Blind

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (intransitive), Adjective, Adverb

CIDE DICTIONARY

Blind, a. [AS.; akin to D., G., OS., Sw., & Dan. blind, Icel. blindr, Goth. blinds; of uncertain origin.].

•  Destitute of the sense of seeing, either by natural defect or by deprivation; without sight.  [1913 Webster]

  "He that is strucken blind can not forget
  The precious treasure of his eyesight lost."  [1913 Webster]
•  Not having the faculty of discernment; destitute of intellectual light; unable or unwilling to understand or judge; as, authors are blind to their own defects.  [1913 Webster]

  "But hard be hardened, blind be blinded more,
  That they may stumble on, and deeper fall."  [1913 Webster]
•  Undiscerning; undiscriminating; inconsiderate.  [1913 Webster]

  "This plan is recommended neither to blind approbation nor to blind reprobation."  [1913 Webster]
•  Having such a state or condition as a thing would have to a person who is blind; not well marked or easily discernible; hidden; unseen; concealed; as, a blind path; a blind ditch.  [1913 Webster]
•  Involved; intricate; not easily followed or traced.  [1913 Webster]

  "The blind mazes of this tangled wood."  [1913 Webster]
•  Having no openings for light or passage; as, a blind wall; open only at one end; as, a blind alley; a blind gut.  [1913 Webster]
•  Unintelligible, or not easily intelligible; as, a blind passage in a book; illegible; as, blind writing.  [1913 Webster]
•  Abortive; failing to produce flowers or fruit; as, blind buds; blind flowers.  [1913 Webster]

Blind alley, an alley closed at one end; a cul-de-sac. -- Blind axle, an axle which turns but does not communicate motion. Knight. -- Blind beetle, one of the insects apt to fly against people, esp. at night. -- Blind cat (Zoöl.), a species of catfish (Gronias nigrolabris), nearly destitute of eyes, living in caverns in Pennsylvania. -- Blind coal, coal that burns without flame; anthracite coal. Simmonds. -- Blind door, Blind window, an imitation of a door or window, without an opening for passage or light. See Blank door or Blank window, under Blank, a. -- Blind level (Mining), a level or drainage gallery which has a vertical shaft at each end, and acts as an inverted siphon. Knight. -- Blind nettle (Bot.), dead nettle. See Dead nettle, under Dead. -- Blind shell (Gunnery), a shell containing no charge, or one that does not explode. -- Blind side, the side which is most easily assailed; a weak or unguarded side; the side on which one is least able or disposed to see danger. Swift. -- Blind snake (Zoöl.), a small, harmless, burrowing snake, of the family Typhlopidæ, with rudimentary eyes. -- Blind spot (Anat.), the point in the retina of the eye where the optic nerve enters, and which is insensible to light. -- Blind tooling, in bookbinding and leather work, the indented impression of heated tools, without gilding; -- called also blank tooling, and blind blocking. -- Blind wall, a wall without an opening; a blank wall.

Blind, v. t. 

•  To make blind; to deprive of sight or discernment.  Tennyson.  [1913 Webster]

  "A blind guide is certainly a great mischief; but a guide that blinds those whom he should lead is . . . a much greater."  [1913 Webster]
•  To deprive partially of vision; to make vision difficult for and painful to; to dazzle.  [1913 Webster]

  "Her beauty all the rest did blind."  [1913 Webster]
•  To darken; to obscure to the eye or understanding; to conceal; to deceive.  [1913 Webster]

  "Such darkness blinds the sky."  [1913 Webster]

  "The state of the controversy between us he endeavored, with all his art, to blind and confound."  [1913 Webster]
•  To cover with a thin coating of sand and fine gravel; as a road newly paved, in order that the joints between the stones may be filled.  [1913 Webster]

Blind, n. 

•  Something to hinder sight or keep out light; a screen; a cover; esp. a hinged screen or shutter for a window; a blinder for a horse.  [1913 Webster]
•  Something to mislead the eye or the understanding, or to conceal some covert deed or design; a subterfuge.  [1913 Webster]
•  A blindage. See Blindage.  [1913 Webster]
•  A halting place.  Dryden.  [1913 Webster]

Blind, n. 

 See Blende.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Blind, adj., v., n., & adv.
--adj.
1 lacking the power of sight.
2 a without foresight, discernment, intellectual perception, or adequate information (blind effort). b (often foll. by to) unwilling or unable to appreciate (a factor, circumstance, etc.) (blind to argument).
3 not governed by purpose or reason (blind forces).
4 reckless (blind hitting).
5 a concealed (blind ditch). b (of a door, window, etc.) walled up. c closed at one end.
6 Aeron. (of flying) without direct observation, using instruments only.
7 Cookery (of a flan case, pie base, etc.) baked without a filling.
8 sl. drunk.
--v.
1 tr. deprive of sight, permanently or temporarily (blinded by tears).
2 tr. (often foll. by to) rob of judgement; deceive (blinded them to the danger).
3 intr. sl. go very fast and dangerously, esp. in a motor vehicle.
--n.
1 a a screen for a window, esp. on a roller, or with slats (roller blind; Venetian blind). b an awning over a shop window.
2 a something designed or used to hide the truth; a pretext. b a legitimate business concealing a criminal enterprise (he's a spy, and his job is just a blind).
3 any obstruction to sight or light.
4 Brit. sl. a heavy drinking-bout.
5 Cards a stake put up by a poker player before the cards dealt are seen.
6 US = HIDE(1) n.
--adv. blindly (fly blind; bake it blind).

