English
blind
see also: Blind
Etymology

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

Pronunciation Adjective

blind (comparative blinder, superlative blindest)

  1. (not comparable) Unable to see, or only partially able to see.
    Synonyms: 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
    • c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act I, scene i]:
      He that is strucken blind cannot forget / The precious treasure of his eyesight lost.
    • 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London, Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC ↗:
      He was plainly blind, for he tapped before him with a stick, and wore a great green shade over his eyes and nose...
  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
    • 1634 October 9 (first performance), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, […], published 1637, →OCLC ↗; reprinted as Comus: […] (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, →OCLC ↗:
      the blind mazes of this tangled wood
  4. (not comparable) Closed at one end; having a dead end; exitless.
    a blind alley
    a blind fistula
    a blind gut
    • 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.
  5. (not comparable) Having no openings for light or passage; both dark and exitless.
    a blind wall
    a blind alley
  6. (in certain phrases, negative polarity) 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.
  9. (science) 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. (LGBT, slang) Uncircumcised.
Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Noun

blind (plural blinds)

  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
  2. A destination sign mounted on a public transport vehicle displaying the route destination, number, name and/or via points, etc.
  3. Any device intended to conceal or hide.
    a duck blind
  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 Translations Translations Translations Verb

blind (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.
    • 1717, John Dryden [et al.], “(please specify |book=I to XV)”, in Ovid's Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC ↗:
      Such darkness blinds the sky.
    • 1676, Edward Stillingfleet, A Defence of the Discourse Concerning the Idolatry Practised in the Church of Rome:
      The state of the controversy between us he endeavored, with all his art, to blind and confound.
  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.
Translations Adverb

blind

  1. Without seeing; unseeingly.
    • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC ↗, part I, page 196 ↗:
      It was just robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale, and men going at it blind - as is very proper for those who tackle a darkness.
  2. (colloquial) Absolutely, totally.
    to swear blind
    • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC ↗, part I, page 195 ↗:
      It was just robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale, and men going at it blind - as is very proper for those who tackle a darkness.
  3. (poker, three card brag) Without looking at the cards dealt.
  4. (culinary, 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”.
Translations
Blind
Etymology

English, German -, and Jewish/Yiddish - surname, all related to the adjective blind.

Proper noun
  1. Surname.


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