blind
/blʌɪnd
/adjective
1Unable to see because of injury, disease, or a congenital condition: a blind man with a stick he was blind in one eye (as plural noun the blind) guide dogs for the blind...
- Two years ago, MS patient Natasha Bagan lost her ability to walk and was almost blind after her condition rapidly deteriorated.
- Jurors heard that Mr Ward, who suffered from a rare eye condition and had been blind since he was 15, had been celebrating his birthday.
- I had a little Chihuahua named Carlos that had some kind of skin disease and was totally blind.
1.1(Of an action, especially a test or experiment) done without being able to see or without having relevant information: a blind tasting of eight wines...
- The test will be a blind exam so applicants cannot memorise the answers but the Government is publishing a handbook guide to the areas being tested.
- The skates did feel slightly lighter, but I'm convinced that was only placebo effect - I bet that I'd not be able to tell the difference in a blind test.
- In a blind test last week, nine out of 12 shoppers said they preferred the taste of a £1.45 loaf from Safeway to Poilâne's finest sourdough.
1.2 Aeronautics (Of flying) using instruments only: blind landings during foggy conditions...
- The Lorenz beam system for blind landing consisted of two transmitters located on opposite sides of the airstrip runway.
- From this point on, they'd be practically flying blind, with only the occasional glimpse of their surroundings.
- This could be nerve-racking for the pilot while the copilot made blind takeoffs.
2Lacking perception, awareness, or judgement: a blind acceptance of the status quo she was blind to the realities of her position...
- Yet despite his liberalism, which if not exactly old-fashioned is certainly out of keeping with the spirit of the time, Mortimer is not blind to the realities of political life.
- The classical economists are blind to this reality.
- Look on the bright side, but don't be blind to reality.
Synonyms
imperceptive, unperceptive, slow, obtuse, stupid, uncomprehending, unimaginative, insensitive, thick-skinned, bovine, stolid, unintelligent
informal dense, dim, dim-witted, thick, slow on the uptake, dumb, dopey, not with it
British informal dozy
Scottish & Northern English informal glaikit
North American informal dumb-ass, chowderheaded
South African informal dof
unmindful of, mindless of, careless of, heedless of, oblivious to, insensible to, unconcerned about/by, inattentive to, indifferent to
rare insensitive of, negligent of
uncritical, unreasoned, unthinking, unconsidered, mindless, injudicious, undiscerning, indiscriminate;
airy, insouciant;
credulous, naive
2.1Not controlled by reason: they left in blind panic...
- There's another reason why blind devotion to rules won't do.
- All I wanted to do was to survive and really was driven by blind hope than by reason.
- True, you could have fully murdered him, but the only reason you hurt him enough to get away was blind panic.
Synonyms
impetuous, impulsive, rash, hasty, reckless, uncontrolled, uncontrollable, uninhibited, unrestrained, immoderate, intemperate, wild, unruly, irrational, frantic, violent, furious, unbridled, uncurbed, unchecked, unrepressed
2.2Not governed by purpose: a world of blind chance...
- There is no way that every organism could have been created by blind chance, they say.
- The chances of a watch being constructed by blind chance are astronomically small.
- By blind chance, some of these emails reach customers of targeted organisations.
3(Of a corner or bend in a road) impossible to see round: two trucks collided on a blind curve in the road...
- About half-way back to Boston I slowed down even further to go round a blind bend in the road, to come upon a police car and a mobile speed camera.
- They certainly had no problem coping with a brisk run along a narrow, twisty country road where oncoming traffic and constant blind bends required repeated firm applications.
- A car in front of the Welshman had pulled out a series of rocks into the road on a blind corner, and Hughes ran straight over the rocks, unable to avoid them due to the narrowness of the road.
3.1(Of a door or window) walled up: fresco paintings on the blind windows...
- Glazed doors, provided that the panes are rectangular, can be reduced by removing one tier of panes; blind doors can be cut down at will.
- When you first walked in and entered the small rotunda, there was a blind window that had been revealed.
- The metal ladder was cooperative enough against rubber-soled boots, but moisture and time had warped the blind door, and there was no other way into the box.
