white space

noun

1. the unprinted area of a piece of printing, as of a poster or newspaper page, or of a portion of a piece of printing, as of an advertisement; blank space:

   White space is as effective in a layout as type.

Word History and Origins

Origin of white space¹

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

It’s more so just seeing that there’s a real white space for the audience and that there’s really no destination for women.

From Slate

In August 2007, an endless white space appeared on Nickelodeon’s Nick Jr., into which stepped a man wearing an orange track suit and a fuzzy orange hat.

From Los Angeles Times

It said it responded to the current situation by turning words into blank squares and white space.

From Seattle Times

It said it could only turn words into blank squares and white space to respond to the current situation.

From Seattle Times

Her style was bold and fresh: often red and black graphics with lots of white space, and always sans serif Helvetica lettering — an astonishing sight in San Francisco at the time, where most lettering was either traditional typefaces like Baskerville and Times Roman and, a bit later, the loopy, trippy, hippie style found on rock posters and album covers.

From New York Times