draw a blank

Idioms  

1. Fail to find or remember something, as in He looks familiar but I've drawn a blank on his name. This expression alludes to drawing a lottery ticket with nothing on it (so one cannot win a prize). [Early 1800s]

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Example Sentences

When I draw a blank, I don’t ask it to fill in the gap for me.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

This is why, whenever anyone asks me about favorite family dishes, I usually draw a blank and ask if Pepperidge Farm cookies count as a response.

From Salon • Jun. 18, 2023

And while people in New York celebrate its cycles of boom and bust, ask Melburnians about their city’s recent history and many draw a blank.

From New York Times • Sep. 16, 2022

But where he can remember more and more of his friend Byron — an amateur survivalist whose name the protagonist recalls far earlier than his own — his wife’s face continues to draw a blank.

From Los Angeles Times • May 25, 2022

And in the silence, of course, you can hear a pin drop. draw a blank.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

Related Words

• lose consciousness
• pass out