blanket

[blang-kit]

noun

1. a large, rectangular piece of soft fabric, often with bound edges, used especially for warmth as a bed covering.

2. a similar piece of fabric used as a covering for a horse, dog, etc.

3. the chief garment traditionally worn by some American Indians.

4. any extended covering or layer.

   a blanket of snow.

   Synonyms: coating, overlay, mantel, coat, cover

5. Printing.

   1. (in a press for offset printing) the rubber-covered cylinder to which an inked impression is transferred from the plate for transfer directly to the paper.

   2. (in a press for letterpress printing) the resilient covering on the cylinder against which the paper is pressed in printing.

6. a thick roll or strip of material for thermal insulation.

verb (used with object)

1. to cover with or as with a blanket.

   wild flowers blanketing the hillside.

2. to obscure or obstruct; interfere with; overpower (usually followed byout ).

   An electrical storm blanketed out the radio program.

3. to toss (someone) in a blanket, as in fraternity hazing.

4. Nautical.,  (of a vessel) to take wind from the sails of (another vessel) by passing closely to windward.

adjective

1. covering or intended to cover a large group or class of things, conditions, situations, etc..

   a blanket proposal; a blanket indictment.

blanket

/ ˈblæŋkɪt /

noun

1. a large piece of thick cloth for use as a bed covering, animal covering, etc, enabling a person or animal to retain natural body heat

2. a concealing cover or layer, as of smoke, leaves, or snow

3. a rubber or plastic sheet wrapped round a cylinder, used in offset printing to transfer the image from the plate, stone, or forme to the paper

4. physics a layer of a fertile substance placed round the core of a nuclear reactor as a reflector or absorber and often to breed new fissionable fuel

5. (modifier) applying to or covering a wide group or variety of people, conditions, situations, etc

   blanket insurance against loss, injury, and theft

6. informal,  illegitimate

verb

1. to cover with or as if with a blanket; overlie

2. to cover a very wide area, as in a publicity campaign; give blanket coverage

3. (usually foll by out) to obscure or suppress

   the storm blanketed out the TV picture

4. nautical to prevent wind from reaching the sails of (another sailing vessel) by passing to windward of it

Other Word Forms

• blanketless adjective
• blanketlike adjective
• unblanketed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of blanket¹

1250–1300; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French, equivalent to blanc white ( blank ) + -et -et

Word History and Origins

Origin of blanket¹

C13: from Old French blancquete , from blanc ; see _blank

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. born on the wrong side of the blanket, born out of wedlock.

see security blanket; wet blanket.

Example Sentences

By avoiding inflammatory rhetoric, China is building itself an off-ramp to move the policy away from a blanket ban without losing face.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Once you’ve secured your snacks, grab a picnic blanket or low chair and head over to Hollywood Forever Cemetery to watch a movie — a favorite L.A. experience for many of my colleagues.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Rooms are still coated with a thick blanket of ash and littered with melted appliances and mattress coils—the shells of beds that were set on fire.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The family stretched out the blankets they had brought with them and slept under the tarp.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Next to him, Yuriy, lying under a survival blanket, forced a smile.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• carpet 
• cloak 
• coat 
• coating 
• comforter 
• layer 
• mat 
• quilt 
• rug 
• sheet