blanket

[ blang-kit ]
See synonyms for: blanketblanketedblanketing on Thesaurus.com

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

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

  1. the chief garment traditionally worn by some American Indians.

  2. any extended covering or layer: a blanket of snow.

  3. 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.

  4. a thick roll or strip of material for thermal insulation.

verb (used with object)
  1. to cover with or as with a blanket: wild flowers blanketing the hillside.

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

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

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

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

Idioms about blanket

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

Origin of blanket

1
1250–1300; Middle English <Anglo-French, Old French, equivalent to blanc white (see blank) + -et-et

Other words for blanket

Other words from blanket

  • blan·ket·less, adjective
  • blan·ket·like, adjective
  • un·blan·ket·ed, adjective

Words Nearby blanket

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use blanket in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for blanket

blanket

/ (ˈblæŋkɪt) /


noun
  1. 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

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

  1. 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

  2. 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

  3. (modifier) applying to or covering a wide group or variety of people, conditions, situations, etc: blanket insurance against loss, injury, and theft

  4. born on the wrong side of the blanket informal illegitimate

verb(tr)
  1. to cover with or as if with a blanket; overlie

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

  1. (usually foll by out) to obscure or suppress: the storm blanketed out the TV picture

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

Origin of blanket

1
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

Other Idioms and Phrases with blanket

blanket

see security blanket; wet blanket.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.