blurblur2 ●○○ verb (past tense and past participle blurred, present participle blurring) [intransitive, transitive] 
The street lights were blurred by the fog. Many of the details in the picture are blurred.2to be unable to see clearly: Tears blurred her eyes. His vision was blurred.3to make the difference between two ideas, subjects etc less clear: His films blur the boundaries between fact and fiction. The design of the conservatory is meant to blur the distinction between the house and the garden.—blurry adjective: a few blurry photos of their holiday → blurred
WORD ORIGINblur2
Origin:
1500-1600 Probably from blear; ➔ BLEARYVERB TABLE
blur
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | blur |
| he, she, it | blurs | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | blurred |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have blurred |
| he, she, it | has blurred | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had blurred |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will blur |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have blurred |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am blurring |
| he, she, it | is blurring | |
| you, we, they | are blurring | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was blurring |
| you, we, they | were blurring | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been blurring |
| he, she, it | has been blurring | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been blurring |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be blurring |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been blurring |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- His novels tend to blur the distinctions between reality and fantasy.
- Problems with the mirrors blurred the telescope's view.
- The difference between male and female roles within the house has become blurred.
- The show blurs the difference between education and entertainment.
- In the above account the distinction between changes in money wages and changes in real wages has been deliberately blurred.
- Sin has certainly spoiled and blurred it, but man remains a reasoning, moral, creative creature.
- The glitter of the street-lights on the damp tarmac was blurred by the thickening fog.
- There was a lake and a sweep of land blurring into mountains.
- These all look like important questions but, once again, the methodology of state-centrism serves to blur rather than clarify the issues.
Longman Language Activatorto make something unclear
to make a situation unclear by making it more complicated: · The instructions just confused me even more.· The Press Secretary gave a completely different version of events, which greatly confused the situation.confuse matters further (=make things more confused): · I think my explanation only confused matters further.
to make the difference between two ideas or subjects unclear: · The difference between male and female roles within the house has become blurred.· The show blurs the difference between education and entertainment.· His novels tend to blur the distinctions between reality and fantasy.
to make a subject or problem unclear by bringing in ideas, information, etc that are not really connected with it: · The Supreme Court's latest decision has only clouded the issue of gun control.· I'm talking about social problems. My opponent is just confusing the issue when he keeps referring to family values.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Tears blurred her eyes. His vision was blurred.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1to become difficult to see, or to make something difficult to see, because the edges are not clear: Tears blurred her eyes. His vision was blurred. (=make it less clear)· Both sides in the war had been blurring the distinction between military and civilian targets.
(=unclear)· Through the spaces between the bars he saw the blurred outline of the oil derrick high in the sky.
· He was shown a blurred photograph, taken from a moving car.
(=not clear)· He complained of headaches and blurred vision.
(=make someone not see clearly)· Tears of fury blurred her vision, and she blinked them away.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN· Even more than Sukenick's, Raymond Federman's novels repeatedly blur the boundaries between criticism and fiction.· Because children blur the boundaries of self, men, who guard their boundaries so vigilantly, feel claustrophobic with them.· He identifies the reasons for the emergence of the problem: Three factors have contributed to blurring these sector boundaries.· The change process has also blurred the boundaries of the firm.· In almost all areas of modern life, the internet revolution has smashed down barriers and blurred boundaries.
· It is easy to blur such distinctions.· All around us, Negroponte says, computers are blurring the distinction between atoms and bits.· These considerations tend to blur the distinction somewhat.· They do not blur the distinction between testation and intestacy, but they mitigate it.· The development of the concept of abuse of power blurred the distinction between merits and vires.· And thirdly, by distributing company stock to employees it has blurred the capital-labour distinction in a number of firms.· Mosley too became increasingly prone to blur the distinction between art, philosophy and life.· Critical seminars within the university may sometimes blur this distinction if they contain elements of genuine intellectual exchange.
· Soft tears blurred the image in the mirror.· I was facing a mirror that held my blurred image.· Now blur the image slightly-most graphics editors will do this-and save it again with a different name.· Many chronophotographs combined the virtues of both the blurred and the instantaneous image.· It smooths or blurs the image so that local deviations from the overall trend are removed.
· Badu blurs the lines between art and artifice, plastic soul and raw feeling.· Prince, and the artist formerly known as, has long blurred the lines between divinity and getting down.· Warwick's opening gambit is to blur the line between consciousness and intelligence.· This blurs the line between words and phrases.
· Badu blurs the lines between art and artifice, plastic soul and raw feeling.· Prince, and the artist formerly known as, has long blurred the lines between divinity and getting down.
· She felt the anguished tears of motherhood blur her vision and blinked them away.· After a few minutes of running through drills, the girls began to complain of headaches and blurred vision.· Tears blurred her vision as she swung out, hammering on the horn.· Frank slid into second base, wound up with blurred vision and missed the rest of the year.· Instead of which she found herself having to blink away the sting of tears that blurred her vision.· Sufferers also complain of headaches, intermittent blurred vision and vision sluggishness.
The street lights were blurred by the fog. Many of the details in the picture are blurred.2to be unable to see clearly: Tears blurred her eyes. His vision was blurred.3to make the difference between two ideas, subjects etc less clear: His films blur the boundaries between fact and fiction. The design of the conservatory is meant to blur the distinction between the house and the garden.—blurry adjective: a few blurry photos of their holiday → blurred