3.2Closed at one end: a blind pipe...
- Bromley redefined Trypanites to include all blind, simple, unbranched borings in hard substrata with a single opening to the surface.
- Such blind pools loose water by evaporation, or if below the water table remain as permanent bodies.
- This blind-ended, complex structure is embryologically distinct from the body of the left atrium and is sometimes regarded as just a minor extension of the atrium.
Synonyms
without exit, exitless, blocked, closed, barred, impassable;
dead end, no through road, cul-de-sac
4 [with negative] British informal Not the slightest (used in emphatic expressions): this declaration is not a blind bit of good to the workers...
- A spokesman for the National Association of Headteachers said the downgrading should not make ‘a blind bit of difference’ to school drugs policies.
- It amazes me how people seem to forget that they were young once and that no amount of pep talks, pleading or punishment would have made a blind bit of difference to how they carried on when away from their parents' beady eyes.
- We consulted people on Goldiggers and the skatepark and then did not take a blind bit of notice of them.
5(Of a plant) without buds, eyes, or terminal flowers: planting too shallowly is the most common cause of bulbs coming up blind...
- It sounds cruel, but during one long hot summer I did once shock a blind camellia into flowering by withholding water for as long as I felt the plant could bear it.
- One of the original reasons to burn the straw was to combat blind seed disease.
- The non-germinating blind-seeds carry a mass of fungus tissue in the endosperm and are the carry-over phase of the disease.
verb [with object]
1Cause (someone) to be unable to see, permanently or temporarily: the injury temporarily blinded him her eyes were blinded with scalding tears...
- I said nothing, but merely nodded, tears temporarily blinding me, blurring my vision.
- Five players were permanently blinded and a dozen more had permanent eye defects leading to reduced vision.
- She was blinded by her tears and the smoke, so she couldn't see the burning timber above her that was about to fall.
Synonyms
make blind, deprive of sight, deprive of vision, render unsighted, render sightless, put someone's eyes out, gouge someone's eyes out
stop someone seeing, obscure someone's vision, block someone's vision, get in someone's line of vision
dazzle
2Deprive (someone) of understanding, judgement, or perception: he was blinded by his faith somehow Clare and I were blinded to the truth...
- In the process, the patient is willfully blinded to the conduct that inevitably causes his misery in the first place.
- He was used to getting his own way and was so enraged that he was blinded to the consequences of his actions.
- I cried as I admitted that I was so selfish that I was blinded to the fact that Will had needed my help all along.
Synonyms
deprive of understanding, deprive of perception, deprive of judgement, deprive of reason, deprive of sense
2.1 (blind someone with) Confuse or overawe someone with (something they do not understand): they try to blind you with science...
- Of the communists, Richard Wright concluded: ‘They're blind… Their enemies have blinded them with too much oppression.’
- Jon has too much value cos he can blind them with science and they are confused by him.
- Identifying with either side blinds you with ideology, makes up your mind for you and stops you thinking.
Synonyms
overawe, awe, intimidate, daunt, deter, cow, abash;
disquiet, make anxious, make uneasy, perturb, discomfit, disconcert;
confuse, nonplus, bewilder, confound, perplex, overwhelm;
unsettle, discompose, unnerve, discourage, subdue, dismay, frighten, alarm, scare, terrify, terrorize, browbeat, bully, trouble, bother, agitate, fluster, ruffle, jolt, shake (up), throw, put off, take aback, unbalance, destabilize, throw off balance, put off one's stroke, pull the rug (out) from under
informal rattle, faze, psych out
3 [no object, with adverbial of direction] British informal, dated Move very fast and dangerously: I could see the bombs blinding along above the roof tops...
- The first thing they knew was Grant came blinding along at an absolutely unheard of speed for a Destroyer following up a Convoy, hitting them half way between the conning tower and tail.
- The way she answered made Diggs think back to his high school sweetheart, and the matted clump her hair would become when she'd wear his bike helmet, and he could feel her heart through her T-shirt, blinding down the road, skid marks on the road.
- With Live in Vain blinding along, she could be the one chasing and coming out of the pack to make it nervous in the last 100m.
noun
1A screen for a window, especially one on a roller or made of slats: she pulled down the blinds...
