blandlloquence 
flatteringly, < blanduit, flattering, + loquen(t-)s, 
ppr. of Tor/Mi, speak.] Fair, mild, or flatter- 
ing speech ; courteous language ; compliment. 
[Rare.] 
blandimentt (blan'di-ment), n. [= Sp. blau- 
diniii'ntii = It. hhtndimtiiiii, < Jj. bliiiiiliiiirntuin,(. 
liliniiliri, flatter: see blandish.'] Blandishment; 
allurement ; enticement. 
Allure no man with suasions and hlandimtnti. 
Up. Burnet, Injunctions to the Monasteries, 
Itemp. Hen. VIII., I., App. 
blandiset, '' A Middle English form of blandish. 
blandish (lilan'dish), p. [< ME. blaundislten, 
blandisen, < OF. blandiss-, stem of certain parts 
of blandir= Pr. Sp. blaiidir = It. blantlire, < L. 
blandiri, flatter, caress, < blandus, caressing, 
gentle, bland : see bland", a.] I. trims. 1. To 
Hatter ; caress ; coax or cajole with complai- 
sant speech or caressing act. 2. To render 
pleasing, alluring, or enticing. 
In former days a country-life, 
Fur so time-honoured poets sing, 
Free from anxiety and strife, 
Was Unn/lix/i'd by perpetual spring. 
/- O. Cooper, Retreat of Aristippus, Ep. i. 
3. To offer or bestow blandly or caressingly: 
as, to blandish words or favors. [Bare and 
archaic in all uses.] 
Il.t intrttns. To assume a caressing or blan- 
dishing manner. 
How she blandishing 
r.y Dunsmore drives along. 
Drayton, Polyolbioii, xiii. 318. 
blandished (blan'disht), p. a. Invested with 
flattery, cajolery, or blandishment. 
Mustering all her wiles, 
With blamlish'd parlies, feminine assaults. 
Milton, S. A., 1. 403. 
blandisher (blan'dish-er), n. One who blan- 
dishes ; a flatterer. 
blandishing (blan'dish-ing), n. [< ME. blan- 
disingc; verbal n. of blandish.'] Blandishment. 
Double-hearted friends, whose blandishing* 
Tickle our ears, but sting our bosoms. 
J. Beaumont, Psyche, vi. 3. 
blandishing (blan'dish-ing), a. [< ME. blaun- 
dysltiny ; ppr. of blandish.] Mild; soothing. 
The see hath eke his ryght to be somtimc calm and 
I'linniii iixliiii'j with smothc water. 
Chaucer, Boethlus, ii., prose 2. 
blandishment (blan'dish-ment), n. [< OF. blan- 
dissemcnt, < blandir: see blandish and -ment.'] 
1. Speech or action expressive of affection or 
kindness, and tending to win the heart ; an art- 
ful caress ; flattering attention ; cajolery ; en- 
dearment. 
As thus he spake, each bird and beast behold 
Approaching two and two ; these cowering low 
With blaii<li*hment : each bird stoop'd on his wing. 
jtfitton, P. L., vili. 351. 
Blandishments will not fascinate us. 
D. Webster, Speech, Bunker Hill. 
2. Something bland or pleasing; that which 
pleases or allures. 
The rose yields her sweet* blandishment. 
Habington, Castara, ii. 
The blandishments of early friendships. 
Longfellow, Hyperion, Iv. 6. 
blandly (bland'li), adv. In a bland manner; 
with suavity ; mildly ; gently, 
blandness (bland'nes), . [< bland + -ness.] 
The state or quality of being bland ; mildness ; 
gentleness ; soothinguess. 
Envy was disarmed by the blandne of Albemarle's 
temper. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xxiii. 
blandurilla(blan-du-rira),n. [8p.,dim.of blan- 
dura, softness, a white paint used by women, 
< blando, soft, bland, < L. blandus: see bland*, 
.] A fine soft pomatum made in Spain. 
blank (blangk), a. and . [Early mod. E. also 
bliinc, blanck; < ME. blank, fern, blanche (see 
blanch 1 , a.), < OF. blanc, fern, blanche, white 
(= Pr. blanc = Sp. bianco = Pg. branco = It. 
bianco; ML. blaaeus), < OHG. blanch, MHG. 
blanc, Or. blank, shining, bright (= MLG. blank 
= D. blanl: = Sw. Dan. blank, shining, = AS. 
"blanc, only in poet, deriv. blanca, a white or 
gray horse, ME. blanke, blonke, Sc. blank; cf. 
Icel. blaJckr, poet., a horse, steed) ; usually re- 
ferred to a Teut. verb "blinkan (pret. *blanl;), 
shine, which, however, is not found in the 
older tongues: see blink. In the sense of a 
coin (II., 7, 8), OF. blanc, MLG. blank, MD. 
blanrkc (ML. Matica), orig. with ref. to the color 
of silver.] I. a. 1. White or pale: as, "the 
blanc moon," Milton, P. L., x. 656. 
