from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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.
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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.
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From this time there ensues a long blank in the
history of French legislation. --Hallam.
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I was ill. I can't tell how long -- it was a blank.
--G. Eliot.
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2. A lot by which nothing is gained; a ticket in a lottery on
which no prize is indicated.
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In Fortune's lottery lies
A heap of blanks, like this, for one small prize.
--Dryden.
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3. A paper unwritten; a paper without marks or characters a
blank ballot; -- especially, a paper on which are to be
inserted designated items of information, for which spaces
are left vacant; a bland form.
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The freemen signified their approbation by an
inscribed vote, and their dissent by a blank.
--Palfrey.
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4. A paper containing the substance of a legal instrument, as
a deed, release, writ, or execution, with spaces left to
be filled with names, date, descriptions, etc.
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5. The point aimed at in a target, marked with a white spot;
hence, the object to which anything is directed.
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Let me still remain
The true blank of thine eye. --Shak.
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6. Aim; shot; range. [Obs.]
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I have stood . . . within the blank of his
displeasure
For my free speech. --Shak.
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7. A kind of base silver money, first coined in England by
Henry V., and worth about 8 pence; also, a French coin of
the seventeenth century, worth about 4 pence. --Nares.
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8. (Mech.) A piece of metal prepared to be made into
something by a further operation, as a coin, screw, nuts.
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9. (Dominoes) A piece or division of a piece, without spots;
as, the "double blank"; the "six blank."
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{In blank}, with an essential portion to be supplied by
another; as, to make out a check in blank.
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