- Sunlight poked through the slats in the white blinds over my window.
- I shut my screen, window and blinds, and looked around my room.
- The moon shines through the slats of the window blinds, casting stripes of light and shadow over the two beds in the semi-private room.
Synonyms
screen, shade, louvre, awning, canopy, sunshade, curtain, shutter, cover, covering, protection;
Venetian blind, Austrian blind, roller blind;
French jalousie, persienne
1.1British An awning over a shop window.For the past 30 years the 58-year-old has worked for a company in Devon that produces blinds and awnings....
- That is why, for the past 10 years, McLeod has watched his firm, which specialises in manufacturing shop blinds and awnings, flourish.
- Having been here when Queen Victoria reigned, Deans is the only blinds company that is still in business who can provide an authentic Victorian or Edwardian awning to complete the finishing touch to a serious restoration project on a shop, restaurant or even a special private house.
2 [in singular] Something designed to conceal one’s real intentions: he phoned again from his own home: that was just a blind for his wife...
- The aversion to addressing race concerns that is demonstrated through this research carries through to an aversion to discussing race as a driver in and a blind for bad social policy.
- ‘Ruse’ applies to that which is contrived as a blind for one's real intentions or for the truth.
- Our advantages and disadvantages then, can be summarized as follows:… 6. Serves as a blind for the real project.
Synonyms
deception, camouflage, screen, smokescreen, front, facade, cover, disguise, cloak, pretext, masquerade, mask, feint;
trick, stratagem, ploy, ruse, scheme, device, move, manoeuvre, contrivance, machination, expedient, artifice, wile, dodge
2.1North American A camouflaged shelter used for observing or hunting wildlife: a duck blind...
- You could jerry-rig a blind from a camouflage cloth, or use a small tent that you don't mind modifying.
- A rain shelter was provided on the end opposite to the observation blind and numerous perches were scattered throughout.
- As soon as foods were distributed among cages, we monitored and video recorded behavior from an observation blind.
3British informal, dated A heavy drinking bout: he’s off on a blind again
adverb
1Without being able to see clearly: he was the first pilot in history to fly blind wines were tasted blind...
- I heard it and felt it, but did the whole thing blind.
- Divson obliged, his single hand not shaking in the least as his free one searched blind for the objects, produced them and slid them to Prast.
- It was like fighting blind, and against a ferocious wild cat at that.
1.1Without having all the relevant information; unprepared: he was going into the interview blind...
- Legislatures who pass RFRAs, then, are legislating blind.
- In short, Hatfill would no longer be proceeding blind.
- I won't have the minor characters, I won't have the solution to the problem; I'm writing blind.
1.2(Of a stake in poker or brag) put up by a player before the cards dealt are seen.When there is that extra dead money out there, it is simply terrible to give two people free rides, and the small blind a cheap look, when you have a playable hand in best position....
- Simply calling the big blind would make no sense if hands indeed ran close together in value.
- Others allow the dealer to identify one trick before play begins, the winner of which gets the blind along with the trick.
Phrases
bake something blind
(as) blind as a bat
blind drunk
there's none so blind as those who will not see
turn a blind eye
when the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into a ditch
Origin
Old English, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch and German blind.
The original sense was ‘unable to see’. The sense of blinds that are hung on windows developed in the early 18th century, and Venetian blinds appear at the end of that century. To turn a blind eye to, ‘to pretend not to notice’, goes back to the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801. The British admiral Horatio Nelson (1758–1805), who was leading the attack against the Danes, had lost the sight in one eye in action several years before. His superior, Sir Hyde Parker (1739–1807), feared that his men would suffer very heavy losses, so hoisted the signal for Nelson to halt his attack and withdraw. Nelson avoided seeing the signal by putting a telescope to his blind eye, and continued the battle. An hour later he was victorious. The -fold of blindfold is not the fold meaning ‘to bend over on itself’. It derives from fell, ‘to knock or strike over’. The Old English word from which blindfold developed meant ‘to strike blind’. By the 16th century people stopped understanding blindfell, and substituted the more familiar fold. See also buff