origin

From Middle English blank, borrowed through Anglo-Norman from Old French blanc (feminine blanche), meaning "white." This came from Frankish *blank ("gleaming, white, blinding"), from Proto-Germanic *blankaz, ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to shine." It is related to Old English blanc ("white, grey") and Spanish blanco.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/blank (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).