blanket Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun bedding that keeps a person warm in bed
    cover.
    • he pulled the covers over his head and went to sleep
  2. noun anything that covers
    mantle.
    • there was a blanket of snow
  3. noun a layer of lead surrounding the highly reactive core of a nuclear reactor
  4. verb cover as if with a blanket
    • snow blanketed the fields
  5. verb form a blanket-like cover (over)
  6. adjective satellite broad in scope or content
    wide; across-the-board; broad; all-encompassing; encompassing; all-inclusive; all-embracing; extensive; panoptic.
    • 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

WordNet

Blan"ket noun
Etymology
F. blanchet, OF. also blanket, a woolen waistcoat or shirt, the blanket of a printing press; prop. white woolen stuff, dim. of blanc white; blanquette a kind of white pear, fr. blanc white. See Blank, a.
Definitions
  1. A heavy, loosely woven fabric, usually of wool, and having a nap, used in bed clothing; also, a similar fabric used as a robe; or any fabric used as a cover for a horse.
  2. (Print.) A piece of rubber, felt, or woolen cloth, used in the tympan to make it soft and elastic.
  3. A streak or layer of blubber in whales. ✍ The use of blankets formerly as curtains in theaters explains the following figure of Shakespeare. Nares.
    Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark To cry, "Hold, hold!" Shak.
Blan"ket transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Blanketed; present participle & verbal noun Blanketing
Definitions
  1. To cover with a blanket.
    I'll . . . blanket my loins. Shak.
  2. To toss in a blanket by way of punishment.
    We'll have our men blanket 'em i' the hall. B. Jonson.
  3. To take the wind out of the sails of (another vessel) by sailing to windward of her.

Webster 1913