blind-born 
A person ... is apt to attribute to the blind-born . . . 
such habits of thought ... as his own. 
Whately, Rhetoric. 
blinde (blind), . Same as blende. 
blinded (bliu'ded), a. 1 . Provided with blinds, 
blinders, or blindages : as, a blinded house ; 
blinded batteries. 2. Having the window- 
shades drawn down ; with the blinds closed. 
I found the windows were blinded. 
Addison, Tatler, No. 120. 
He paced under the Minded houses and along the vacant 
streets. R. L. Stevenson, The Dynamiter, p. 13. 
blindedly (blin'ded-li), adv. As if blinded. 
blinder (olln'der), n. 1 . One who or that which 
blinds. 2. A blind or blinker on a horse's bri- 
dle. 
blind-fast (blind'fast), . The catch or fas- 
tening of a blind or shutter. 
blind-fish (blind'fish), n. 1. A cave-fish, one of 
the Amblyopsidw, having eyes rudimentary and 
useless for vision. The best-known is the Amblyopsis 
sjielteus, or blind-fish of the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky ; 
another is Typhlichthys sttbterraneus. Amblyopsis spe- 
lueus attains occasionally a length of 3 to 5 inches ; it has 
rudimentary and functioiiless eyes, and ventral fins small 
and of 4 rays each. The color is pale as if bleached. It 
inhabits the subterranean streams of Kentucky and Indi- 
ana, especially those in the Mammoth Cave. Typhlichthys 
subterraneus is a much smaller species and destitute of 
ventral this. It is an occasional associate of the Ambly- 
opsis. See cut under Amblyopsis. 
2. A myzont of the family Myxinida, Myxine 
glutinosa; the hag. [Local, Eng.] 
blindfold (blind'fold), a. [Earlymod. E. blind- 
fold, blindfeld, blyndfield, etc., < ME. blind- 
felled, -feld, -fuld, pp. of blindfellen, blindfold : 
see blindfold, .] 1. Having the eyes covered 
or bandaged, so as to be unable to see. 
To be spit in the face and be bofet and blyndfuld, alas ! 
Audelay, p. CO. 
2. Haying the mental eye darkened; hence, 
rash ; inconsiderate ; without foresight : as, 
"blindfold fury," Shak., V. and A., 1. 554. 
Fate's blindfold reign the atheist loudly owns. 
Drydcn, Suum Cuique. 
3f. Obscure; dark. 
If execution be remisse or blindfold now and in this par- 
ticular, what will it be hereafter and in other books? 
Milton, Areopagitica, p. 27. 
blindfold (blind'fold), v. t. [Early mod. E. Hind- 
fold, blindfeld, blindfield, blindfell (the second 
element being altered by confusion with fold, 
wrap up), < ME. blindfellen, blinfellen, blyndfellen 
(pret. blindfelde, pp. blindfelled, -feld, -folde), < 
blind, blind, + fellen, fell, strike: see blind and 
fell*-.] If. To strike blind ; to blind. 2. To 
coyer the eyes of; hinder from seeing by cov- 
ering the eyes. 
Thauh thu thin eien vor hia luv . . . blindfellie on 
eorthe. Ancren Riwle, p. 106. 
"When they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the 
face. Luke xxii. 64. 
blindfold (blind'fold), n. [< blindfold, .] A 
disguise ; a ruse ; a bland. See blind 1 , n., 2. 
The egotism of a Roman is a blindfold, impenetrable as 
his breastplate. L. Wallace, Ben-Hur, p. 106. 
blindfolded (blind'fol"ded), p. a. [Pp. of blind- 
fold, v.~\ Having the eyes covered; hindered 
from seeing. 
blind-Harry (blind'har'i), n. 1. A name for 
blindman's-buff. 2. A name for a puff-ball. 
blinding (blin'ding), n. [Verbal n. of blind 1 , v.] 
1. The act of making blind. 2. A layer of 
sand and fine gravel laid over a road which 
has been recently paved, to fill the interstices 
between the stones. 
blinding (blin'ding), p. a. [Ppr. of blind}, v.~] 
Making blind ; depriving of sight or of under- 
standing: as, a blinding storm of rain. 
Sorrow's eye glazed with blinding tears. 
Shak'., Rich. II., ii. 2. 
blindingly (blln'ding-li), adv. In a blinding 
manner; so as to blind. 
blind-ink (bllnd'ink), n. A writing-ink de- 
signed for the use of blind persons. On being 
applied to the paper, it swells, forming raised characters 
which can be read by the touch. 
blindless (blind'les), a. [< blind*, n., + - 
Without a blind or shade. 
s.] 
