blankblank1 /blæŋk/ ●●○ S3 adjective 
Leave the last page blank. a blank cassette► see thesaurus at empty2a blank face or look shows no emotion, understanding, or interestblank face/look/expression/eyes Zoe looked at me with a blank expression. She gazed at him in blank astonishment.3go blank a)if your mind goes blank, or if you go blank, you are suddenly unable to remember something: My heart began to race and my mind went blank. b)to stop showing any images, writing etc: Suddenly the screen went blank.—blankness noun [uncountable] → blank verse
WORD ORIGINblank1
Origin:
1200-1300 Old French blanc; ➔ BLANCHEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- a blank expression
- a blank sheet of paper
- I said hello, and she gave me a blank look.
- I want to record the late-night movie. Do we have any blank video cassettes?
- I want to tape a show at 9:00. Are there any blank tapes?
- Ian stared at the blank sheet of paper in front of him.
- Maria could tell by the blank look in my eyes that I didn't understand.
- The children's faces were blank with sleepiness.
- As far as minimum requirements go, you will need to take at least one blank video cassette with you.
- Even the television had doors to hide its blank gray screen.
- If the field is left blank, a default value will be provided and displayed.
- In the blank spaces at the bottom of the chart, add other words you need.
- Nigel was installed in the office with a blank sheet of paper in front of him when Eleanor arrived.
- Signature block At the end of your letter, leave three lines of blank space for your signature.
- Tell them to look immediately at the middle of the blank sheet of paper.
- With wide, blank eyes he shuffled towards them.
THESAURUSwith nothing in it or on it
used about something that has nothing inside: · an empty can of hair spray· The fridge is almost empty.
used about a computer screen or a piece of paper that has no writing or pictures on it, or a CD, DVD etc with nothing recorded on it: · a blank sheet of paper· He stared at the blank screen for a few minutes.· a blank tape
used about a room or cupboard that has very little in it: · His room was bare except for a bed and a wardrobe.
used about something that has an empty space inside: · a hollow tree· The suitcase had a hollow bottom.
Longman Language Activatorpaper/tape/screen a blank screen, tape, or piece of paper has nothing written or recorded on it: · Ian stared at the blank sheet of paper in front of him.· I want to record the late-night movie. Do we have any blank video cassettes?
a place that has been left empty in a piece of writing, especially so that you can write something in it: · There's a space for you to sign your name.· Write your address in the space provided.empty space: · The students were told to fill in the empty spaces with suitable adjectives.
a page or piece of paper that is empty has nothing written or drawn on it: · He stared at the empty page. The test was nearly over, and he hadn't managed to answer any of the questions.· an empty canvas with a few red blobs in the centre
a face that does not show any feelings or opinions · Oswini was watching her with expressionless eyes.· Terry's face was expressionless as he listened to the report.
showing no emotion, interest, or understanding in your expression, for example because you are bored, or have not been paying attention to what is being said: · Maria could tell by the blank look in my eyes that I didn't understand.· The children's faces were blank with sleepiness.
deliberately showing no humour in your expression, even though what you are saying or doing is meant as a joke: · "We're out of gas, so I guess you'll have to walk home," he said, giving me a deadpan expression.
someone who has an inscrutable expression shows no emotion or reaction, so it is impossible to guess what they are thinking or feeling: · She looked for some response, but Jean's expression remained inscrutable.· The inscrutable gaze of the palace guards made me a little nervous.
someone who is poker-faced does not show at all what they are thinking or feeling, either because they do not want other people to know or because they disapprove of something: · Not even Will Rogers could make the poker-faced President laugh.· Albert, normally poker faced, wore a look of shock.
not showing any emotion, especially in a situation where you would normally expect someone to be sad, shocked, upset, etc: · Russell struggled to keep an impassive face as she continued.· The defendant remained impassive as the judge announced the guilty verdict.
to suddenly forget something spoken use this to say that you know a name or word, but you are having difficulty remembering it at that moment: · That place we visited in Paris, what's it called? It's on the tip of my tongue.
spoken if a name, detail, fact etc escapes you, you forget it for a very short time but you know you will remember it soon: · I know I've heard this song before but its name escapes me.· Although I know that the novel was published in the nineteenth century, the actual date escapes me.
spoken if you can't place someone or something, you recognize them but have forgotten their name or where you met them before: · I'm sure I've seen him before, but I just can't place him.· Her perfume seemed so familiar but he couldn't place it
if your mind goes blank you are suddenly unable to remember something at a time when you need it: · That's... Oh, my mind's gone blank -- I can't remember her name.· My mind goes blank when I have to take a test.
