\Blank\, a. [OE. blank, blonc, blaunc, blaunche, fr. F.
blanc, fem. blanche, fr. OHG. blanch shining, bright, white,
G. blank; akin to E. blink, cf. also AS. blanc white. ?98.
See {Blink}, and cf. 1st {Blanch}.]
1. Of a white or pale color; without color.
         To the blank moon Her office they prescribed.
                                               --Milton.
2. Free from writing, printing, or marks; having an empty
   space to be filled in with some special writing; -- said
   of checks, official documents, etc.; as, blank paper; a
   blank check; a blank ballot.
3. Utterly confounded or discomfited.
         Adam . . . astonied stood, and blank. --Milton.
4. Empty; void; without result; fruitless; as, a blank space;
   a blank day.
5. Lacking characteristics which give variety; as, a blank
   desert; a blank wall; destitute of interests, affections,
   hopes, etc.; as, to live a blank existence; destitute of
   sensations; as, blank unconsciousness.
6. Lacking animation and intelligence, or their associated
   characteristics, as expression of face, look, etc.;
   expressionless; vacant. ``Blank and horror-stricken
   faces.'' --C. Kingsley.
         The blank . . . glance of a half returned
         consciousness.                        --G. Eliot.
7. Absolute; downright; unmixed; as, blank terror.
{Blank bar} (Law), a plea put in to oblige the plaintiff in
   an action of trespass to assign the certain place where
   the trespass was committed; -- called also {common bar}.
{Blank cartridge}, a cartridge containing no ball.
{Blank deed}. See {Deed}.
{Blank door}, or {Blank window} (Arch.), a depression in a
   wall of the size of a door or window, either for
   symmetrical effect, or for the more convenient insertion
   of a door or window at a future time, should it be needed.
{Blank indorsement} (Law), an indorsement which omits the
   name of the person in whose favor it is made; it is
   usually made by simply writing the name of the indorser on
   the back of the bill.
{Blank line} (Print.), a vacant space of the breadth of a
   line, on a printed page; a line of quadrats.
{Blank tire} (Mech.), a tire without a flange.
{Blank tooling}. See {Blind tooling}, under {Blind}.
{Blank verse}. See under {Verse}.
{Blank wall}, a wall in which there is no opening; a dead
   wall.

\Blank\, n.
1. Any void space; a void space on paper, or in any written
   instrument; an interval void of consciousness, action,
   result, etc; a void.
         I can not write a paper full, I used to do; and yet
         I will not forgive a blank of half an inch from you.
                                               --Swift.
         From this time there ensues a long blank in the
         history of French legislation.        --Hallam.
         I was ill. I can't tell how long -- it was a blank.
                                               --G. Eliot.
2. A lot by which nothing is gained; a ticket in a lottery on
   which no prize is indicated.
         In Fortune's lottery lies A heap of blanks, like
         this, for one small prize.            --Dryden.
3. A paper unwritten; a paper without marks or characters a
   blank ballot; -- especially, a paper on which are to be
   inserted designated items of information, for which spaces
   are left vacant; a bland form.
         The freemen signified their approbation by an
         inscribed vote, and their dissent by a blank.
                                               --Palfrey.
4. A paper containing the substance of a legal instrument, as
   a deed, release, writ, or execution, with spaces left to
   be filled with names, date, descriptions, etc.
5. The point aimed at in a target, marked with a white spot;
   hence, the object to which anything is directed.
         Let me still remain The true blank of thine eye.
                                               --Shak.
6. Aim; shot; range. [Obs.]
         I have stood . . . within the blank of his
         displeasure For my free speech.       --Shak.
7. A kind of base silver money, first coined in England by
   Henry V., and worth about 8 pence; also, a French coin of
   the seventeenth century, worth about 4 pence. --Nares.
8. (Mech.) A piece of metal prepared to be made into
   something by a further operation, as a coin, screw, nuts.
9. (Dominoes) A piece or division of a piece, without spots;
   as, the ``double blank''; the ``six blank.''
{In blank}, with an essential portion to be supplied by
   another; as, to make out a check in blank.

\Blank\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Blanked}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Blanking}.] [Cf. 3d {Blanch}.]
1. To make void; to annul. [Obs.] --Spenser.
2. To blanch; to make blank; to damp the spirits of; to
   dispirit or confuse. [Obs.]
         Each opposite that blanks the face of joy. --Shak.