Blank as death in nmrMe. Tennyson, Princess, i. 
2. Pale from fear or terror ; hence, dispirited ; 
dejected : confounded ; confused. 
37 
577 
Adam, soon as lie heard 
The fatal trespass done by Eve, amazed, 
Astouied st.HHl ami blank. Milton, P. L, Ix. 890. 
Iti old woman wox half i>l>m<-l: those wordes to hoare. 
Spenter, V. Q., III. iii. 17. 
3. Empty or unoccupied ; void ; bare. 
So blacken'd all her world in secret, blank 
And waste it seem'd and vain. 
Tenwjum, Princess, vli. 
Now slowly falls the dull blank night 
Bryant, Rain-Dream. 
Specifically (a) Free from written or printed characters ; 
not written upon : as, a blank book ; blank paper ; blank 
spaces. ('>) Not tilled up : applied to legal, banking com- 
mercial, or other forms: as, a blank check or order; a 
1,1,1 iik ballot ; a blank bond, (c) Of uniform surface ; un- 
relieved or unbroken by ornament or opening : as, a blank 
wall. ((/) Empty of result*, of interest, etc. : as, a blank 
outlook for the future. 
4. Without con tents; especially, wanting some 
part necessary to completeness : as, blank car- 
tridges, that is, cartridges containing powder 
but no ball. 5. Vacant in expression; exhib- 
iting perplexity, real or feigned; nonplussed; 
disconcerted. 
Never be blank, Alonzo, 
Because this fellow has ouUtript thy fortune. 
Fletcher, Rule a Wife, II. 2. 
The Danuell of Burgundie, at sight of her own letter, 
was soon blank, and more ingenuous then to stand out- 
facing. Milton, Elkonoklastes, xxi. 
6. Complete; utter; unmitigated: as, 
stupidity," Percival. 
All but the suffering heart was dead 
For him abandoned to blank awe, 
To vacancy, and horror strong. 
Wordsworth, White Doe of Rylstone, vi. 
7. Unrimed : applied to verse, particularly to 
the heroic verse of five feet without rime, such 
as that commonly adopted in English dramatic 
and epic poetry Blank bar, bond, cartridge, 
charter, door, flange, Indorsement, wheel, etc. See 
the nouns. 
II. n. 1. Any void space or vacant surface; 
a space from which something is absent or 
omitted; a void; a vacancy: as, a blank in 
one's memory ; to leave blanks in writing. 
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. Swift. 
From the cheerful ways of men 
Cut off, and for the book of knowledge fair 
Presented with a universal blank 
Of nature's works, to me expunged and rased. 
Milton, P. L., iii. 48. 
2. A piece of paper prepared for some spe- 
cial use, but without writing or printed matter 
on it. 
The freemen signified their approbation by an inscribed 
vote, and their dissent by a blank. Palfrey. 
3. A form or document containing blank spaces ; 
a document remaining incomplete till some- 
thing essential is filled in. 
And daily new exactions are devls'd 
As blanks, benevolences, and I wot not what. 
SAoi., Rich. II., H. 1. 
4. In parliamentary usage, provisional words 
printed in italics in a bill, the final form of 
which is to be settled in committee. 5. A 
ticket in a lottery on which no prize is indi- 
cated; a lot by wnich nothing is gained. 
In a lottery where there are (at the lowest computation) 
ten thousand blanks to a prize, It la the most prudent 
choice not to venture. 
Lady M. W. Montagu, Letters, Jan. 28, 1753. 
6. In archery, the white mark in the center of 
a butt or target at which an arrow is aimed ; 
hence (archaically), the object toward which 
anything is directed ; aim ; target. 
As level as the cannon to his blank. 
Shak., Hamlet, Iv. 1. 
Let me still remain 
The true blank of thine eye. 
Shiik., Lear, I. 1. 
Quite beyond my arm, out of the blank 
And level of my brain. Shak., W. T., il. 8. 
7. Same as blanc, 1. 8. A small copper coin 
formerly current in France. 
Refuse not a marvedi, a blank. 
Middleton and Rowley, Spanish Oypsy, II. 1. 
9. A piece of metal prepared to be formed into 
some finished object by a further operation: 
as, a blank for a file or a screw; specifically, in 
coining, a plate or piece of gold or silver, cut 
and shaped, but not stamped. 10. A blank 
verse. 
Five lines of that number, 
Snch pretty, begging blanks. 
Beau, and Fl., PhDaster, II. 2. 
lit. A weight, equal to jjnVtnt of a grain, 
blank (blangk), r. t. [< blank, .] It. To make 
blank ; make white or pale ; blanch. 