British to forget what you were going to say or what you are supposed to say when speaking or acting, especially because you are nervous: · I dried up just as I was about to talk, even though I had been preparing the speech for weeks.· There was one worrying moment where one of the actors seemed to dry up for a few seconds.
if details, a piece of information etc go in one ear and out the other , you forget them very quickly because you are not interested or not listening properly: · She understands nothing about football so it all goes in one ear and out the other.· He was trying to explain the assignment to me but it just went in one ear and out the other.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Leave the last page blank. Zoe looked at me with a blank expression.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES He refused point-blank to identify his accomplices. a point-blank refusal The bullet was fired at point-blank range. Bring me a blank tape and I’ll record it for you.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN
Leave the last page blank. Zoe looked at me with a blank expression. (=signed but without the amount written on it)· I wasn't sure how much the tickets would be so I gave her a blank cheque.
(=one that shows no emotion, understanding, or interest)· The blank expression on Bobbie’s face gave way to anger.
(=showing no emotion or thoughts)· What was she really thinking behind that blank face?
(=with nothing on it)· There were a couple of blank pages at the back of the book.
He refused point-blank to identify his accomplices. a point-blank refusal The bullet was fired at point-blank range. (=immediate, direct, and without a reason)· This point-blank refusal to discuss the issue enraged him.
(=directly and without explanation)· I refused point-blank to let him in.
(=one with no writing on it)
(=on a page, wall etc)· Write your refund request in the blank space on Line 9.
(=showing no emotion, understanding, or interest)· Mention his name, and you get mostly blank stares.
Bring me a blank tape and I’ll record it for you.· Outside, on the front lawn hoisted atop a wooden flagpole, an eternal blank check waves bravely in the breeze.· But the public consensus for a Pentagon blank check collapsed with the Cold War.· But I want to know where my party is going before I give it a blank check.
· And here ... sign this blank cheque for what you owe.· There will be no blank cheque for missile defence.· He was effectively granted a blank cheque to conduct a war without Congressional authorization for up to 90 days.
· All seven of her faces wear a blank expression.· Through all the speeches and songs, she stood under a tree, her blank expression never changing.· That last night, when the returns started coming in, he had this blank expression on his face.
· That face was not the blank face that Cardiff had expected.· I did so when the under-30 crowd gave me blank faces at my casual reference to High Noon.· Behind his blank face, Gabriel was playing the Wishing Game.· The children opened too-large mouths in otherwise blank faces.· The blank face will serve the same purpose as old style screens.· I presented a blank face to the outside world.· There's 9,000 shivering punters in here, 7,500 of which have blank faces.· As a sleeping princess, her blank face and torso exaggerate rather than diminish the beauty of her preternaturally leggy dancing.
· Leave blank lines between paragraphs and make frequent use of headings to hold the reader's interest.· Press Enter once more to insert a blank line.· Repeatedly doing this will move the cursor through all of the blank lines until it reaches the maximum.· Press Enter twice-once to end the salutation, a second time to insert a blank line. 9.· The deleted line appears at the top of the list, followed by a blank line. 10.· Insert three blank lines between the date and the body of the letter.· You press the Enter key to begin a new paragraph or to insert blank lines in the text.· Legal documents, for example, often require line numbers, even on blank lines.
· Her head sank on to her chin and a kind of blank look misted over her eyes.· There were pauses and blank looks.· If you ask a user what sort of system he wants you will be met with a blank look.
· Like an author, Eloise would write what she chose on the blank page, would turn Jenny into her own creation.· She found black men impossible to draw or to paint; she could not bear to trace defeat on to blank pages.· Couldn't have picked up the pen and opened the notebook and faced the blank page.· Another strategy my children use is to keep their notebooks open to a blank page while reading one of their books.· He'd been staring at the blank page in his typewriter and wondering where he could find the enthusiasm to write.· There are no blank pages in his book.· Just the type of blank page made to suit a man like him.· Pointing to the initial blank page, I ask Tony what the title for his book will be.
· I was then told to go away and write down my entire life history on three sheets of blank paper.· Needless to say, all that was left was a blank paper where all his hard work had been.· The figure of Robert Duvall was holding a briefcase; he glanced inside but found nothing but a sheet of blank paper.· Tears come to your eyes as you read the blank paper for what it can tell you.· A labourer howls in the nothingness of the blank paper, which is also the empty, impoverished land.· Karen couldn't see much at that distance; even the paintings on the walls looked like blank paper.· Hold on to all these smells until the evening, when you can deliver them up on to the blank paper.
