Blandness
(Bland"ness), n. The state or quality of being bland.
Blank
(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
(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.
