blanket
/ˈblaŋkɪt
/noun
1A large piece of woollen or similar material used as a covering on a bed or elsewhere for warmth: I slept on the ground covered by my blanket...
- Try changing feather pillows, woollen blankets and woollen clothing to cotton or synthetic materials.
- Remove cushions and soft toys, and buy bedding made from synthetic fabric rather than using feather pillows and woollen blankets.
- There are plenty of woollen blankets and fluffy white towels.
Synonyms
cover, covering, rug, afghan, quilt, eiderdown, duvet;
bedcover, bedspread, throw-over;
bedclothes;
North American throw, spread;
South African kaross;
in Latin America serape
archaic coverlet, counterpane
1.1A thick covering mass or layer: a dense grey blanket of cloud...
- The stars were hidden behind a thick blanket of clouds only revealed in brief patches.
- By the time 5:00 pm came around the sun had gone completely, covered by a thick blanket of clouds.
- The sky was completely covered by a thick blanket of clouds.
Synonyms
covering, layer, cover, coat, coating, film, sheet, carpet, veneer, surface, skin, thickness, overlay, cloak, mantle, veil, pall, shroud, screen, mask, cloud, curtain
2 Printing A rubber surface used for transferring the image in ink from the plate to the paper in offset printing.
adjective [attributive]
Covering all cases or instances; total and inclusive: a blanket ban on tobacco advertising...
- There are real fears that many coal merchants, dockers and hauliers will be seriously affected if the Government's blanket ban goes ahead.
- The director of the civil rights group said blanket bans cause unacceptable breaches of innocent people's human rights.
- With this blanket ban on so many aspects of news coverage, you just don't know who to trust anymore.
Synonyms
wholesale, across the board, outright, indiscriminate, overall, general, mass, umbrella, inclusive, all-inclusive, all-round, sweeping, total, complete, comprehensive, thorough, extensive, wide-ranging, far-reaching, large-scale, widespread;
universal, global, worldwide, international, nationwide, countrywide, coast-to-coast, company-wide
verb (blankets, blanketing, blanketed) [with object]
1Cover completely with a thick layer of something: the countryside was blanketed in snow...
- In the film, a town in Maine is blanketed in a thick soup of slow moving fog.
- The town was blanketed in thick black smoke after arsonists set fire to material in the long awaited new hospital extension.
- Several inches had fallen since it began late the previous night, and the outside of the train station was blanketed in a layer of white.
Synonyms
cover, coat, carpet, overlay, overlie, overspread, extend over, cap, top, crown;
conceal, obscure, blot out, hide, mask, cloud, cloak, veil, shroud, swathe, envelop, submerge, surround
literary mantle, enshroud
1.1Stifle or keep quiet (sound): the double glazing blankets the noise a bit...
- The hot, dry wind that continually blew off the Mongolian plains had blanketed any sound of their approach.
- It is not unusual to see the fish finder screen showing the hard echo of the wreck blanketed by fish both up and downtide of the wreck.
Synonyms
muffle, deaden, soften, mute, silence, quieten, smother, dampen, damp down, tone down, mask, suppress, reduce, abate, kill
2 Sailing Take wind from the sails of (another craft) by passing to windward.That should blanket the spinnaker behind the mainsail so that there is very little pressure on it....
- When you spike the tack shackle the pressure is completely released from the sail and the sail is blanketed behind the mainsail.
Phrases
born on the wrong side of the blanket
Origin
Middle English (denoting undyed woollen cloth): via Old Northern French from Old French blanc 'white', ultimately of Germanic origin.