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, or Blank 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.
Blank (&?;), n. 1. Any
void space; a void space on paper, or in any written instrument; an
interval void of consciousness, action, result, etc; a void.
I can not write a paper full, I used to do; and yet I will
not forgive a blank of half an inch from you.
Swift.
From this time there ensues a long blank in the
history of French legislation.
Hallam.
I was ill. I can't tell how long -- it was a
blank.
G. Eliot.
2. A lot by which nothing is gained; a ticket in a
lottery on which no prize is indicated.
In Fortune's lottery lies
A heap of blanks, like this, for one small prize.
Dryden.
3. A paper unwritten; a paper without marks or
characters a blank ballot; -- especially, a paper on which are to be
inserted designated items of information, for which spaces are left vacant;
a bland form.
The freemen signified their approbation by an inscribed
vote, and their dissent by a blank.
Palfrey.
4. A paper containing the substance of a legal
instrument, as a deed, release, writ, or execution, with spaces left to be
filled with names, date, descriptions, etc.
5. The point aimed at in a target, marked with a
white spot; hence, the object to which anything is directed.
Let me still remain
The true blank of thine eye.
Shak.
6. Aim; shot; range. [Obs.]
I have stood . . . within the blank of his
displeasure
For my free speech.
Shak.
7. A kind of base silver money, first coined in
England by Henry V., and worth about 8 pence; also, a French coin of the
seventeenth century, worth about 4 pence. Nares.
8. (Mech.) A piece of metal prepared to be
made into something by a further operation, as a coin, screw,
nuts.
9. (Dominoes) A piece or division of a
piece, without spots; as, the "double blank"; the "six
blank."
In blank, with an essential portion to be supplied
by another; as, to make out a check in blank.
Blank, v. t. [imp. & p. p.
Blanked (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Blanking.]
[Cf. 3d Blanch.] 1. To make void; to
annul. [Obs.] Spenser.
2. To blanch; to make blank; to damp the spirits
of; to dispirit or confuse. [Obs.]
Each opposite that blanks the face of joy.
Shak.