The new sun 
Beat thro' the blindless casement of the room. 
Tennyson, Geraint. 
blind-lift (blind'lif t), . A metal hook or catch 
on a sliding window-blind, by means of which it 
can be raised or lowered. Also called blind-pull. 
blindly (blmd'li), adv. [< ME. blyndly, < AS. 
blindlice, < blind, blind.] 1 . In a blind manner ; 
as a blind person ; without sight. 2. Without 
reasoning; without discernment; without re- 
quiring reasons; without examination; reck- 
lessly : as, to be led Mindly by another. 
588 
England hath long been mad and scarr'd herself ; 
The brother blindly shed the brother's blood, 
The father rashly slaughter'd his own son. 
Shah., Rich. III., v. 4. 
How ready zeal for interest and party is to charge 
atheism on those who will not, without examining, sub- 
mit, and blindly swallow their nonsense. Locke. 
blindman (blind'man), .; pi. bUnclmcn (-men). 
1. A clerk in a post-office whose duty it is to 
decipher obscure or illegible addresses on let- 
ters. [Eng.] Called blind-reader in the United 
States. 2. A blind or blinded person : used as 
a single word in certain phrases and names. 
Blindman's ball, blindman's bellows. See blindman's- 
buf, 2. Blindman's holiday, the time, just before the 
lamps are lighted, when it is too dark to work, and one is 
obliged to rest ; twilight ; gloaming. 
What will not blind Cupid doe in the night, which is 
his blindman's holiday ? 
Nashe, Lenten Stuffe (Harl. Misc., VI. 167). 
Indeed, madam, it is blindman's holiday ; we shall soon 
be all of a colour. Sieift, Polite Conversation, iii. 
blindman's-buff (bllnd'manz-buf), n. [< blind- 
man's + buff, a buffet, blow.] 1. A game in 
which one person is blindfolded and tries to 
catch and identify some one of the company. 
Sometimes called blindman-buff. 
My light's out, 
And I grope up and down like blind-man-buf. 
Fletcher and Shirley, Night- Walker, ii. 2. 
As once I play'd at Blind-man's Buff, it hupt 
About my Eyes the Towel thick was wrapt ; 
I miss'd the Swains, and seiz'd on Blouzalind, 
True speaks that ancient Proverb, " Love is Blind." 
Gay, Shepherd's Week, i. 95. 
2. A name of certain puff-balls of the genera 
Sovista and Lycoperdon. Also blindman's ball 
or bellows, and blind-ball. 
blindness (blind'nes), n. [ME. blindnes, -nesse, 
< AS. blindnysse; < blind + -ness.'] 1. The state 
of being blind, (a) Want of sight. (6) Want 
of intellectual discernment ; mental darkness ; 
ignorance ; heedlessness. 
Whensoever we would proceed beyond these simple 
ideas, we fall presently into darkness and difficulties, and 
can discover nothing farther but our own blindness and 
ignorance. Locke. 
2f. Concealment. 
Muftle your false love with some show of blindness. 
Shak.,C. of E., iii. 2. 
blind-officer (bllnd'ofi-ser), n. Same as blind- 
man. 1. [Eng.] 
blind-pull (blind'pul), n. Same as blind-lift. 
blind-reader (blind're'der), n. In the United 
States postal service, a clerk whose duty it is to 
decipher obscure or illegible addresses on mail- 
matter. 
blinds, n. See blens. 
blind-snake (blind'snak), n. A snake of the 
family Typhlopidw. 
blind-Stile (blind'stil), n. The stile of a blind. 
Blind-stile machine, a machine for making the mor- 
tises and tenons in 
blinds, and for bor- 
ing the holes for 
the slats. 
blindstitch 
(blind'stieh), . 
t. To sew or 
take stitches in 
(anything) in 
such a way that 
they will show 
only on one side 
of the thing 
sewed or stitch- 
ed, or not at all. 
blind-story 
(blind ' sto * ri), 
n. In medieval 
church-arch., 
the triforium : 
properly re- 
stricted to such 
examples as 
possess no ex- 
terior windows, 
as opposed to 
the clerestory, 
from which the 
chief lighting of the interior is derived. 
blindworm (blind' werm),i. [ME. blyndwormc. 
-wurme (= Sw. Dan. blindorm) ; < blind + worm.'] 