· As you launch the program you're greeted with a friendly main menu rather than a blank screen.· In front of the blank screen, the officer stood scolding.· You turned it on but nothing is happening - blank screen, no whirring noise, no beeps, no flashing lights.· So I faced a blank screen... no preconceptions, restrictions, or restraints.· The smears on the television had gone so she gazed at the reflection of the sunlight on the blank screen instead.· Many who signed on later in the day were turned away with blank screens or error messages.
· We must ensure Brian Wilson's blank sheet of paper is full of good ideas before too long.· Manion put the seven blank sheets of paper and the accompanying envelopes in a file folder and left for lunch.· Inevitably, when he arrived home he found he had nothing but a blank sheet of photographic paper.· To put it simply, it is difficult to get beyond that first blank sheet of paper.· He still had to put his own words on this blank sheet in front of him.· You will also need blank sheets of paper of the same size, markers, and paper for students.· Nigel was installed in the office with a blank sheet of paper in front of him when Eleanor arrived.· Put the bell picture up on the wall with the blank sheet of paper next to it. 2.
· Peter Edwards looks at the blank space that now passes for a promotions policy.· Deadwood was just a blank space in the marriage.· Documents must not be handed to drivers or otherwise issued with blank spaces for recording particulars of tare weights or net weights.· In the blank spaces at the bottom of the chart, add other words you need.· On the map it was pretty well blank space, save for the thin blue lines of creeks or marsh drains crisscrossing it.· Even in the worst case, there will still be four blank spaces between columns.· Don't leave a blank space here - no one's life is perfect.· To delete a tab stop, position the cursor in the blank space of the tab area, then press Del.
· Have you made a note of some kind that reminds you to research the blank spots further? 4.
· Poindexter gave him a blank stare.· But ask them when fund shareholders should sell their funds, and you get a blank stare.· Julie found herself drawn almost hypnotically to the blank stares.· As his eyes adjusted to the dimness he began to feel dominated by the blank stares of the plaster martyrs.· All he got in return was a blank stare and a cloud of fresh cigar smoke.
· Buying that blank tape had been a waste, for she knew she would never dare play it back.· Put about ten on a blank tape, then play it once through to your Six.· And the success of the established record industry's campaign for a royalty on blank tape could also contribute.· Using the freezer facility, can I put all my games on blank tapes to load faster?
· Coleridge had developed an apparently relaxed, but in fact extremely clever style of blank verse.
· A blank wall the height of a house on your right.· I went to the window and looked out on the blank wall.· But there's no sky, no stars, just the opaque blank wall next door.· Behind her is a blank wall or perhaps a sheet tacked up as a makeshift backdrop.· The low vaulted roof stretched for some forty feet until it met the blank wall at the far end.· The goal was another peg, some 30 feet and almost horizontally leftwards across yet another blank wall.· The future is not a blank wall to line up against, but a way to be walked.· You may decide to put a table and a lectern in front of a blank wall.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRYPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► somebody’s mind goes blank
1without any writing, print, or recorded sound: - I just went blank and couldn't remember his name for a minute.
- Suddenly the screen went blank.
- I remember standing there getting red in the face and my mind going blank.
- It was as if his mind had gone blank or had become a golden mind, as Larry's had.
- Mine start when I go blank.
- My mind went blank with grief and despair.
- The screen went blank, unlike his mind.
- We sat beside him and encouraged him when he stumbled or went blank.
- When she asked Karen a question, even though Karen knew the answer her mind immediately went blank.
- Why then do their minds go blank as soon as they turn over the question paper?
- We cannot let our democracy become a matter of simply giving a bunch of politicians a blank cheque to govern us every five years.
- I just drew a blank on the last test question.
- Once again police investigators have drawn a blank.
- But other experiments continue to draw blanks, as two recent papers in Physical Review Letters report.
- He used the word discreet and drew a blank.
- Maggie had drawn a blank, none of the bodies were of those she was looking for.
- No, I draw a blank.
- Outside, it is closing time and we have drawn a blank.
- Police inquiries so far have drawn a blank.
- Ron Wyden, drew a blank when asked where Bosnia was.
- Well, we've drawn a blank.
Leave the last page blank. a blank cassette► see thesaurus at empty2a blank face or look shows no emotion, understanding, or interestblank face/look/expression/eyes Zoe looked at me with a blank expression. She gazed at him in blank astonishment.3go blank a)if your mind goes blank, or if you go blank, you are suddenly unable to remember something: My heart began to race and my mind went blank. b)to stop showing any images, writing etc: Suddenly the screen went blank.—blankness noun [uncountable] → blank verse