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Definition of blank adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

blank

adjective
 
/blæŋk/
 
/blæŋk/
Idioms
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  1. empty, with nothing written, printed or recorded on it
    • Sign your name in the blank space below.
    • a blank CD
    • Write on one side of the paper and leave the other side blank.
    • She turned to a blank page in her notebook.
    • I left the third column blank.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    • go
    • remain
    adverb
    • completely
    • entirely
    See full entry
  2. (of a wall or screen) empty; with no pictures, marks or decoration
    • blank whitewashed walls
    • Suddenly the screen went blank.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    • go
    • remain
    adverb
    • completely
    • entirely
    See full entry
  3. showing no feeling, understanding or interest
    • She stared at me with a blank expression on her face.
    • Steve looked blank and said he had no idea what I was talking about.
    • Suddenly my mind went blank (= I could not remember anything).
    • I asked several people about it and just got blank stares in return.
    Extra Examples
    • His expression remained studiously blank.
    • Her explanation was met with blank looks.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    • look
    • go
    adverb
    • completely
    • totally
    • studiously
    See full entry
  4. [only before noun] (of negative things) complete and total
    • a blank refusal/denial
    see also point-blank
  5. Word OriginMiddle English (in the sense ‘white, colourless’): from Old French blanc ‘white’, ultimately of Germanic origin.
Idioms
a blank canvas/slate
  1. a person or thing that has the potential to be developed or changed in many different ways
    • The building is a blank canvas for a clever investor to potentially make a lot of money.
    • Alice was a blank slate in the first film because she had memory loss and knew nothing about herself.
See blank in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee blank in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
trait
noun
 
 
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