blank

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
blank/blaŋk/

▶adjective

• 1 not marked or decorated; bare, empty, or plain.

• 2 not comprehending or reacting: a blank look.

• 3 complete; absolute: a blank refusal to discuss the issue.

• 4 used euphemistically in place of an obscene word.

▶noun

• 1 a space left to be filled in a document.

• 2 (also blank cartridge) a cartridge containing gunpowder but no bullet.

• 3 an empty space or period of time: my mind was a total blank.

• 4 an object with no mark or design on it, in particular a roughly cut disc or block intended for stamping or finishing.

• 5 a dash written instead of a word or letter, especially to avoid using an obscene word.

▶verb

• 1 make blank or empty.

• 2 Brit. informal deliberately ignore (someone).

• 3 N. Amer. defeat without allowing the opponent to score.

• 4 cut (a metal blank).

– phrases
draw a blank elicit no successful response.

– derivatives
blankly adverb,
blankness noun.

– origin ME (in the sense ‘white, colourless’): from OFr. blanc ‘white’, ult. of Gmc origin.