Added 3 October 2026
blank
/blænk/ adjective
adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about blank at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
noun
- A small French coin, originally of silver, afterwards of copper, worth 5 deniers; also a silver coin of Henry V current in the parts of France then held by the English, worth about 8 pence. .mw-parser-output .defdate{font-size:smaller}
- A nonplus.
- The white spot in the centre of a target; hence the object to which anything is directed or aimed, the range of such aim.
verb
-
To make void; to erase.
I blanked out my previous entry.
-
To ignore (a person) deliberately.
She blanked me for no reason.
-
To render ineffective by blanketing with turbulent airflow, such as from aircraft wake or reverse thrust.
At high angles of attack, the shuttle’s rudder is blanked by the fuselage and wings, forcing it to use its RCS thrusters for yaw control.
Origin
From Middle English blank, blonc, blaunc, blaunche, from Anglo-Norman blonc, blaunc, blaunche, from Old French blanc, feminine blanche, from Frankish *blank (“gleaming, white, blinding”), from Proto-Germanic *blankaz (“white, bright, blinding”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleyǵ- (“to shine”). Akin to Old High German blanch (“shining, bright, white”) (German blank), Old English blanc (“white, grey”), blanca (“white steed”), Spanish blanco. More at blink, blind, blanch. Doublet of blanc.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)