A small European lizard, Anguis fragilis, of the 
family Anguidw, having a slender limbless body 
and tail, like a snake, rudimentary shoulder- 
girdle, breast-bone, and pelvis, a scaly skin, 
concealed ears, and small eyes furnished with 
movable lids : so called because supposed to be 
a sightless worm, a notion as erroneous as is the 
supposition that it is poisonous. Also called 
orvet and slow-worm. 
blinkard 
black 
ag' 
Blind-story. Triforium of Lincoln 
Cathedral. 
blink (blingk), v. [= Sc. blink, blenk; < ME. 
blynken, rare and appar. only as var. of blenlc- 
en (see blenk, blench); not found earlier (though 
an AS. "blincan appears to be indicated by the 
causal verb blencan, deceive, > E. blench^) ; = D. 
blinken = G. blinken = Sw. blinka = Dan. blinke, 
shine, twinkle, blink, nasalized forms parallel 
with D. blikken = G. blicken = Sw. blicka = 
Dan. blikke, look, glance, from a strong verb 
repr. by AS. blicaii, shine : see blick 1 , blike, 
bleak^; and cf. blench^ and blink, re.] I. in- 
trans. 1. To wink rapidly and repeatedly; 
nictitate. 
A snake's small eye blinks dull and sly. 
Coleridge, Christabel, ii. 
He blinked with his yellow eyes, that seemed 
All sightless and blank to be. 
C. Thaxter, Great White Owl. 
2. To see with the eyes half shut or with fre- 
quent winking, as a person with weak eyes; 
hence, to get a glimpse ; peep. 
Show me thy chink, to blink through with mine eyne. 
Shot., M. N. D., v. 1. 
3. Figuratively, to look askance or indiffer- 
ently. 
Why then ignore or blink at moral purpose ? 
Hag. of Art, March, 1884. 
4. To intermit light; glimmer: as "a blinking 
lamp," Cotton, An Epigram. 5. To gleam tran- 
siently but cheerfully ; smile ; look kindly. 
[Scotch and prov. Eng.] 6. To become a lit- 
tle stale or sour : said of milk or beer. [Prov. 
Eng. and Scotch.] 
II. trans. If. To deceive; elude; shun. 2. 
To see or catch sight of with half-shut eyes; 
dimly see ; wink at. 
I heard the imp brushing over the dry leaves like a 
ick snake, and, blinking a glimpse of him, just over 
in yon big pine, I pulled as it might be on the scent. 
Cooper, Last of the Mohicans, v. 
3. Figuratively, to shut one's eyes to; avoid 
or purposely evade ; shirk : as, to blink a ques- 
tion. 
How can I blink the fact? 
Browning, Ring and Book, II. 214. 
Understand us. We blink no fair issue. . . . We have 
counted the cost. W. Phillips, Speeches, p. 34. 
4. To balk at ; pass by ; shirk : as, a dog that 
never blinked a bird. 
In fear he conies there, and consequently " blinks his 
birds." Dogs of Great Brit, and America, p. 240. 
5t. To blindfold; hoodwink. Landor. 
blink (blingk), n. [< ME. blink, a glance, = Sw. 
blink = Dan. blink; from the verb.] 1. A glance 
of the eye ; a glimpse. 
Loj this is the first blinke that ever I had of him. 
Bp. Hall, Works, II. 108. 
2. A gleam; ajglimmer; specifically, the gleam 
or glimmer reflected from ice in tie polar re- 
gions: hence the term ice-blink (which see). 
Not a Mink of light was there. Wordsworth, Sonnets, vii. 
After breakfast this morning, I ascended to the crow's 
nest, and saw to my sorrow the ominous blink of ice 
ahead. Kane, Sec. Grinn. Exp., I. 49. 
And where north and south the coast-lines run, 
The blink of the sea in breeze and sun. 
Whittier, Prophecy of Samuel Sewall. 
3. A very short time ; a twinkling : as, bide a 
blink. [Scotch.] 4t. A trick; a scheme. 5. 
pi. Boughs thrown to turn aside deer from their 
course ; also, feathers, etc., on a thread to scare 
birds. If. E. D. 6. A fishermen's name for 
the mackerel when about a year old. See spike 
and tinker. 
blinkardt (bliug'kard), . [< blink + -ard, as 
in drunkard, dotard.] 1. A person who blinks 
or sees imperfectly; one who squints. 
Among the blind the one-eyed blinkard reigns. 
Char, of Holland, in Harl. Misc. (ed. 1810), V. 613. 
For I was of Christ's choosing, I God's knight, 
No blinkard heathen stumbling for scant light. 
Swinburne, Laus Veneris. 
2. That which twinkles or glances, as a dim 
star which appears and disappears. 
