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blanket

blan·ket

UK/ˈblɛŋ.kɘt/ US/ˈblæŋ.kɪt/ common
noun (3) verb (2) adjective (1)

noun

1.

bedding that keeps a person warm in bed

  • “he pulled the covers over his head and went to sleep”
Synonyms
2.

anything that covers

  • “there was a blanket of snow”
Synonyms
3.

a layer of lead surrounding the highly reactive core of a nuclear reactor

verb

1.

cover as if with a blanket

  • “snow blanketed the fields”
2.

form a blanket-like cover (over)

adjective

1.

broad in scope or content

  • “across-the-board pay increases”
  • “an all-embracing definition”
  • “blanket sanctions against human-rights violators”
  • “an invention with broad applications”
  • “a panoptic study of Soviet nationality” T.G.Winner
  • “granted him wide powers”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

Inherited from Middle English blanket, blonket, blaunket, from Old Northern French blanket, blancet (“white horse", also "white woollen cloth or flannel; a type of jacket”, literally “that which is white”) (whence Modern French blanchet), diminutive of blanc (“white”), of Germanic origin (compare Old English blanca (“white horse”); see more at blank). Furthermore, the sense "white woollen cloth" is likely a calque of Old English hwītel (“blanket; cloak, mantle”), from Old English hwīt (“white”) + -el (diminutive suffix). Compare also Old Norse hvítill (“a white bed-cover, sheet”), Norwegian kvitel (“blanket”). Compare also blunket, plunket. Displaced native Middle English whytel, from Old English hwītel (whence Modern English whittle (“blanket, cloak, shawl”)).

Phrases

  • big blue blanket
  • blanket ass
  • blanket ballot
  • blanket ban
  • blanket bath
  • blanket bog
  • blanket bush
  • blanket chest

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Parts

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.