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blind

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See also: Blind

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English blynd, from Old English blind, from Proto-West Germanic *blind, from Proto-Germanic *blindaz.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /blaɪnd/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -aɪnd

Adjective

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blind (comparative blinder, superlative blindest)

  1. (not comparable) Unable to see, or only partially able to see.
    Synonym: sightless
    Antonyms: seeing, sighted
    Even a blind hen sometimes finds a grain of corn.
    Braille is a writing system for the blind.
    his blind eye
  2. (comparable) Failing to recognize, acknowledge or perceive.
    The lovers were blind to each other’s faults.
    Authors are blind to their own defects.
  3. (not comparable, of a place) Having little or no visibility.
    a blind path
    a blind ditch
    a blind corner
  4. (not comparable) Closed at one end; having a dead end; exitless.
    a blind fistula
    • 1898, Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, page 498:
      The naric-hypophysial canal was blind at both ends, and paired olfactory sacs opened into it, as well as a narrow canal from the front of the gut.
    • 1914, James Joyce, Araby:
      North Richmond street, being blind, was a quiet street except at the hour when the Christian Brothers' School set the boys free.
  5. (not comparable) Having no openings for light or passage; both dark and exitless.
    a blind wall
    a blind alley
  6. (in certain phrases, chiefly in the negative) Smallest or slightest.
    I shouted, but he didn’t take a blind bit of notice.
    We pulled and pulled, but it didn't make a blind bit of difference.
  7. (not comparable) Without any prior knowledge.
    He took a blind guess at which fork in the road would take him to the airport.
    I went into the meeting totally blind, so I really didn’t have a clue what I was talking about.
  8. (not comparable) Unconditional; without regard to evidence, logic, reality, accidental mistakes, extenuating circumstances, etc.
    blind deference
    blind justice
    blind punishment
    • 1787–1788, John Jay, The Federalist Papers
      This plan is recommended neither to blind approbation nor to blind reprobation.
    • 1977, Dennis DeYoung (lyrics and music), “The Grand Illusion”, in The Grand Illusion, performed by Styx:
      America spells competition / Join us in our blind ambition / Get yourself a brand-new motor car
  9. (sciences) Using blinded study design, wherein information is purposely limited to prevent bias.
    a blind trial
  10. Unintelligible or illegible.
    a blind passage in a book; blind writing
  11. (horticulture) Abortive; failing to produce flowers or fruit.
    blind buds
    blind flowers
  12. (LGBTQ, slang) Uncircumcised.[1]

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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Noun

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blind (plural blinds)

A destination blind (sense 2) on the side of a London bus
  1. A movable covering for a window to keep out light, made of cloth or of narrow slats that can block light or allow it to pass.
    Hyponyms: roller blind, Venetian blind
    • 1941 June, “Notes and News: The Derelict Glyn Valley Tramway”, in Railway Magazine, page 279:
      A blind bearing the monogram G.V.T. is pulled down over the waiting room window as if still in mourning for the passing of the railway.
    • 1956, Delano Ames, chapter 12, in Crime out of Mind[2]:
      Light filtered in through the blinds of the french windows. It made tremulous stripes along the scrubbed pine floor.
  2. A destination sign mounted on a public transport vehicle displaying the route destination, number, name and/or via points, etc.
  3. A place where people can hide in order to observe wildlife.
    a duck blind
    • 2010, Jennifer Egan, A Visit from the Goon Squad, Corsair (2011):
      A gang of children [] stampede along a slatted path to a blind beside a watering hole: a wooden hut full of long benches with a slot they can peek through, invisible to the animals.
  4. Something to mislead the eye or the understanding, or to conceal some covert deed or design; a subterfuge.
  5. (military) A blindage.
  6. A hiding place.
    • 1697, Virgil, “The Fourth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. [], London: [] Jacob Tonson, [], →OCLC:
      So, when the watchful shepherd, from the blind,
      Wounds with a random shaft the careless hind
  7. (rugby, colloquial) The blindside.
  8. (baseball, slang, 1800s) No score.
  9. (poker) A forced bet: the small blind or the big blind.
    The blinds are $10 and $20, and the ante is $1.
  10. (poker) A player who is forced to pay such a bet.
    The blinds immediately folded when I reraised.

