blanket

[blang-kit]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR blanket ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

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

the chief garment traditionally worn by some American Indians.

any extended covering or layer: a blanket of snow.

Printing.

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

a thick roll or strip of material for thermal insulation.

verb (used with object)

to cover with or as with a blanket: wild flowers blanketing the hillside.

to obscure or obstruct; interfere with; overpower (usually followed by out): An electrical storm blanketed out the radio program.

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

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

adjective

covering or intended to cover a large group or class of things, conditions, situations, etc.: a blanket proposal; a blanket indictment.

Idioms

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

Origin of blanket

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

Related formsblan·ket·less, adjectiveblan·ket·like, adjectiveun·blan·ket·ed, adjective

Synonyms for blanket

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR blanket ON THESAURUS.COM

4. cover, coat, mantle, overlay, coating.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for blanket

Contemporary Examples of blanket

Aside from a blanket ban, social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit are nearly impossible to control.
China’s Internet Is Freer Than You Think
Brendon Hong
December 27, 2014
“He would have preferred to have been given a bed rather than a blanket on the floor,” the judge said.
What It’s Like to Be Snatched by the Delta Force
Michael Daly
October 9, 2014
The correct procedure in that case is obvious: you cover her with a blanket and leave her alone.
‘The Fappening’ Perpetuators Have a J.Law Come-to-Jesus Moment and ‘Cower With Shame’
Marlow Stern
October 8, 2014
Cameron said he was rejecting calls for “sweeping and blanket” new laws.
David Cameron's Plan to Fight ISIS Will Likely Involve Racial Profiling
Clive Irving
September 2, 2014
I had to do three scenes for the audition: the blanket scene where she says, “You pimped me out for a blanket?”
Orange Is the New Black’s Kimiko Glenn on Hippie Brook Soso and Chapel Sex with Natasha Lyonne
Marlow Stern
June 18, 2014

Historical Examples of blanket

"We called it the Stick-which-kills-flying," said the Indian, and hid it again under his blanket.
The Trail Book
Mary Austin
In other words, and to be concrete, put these things in the car while I fold the blanket.
Her Father's Daughter
Gene Stratton-Porter
She leaned forward, and with her closed fist, pounded the blanket before him.
Her Father's Daughter
Gene Stratton-Porter
Here, take my hunting shirt and cap, and give me your blanket and hat.
The Last of the Mohicans
James Fenimore Cooper
The cook fluttered about in his blanket, brandishing a saucepan.
It Happened in Egypt
C. N. Williamson

British Dictionary definitions for blanket

blanket

noun

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

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

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

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

(modifier) applying to or covering a wide group or variety of people, conditions, situations, etcblanket insurance against loss, injury, and theft

born on the wrong side of the blanket informal illegitimate

verb (tr)

to cover with or as if with a blanket; overlie

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

(usually foll by out) to obscure or suppressthe storm blanketed out the TV picture

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

Word Origin for blanket

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for blanket

c.1300, "bed-clothing; white woolen stuff," from Old French blanchet "light wool or flannel cloth; an article made of this material," diminutive of blanc "white" (see blank (adj.), which had a secondary sense of "a white cloth." Wet blanket (1830) is from the notion of a person who throws a damper on social situations like a wet blanket smothers a fire. In U.S. history, a blanket Indian (1859) was one using the traditional garment instead of wearing Western dress.

Only 26,000 blanket Indians are left in the United States. ["Atlantic Monthly," March 1906]

c.1600, "to cover with or as with a blanket;" also "to toss in a blanket" (as punishment), from blanket (n.). Related: Blanketed; blanketing.

Idioms and Phrases with blanket

blanket

see security blanket; wet blanket.

blanket

noun

verb (used with object)

adjective

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Idioms

Origin of blanket

Synonyms for blanket

Examples from the Web for blanket

Contemporary Examples of blanket

Historical Examples of blanket

blanket

noun

verb (tr)

Word Origin for blanket

blanket