Blount anise and left the hall, while Raleigh looked 
after him with an expression that blanked for a moment 
his bold and animated countenance. 
Scott, Kenilworth, I. ivii. 
blanketing 
2t. To confuse ; put out of countenance ; dis- 
concert; nonplus. 
Despoil him, . . . 
And with confusion Mnnk his worshippers. 
Milton, S. A.. I. 471. 
3t. To frustrate ; make void ; bring to naught. 
All former purposes were blanrked. 
Nprnsrr, State of Ireland. 
4. A common euphemistic substitute for damn, 
referring to t he blank or dash which is common- 
ly substituted in printing for that word when it 
is used as a profane expression. [Slang.] 
blank-book (blangk'buk), n. A book of ruled 
or unruled writing-paper for accounts, memo- 
randa, etc. 
blanket (blang'ket), n. [< ME. blanket, blan- 
ket, < OF. blanket (F. blanchet, ML. blankettis, 
blanchetus), also fern, blankete, blanguette, dim. 
of blanc, white: see blank, .] It. A coarse 
woolen fabric, white or undyed, used for cloth- 
ing. 2. A large oblong piece of soft, loosely 
woven woolen cloth, used for the sake of its 
warmth as a bed-covering, or (usually made 
of coarser material and closer texture) as a 
covering for a horse when standing or exposed 
to cold, and sometimes worn as a garment, es- 
pecially among rude or uncivilized people. 
3. In printing, a sheet of woolen cloth, white 
baize, or rubber, laid between the outer and 
inner tympana of a hand-press, or on a ma- 
chine-cylinder, to moderate and equalize the 
pressure on the type. 4. In cloth-printing, the 
cover of the printing-table. 5. Same as blan- 
quette, 4. 6. In paper-making, an endless felt 
upon which the pulp is laid A wet blanket, one 
who or that which damps, depresses, or disappoints any 
hope, expectation, or enjoyment. 
"But," nald the chairman, and that "but" was the 
usual ttft blanket. Dickens. 
Born on the wrong side of the blanket, of illegiti- 
mate birth. 
blanket (blang'ket), r. t. [< blanket, n.~] 1. 
To cover with a blanket or as with a blanket : 
as, to blanket a horse. 
Ill ... blanket my loins. Shak., Lear, II. S. 
Blanketted like a dog, 
And like a cut-purse whipt. 
Matrinyer, Parliament of Love, iv. 5. 
The importance of the blanketing action of our atmo- 
spheric constituents has been In no way over-stated. 
Science, V. 450. 
2. To toss in a blanket by way of punishment 
or practical joke. 
We'll have our men blanket 'em i' the hall. 
Ii. Jonson, Epfccene, v. 4. 
3. To take the wind out of the sails of, as the 
sails of one vessel when it is passing close to 
windward of another. 
B's helmsman will be apt to sail his boat as close to the 
wind as possible, and try to "claw to windward." and 
prevent A from blanketing him. 
Qualtrough, Boat Sailer's Manual, p. 135. 
blanket-bar (blang'ket-bar), n. AII iron bar 
used to keep the blanket of a printing-press in 
place, 
blanket-clause (blang'ket-klaz), w. A general 
or indefinite clause framed so as to provide for 
a number of contingencies. 
Suitable annual appropriations . . . require no Wan- 
ket~clausc to justify or cover them. 
Report of Sec. V. S. Treasury, 1886, I. ill. 
blanketrdepqsit (blang'ket-de-poz'it), n. The 
name given in some parts of the Cordilleran 
mining region, especially in Colorado and Utah, 
to deposits of ore occurring in a form having 
some of the characters of those elsewhere des- 
ignated as flat sheets, bedded veins, beds, or flat 
masses. They are frequently intercalated between rocks 
of different litholojrical character and origin, in which 
case they partake of the nature of contact-deposits. The 
occurrences of ore at Leadville are of this nature. 
blanketeer (blang-ket-er'), . [< blanket + 
-per.] It. One who tosses in a blanket. 2. 
One of the radical reformers of Lancashire 
who, on March 10th, 1817, at a meeting in St. 
Peter's Fields, Manchester, decided to march 
to London with a petition for parliamentary re- 
form, each man having a rug or blanket strapped 
on his shoulder, so that he might bivouac on the 
road if necessary. 
blanketeer (blang-ket-er'), r. i. [< blanketeer, 
.] To act as a blanketeer. 
Tills epistle awaited her at Beamish's inn on returning 
from her blanketeering adventure. 
The Husband Hunter (1830), iii. 230. (X. and Q.. 
[7th ser.. II. S.) 
blanketing (blang'ket-ing), n. 1. Coarse 
woolen cloth of which blankets are made. 
2. A supply or quantity of blankets. 3. The 