Synonyms

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  • (destination sign): rollsign (mainly US)

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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Verb

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blind (third-person singular simple present blinds, present participle blinding, simple past and past participle blinded)

  1. (transitive) To make temporarily or permanently blind.
    The light was so bright that for a moment he was blinded.
    Don’t wave that pencil in my face—do you want to blind me?
    • May 9, 1686 (date of preaching), Robert South, The Fatal Imposture and Force of Words (sermon)
      A blind guide is certainly a great mischief; but a guide that blinds those whom he should lead is [] a much greater.
  2. (slang, obsolete) To curse.
    • 1890, Rudyard Kipling, The Young British Soldier:
      If you’re cast for fatigue by a sergeant unkind,
      Don’t grouse like a woman, nor crack on, nor blind;
      Be handy and civil, and then you will find
      That it’s beer for the young British soldier.
  3. To darken; to obscure to the eye or understanding; to conceal.
  4. To cover with a thin coating of sand and fine gravel, for example a road newly paved, in order that the joints between the stones may be filled.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Adverb

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blind (comparative more blind, superlative most blind)

  1. Without seeing; unseeingly.
  2. (colloquial) Absolutely, totally.
    to swear blind
  3. (poker, three card brag) Without looking at the cards dealt.
  4. (cooking, especially in combination with ‘bake’) As a pastry case only, without any filling.
    Blind bake your pie case for fifteen minutes, then add the filling. This will help avoid a “soggy bottom”.
    • 2012, Frank D. Conforti, Food Selection and Preparation: A Laboratory Manual, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 63:
      If the shell is going to be baked without a filling, “baking the crust blind,” prick the bottom and sides of the crust to allow the steam to escape. Another variation: line the bottom of the crust with parchment paper []
    • 2013, Dorie Greenspan, Baking: From My Home to Yours, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 490:
      PIE WEIGHTS: When you are baking a crust blind, which means when you are partially or fully baking it without filling (see blind-baking, page 474), you need something to keep the crust from puffing up: weights.

Translations

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References

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  1. ^ A. F. Niemoeller, "A Glossary of Homosexual Slang," Fact 2, no. 1 (Jan-Feb 1965): 25

Afrikaans

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Etymology

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From Dutch blind, from Middle Dutch blint, from Old Dutch *blint, from Proto-Germanic *blindaz.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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blind (attributive blinde, comparative blinder, superlative blindste)

  1. blind (unable to see)

Derived terms

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Danish

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Etymology

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From Old Norse blindr, from Proto-Germanic *blindaz.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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blind

  1. blind

Inflection

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Inflection of blind
positive comparative superlative
indefinite common singular blind mere blind mest blind2
indefinite neuter singular blindt mere blind mest blind2
plural blinde mere blind mest blind2
definite attributive1 blinde mere blind mest blinde

1 When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite,
the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
2 The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

References

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Dutch

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Middle Dutch blint, from Old Dutch *blint, from Proto-West Germanic *blind, from Proto-Germanic *blindaz.

Adjective

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blind (comparative blinder, superlative blindst)

  1. blind (unable to see)
    Hij is sinds zijn geboorte blind.
    He has been blind since his birth.
Declension
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Declension of blind
uninflected blind
inflected blinde
comparative blinder
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial blind blinder het blindst
het blindste
indefinite m./f. sing. blinde blindere blindste
n. sing. blind blinder blindste
plural blinde blindere blindste
definite blinde blindere blindste
partitive blinds blinders
Derived terms
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Descendants
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  • Afrikaans: blind
  • Berbice Creole Dutch: blende
  • Negerhollands: blind, blin, blen
  • ? Sranan Tongo: breni, blinde, blinni

Etymology 2

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From blinden.

