Part 680

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.

Blan"ket (&?;), n. [F. blanchet, OF. also blanket, a woolen waistcoat or shirt, the blanket of a printing press; prop. white woolen stuff, dim. of blanc white; blanquette a kind of white pear, fr. blanc white. See Blank, a.] 1. A heavy, loosely woven fabric, usually of wool, and having a nap, used in bed clothing; also, a similar fabric used as a robe; or any fabric used as a cover for a horse.

2. (Print.) A piece of rubber, felt, or woolen cloth, used in the tympan to make it soft and elastic.

3. A streak or layer of blubber in whales.

The use of blankets formerly as curtains in theaters explains the following figure of Shakespeare. Nares.

Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark To cry, "Hold, hold!" Shak.

Blanket sheet, a newspaper of folio size. -- A wet blanket, anything which damps, chills, dispirits, or discour&?;ges.

Blan"ket, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Blanketed; p. pr. & vb. n. Blanketing.] 1. To cover with a blanket.

I'll . . . blanket my loins. Shak.

2. To toss in a blanket by way of punishment.

We'll have our men blanket 'em i' the hall. B. Jonson.

3. To take the wind out of the sails of (another vessel) by sailing to windward of her.

Blanket cattle. See Belted cattle, under Belted.

Blan"ket*ing, n. 1. Cloth for blankets.

2. The act or punishment of tossing in a blanket.

That affair of the blanketing happened to thee for the fault thou wast guilty of. Smollett.

Blank"ly (&?;), adv. 1. In a blank manner; without expression; vacuously; as, to stare blankly. G. Eliot.

2. Directly; flatly; point blank. De Quincey.

Blank"ness, n. The state of being blank.

||Blan*quette" (&?;), n. [F. blanquette, from blanc white.] (Cookery) A white fricassee.

||Blan*quil"lo (&?;), n. [Sp. blanquillo whitish.] (Zoöl.) A large fish of Florida and the W. Indies (Caulolatilus chrysops). It is red, marked with yellow.