Alternative forms

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Noun

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blind n (plural blinden, diminutive blindje n)

  1. window shutter
    Synonym: luik

German

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Etymology

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From Middle High German and Old High German blint, from Proto-West Germanic *blind.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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blind (strong nominative masculine singular blinder, comparative blinder, superlative am blindesten)

  1. blind
    blind für Realitätblind to reality
    blind auf einem Augeblind in one eye
  2. (of a mirror or windowpane) cloudy
    • 1918, Elisabeth von Heyking, Die Orgelpfeifen, in: Zwei Erzählungen, Phillipp Reclam jun. Verlag, page 9:
      So dunkel und schauerlich die Gruft aussah, wenn man durch die blinden, bestaubten Scheibchen der kleinen Fenster hineinblickte, so hell und freundlich war oben die Kirche.
      Just as dark and eerie the crypt looked like, if one looked in it through the cloudy, dusted little panes of the small windows, as bright and friendly was the church above.

Declension

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Derived terms

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See also

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Further reading

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  • blind” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • blind” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • blind” in Duden online

German Low German

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Etymology

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From Middle Low German blint, from Old Saxon blind. Cognate to Dutch blind, German blind.

Adjective

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blind (comparative blinner, superlative blinnst)

  1. blind

Declension

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Icelandic

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Adjective

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blind

  1. inflection of blindur:
    1. feminine singular nominative strong positive degree
    2. neuter plural nominative strong positive degree
    3. neuter plural accusative strong positive degree

Norwegian Bokmål

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Etymology

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From Old Norse blindr, from Proto-Germanic *blindaz.

Adjective

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blind (neuter singular blindt, definite singular and plural blinde)

  1. blind

Derived terms

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References

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Etymology

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From Old Norse blindr, from Proto-Germanic *blindaz. Akin to English blind.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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blind (neuter blindt, definite singular and plural blinde, comparative blindare, indefinite superlative blindast, definite superlative blindaste)

  1. blind

Derived terms

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Verb

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blind

  1. imperative of blinda

References

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Old English

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Etymology

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From Proto-West Germanic *blind.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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blind (comparative blindra, superlative blindost)

  1. blind
    • late 10th century, Ælfric, Lives of Saints
      Fif and twentiġ manna myslīċe ġeuntrume cōmon tō þām hālgan heora hǣle biddende; sum wǣron blinde, sume wǣron healte, sume ēac dēafe, and dumbe ēac sum and hī ealle wurdon ānes dæġes ġehǣlede þurh þæs hālgan þingunge and him hām ġewendon.
      Twenty-five men, sickened in various ways, came to the saint begging for the health; some were blind, some were lame, some were also deaf, and some were dumb, and they were all healed in one day through the intercession of the saint and went home.
    blind, dēaf, and dumb
    blind, deaf, and dumb
  2. (substantive) a blind person

Declension

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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Old Saxon

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Etymology

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From Proto-West Germanic *blind.

Adjective

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blind

  1. blind

Declension

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Swedish

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Etymology

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From Old Swedish blinder, from Old Norse blindr, from Proto-Germanic *blindaz.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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blind (comparative blindare, superlative blindast)

  1. blind; unable or failing to see
    Om man är blind så kan man inte se
    If you are blind, you cannot see
    Jag litade blint på honom
    I trusted him blindly
    Jag var blind för vad som pågick
    I was blind to what was going on

Declension

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Inflection of blind
Indefinite positive comparative superlative1
common singular blind blindare blindast
neuter singular blint blindare blindast
plural blinda blindare blindast
masculine plural2 blinde blindare blindast
Definite positive comparative superlative
masculine singular3 blinde blindare blindaste
all blinda blindare blindaste

1 The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
2 Dated or archaic.
3 Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Derived terms

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See also

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References

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