Idiom

blind alley
1 a cul-de-sac.
2 a course of action leading nowhere. blind as a bat completely blind. blind coal coal burning without a flame. blind corner a corner round which a motorist etc. cannot see.
blind date
1 a social engagement between a man and a woman who have not previously met.
2 either of the couple on a blind date. blind drunk extremely drunk. blind gut the caecum. blind man's buff a game in which a blindfold player tries to catch others while being pushed about by them. blind side a direction in which one cannot see the approach of danger etc.
blind spot
1 Anat. the point of entry of the optic nerve on the retina, insensitive to light.
2 an area in which a person lacks understanding or impartiality.
3 a point of unusually weak radio reception. blind stamping (or tooling) embossing a book cover without the use of colour or gold leaf. blind-stitch n. sewing visible on one side only.
--v.tr. & intr. sew with this stitch. blind to incapable of appreciating. blind with science overawe with a display of (often spurious) knowledge. go it blind act recklessly or without proper consideration. not a blind bit of (or not a blind) sl. not the slightest; not a single (took not a blind bit of notice; not a blind word out of him). turn a (or one's) blind eye to pretend not to notice.

Derivative

blindly adv. blindness n.

Etymology

OE f. Gmc

THESAURUS

Blind

ableptical, abstruse, alibi, amaurotic, ambuscade, ambush, ambushment, amorphous, apology, art, artful dodge, artifice, automatic, awning, back band, backstrap, bag of tricks, bamboozle, bandage, bat, be bright, beach umbrella, beacon, beam, bearing rein, becloud, beclouded, bedazzle, befog, bellyband, benight, benighted, bereft of light, bit, blank, blanket, blaze, blind drunk, blind man, blind the eyes, blind to, blind-alley, blinders, blindfold, blindfolded, blinds, blinker, blinkers, blotto, bluff, booby trap, boozy, bosey, breeching, bridle, buried, burn, camouflage, canned, caparison, catch, cavesson, cecal, checkrein, cheekpiece, chicanery, chinband, choked, choked off, chouse, cinch, clear as mud, cloak, close, closed, cloud, clouded, cloudy, collar, color, color-blind, compulsive, conceal, concealed, conditioned, conspiracy, constricted, contracted, contrivance, coup, cover, cover story, cover up, cover-up, covered, covert, craft, crownband, crupper, curb, curtain, curve, curve-ball, cute trick, dark, darken, daze, dazzle, dead, dead-end, deaf, deceit, deceive, deception, delusional, dense, deprive of sight, design, device, diffuse light, dim, dim-sighted, dim-witted, dirty deal, dirty trick, disguise, disguised, dissemble, distract attention from, dodge, dogmatic, drape, drapery, drunk, dull-witted, eclipse, eclipsed, ensconce, enshroud, envelop, excecate, excuse, expedient, eye patch, eyeless, facade, fakement, fast deal, feint, fetch, ficelle, flame, flare, flash, flat, foggy, fool, forced, front, fulgurate, fuzzy, gag swivel, gambit, game, gimmick, girth, give light, glance, glare, gleam, glint, gloss, gloss over, glow, googly, gouge, grift, guise, hackamore, halter, hames, hametugs, handle, harness, hazy, headgear, headstall, heedless, helpless, hemeralopic, hid, hidden, hide, hip straps, hocus-pocus, hoodwink, imperceptive, impercipient, impervious to, impetuous, impulsive, in a cloud, in a fog, in darkness, in eclipse, in purdah, in the wings, incandesce, incommunicado, inconsiderate, indeterminate, indiscriminate, indistinct, inebriated, insensible, insensible to, insensitive, instinctive, intrigue, involuntary, irrational, jaquima, jerk line, joker, juggle, jugglery, keep under cover, knavery, lackluster, lame excuse, latent, light shield, lines, little game, locus standi, lurking hole, luster, lusterless, make blind, maneuver, martingale, mask, mat, mechanical, mind-blind, mindless, misty, mole, move, muddled, muddy, murky, muted, myopic, mysterious, nearsighted, nebulous, nonunderstanding, noseband, nyctalopic, obfuscate, obfuscated, oblivious, obscure, obscured, obtuse, occult, opaque, ostensible motive, out, out cold, overcome, overshadow, paralyzed, parasol, pass, passed out, pixilated, plastered, plot, ploy, pole strap, poor excuse, positive, preoccupied, pretense, pretension, pretext, protestation, public motive, purblind, put-off, racket, radiate, rash, rayless, reckless, recondite, red herring, reflex, reflexive, refuge, reins, ribbons, ruse, saddle, scam, scheme, screen, scurvy trick, secluded, secluse, secret, semblance, send out rays, senseless, sequestered, shade, shader, shadow, shadowing, shadowy, shaft tug, sham, shapeless, shift, shine, shine brightly, shoot, shoot out rays, short-sighted, shortsighted, show, shroud, shut, side check, sightless, sleight, sleight of hand, sleight-of-hand trick, slow, slow-witted, slur over, smoke screen, snaffle, snow-blind, spiritually blind, squeezed shut, stalking-horse, stark blind, stiff, stone-blind, stoned, strangulated, stratagem, strategy, strike blind, stupid, subterfuge, sunblind, sunshade, surcingle, surveillance, tack, tackle, tactic, the blind, the sightless, the unseeing, thick, thoughtless, transcendent, trap, trappings, trick, trickery, tug, umbrella, unapprehending, unaware of, unclear, uncomprehending, unconscious, unconscious of, under an eclipse, under cover, under house arrest, under the table, under wraps, underground, undiscerning, undiscriminating, unenlightened, unintentional, unknown, unopen, unopened, unperceiving, unperceptive, unpersuadable, unplain, unreasoning, unseeing, unsighted, unthinking, unvented, unventilated, unwilled, unwilling, unwitting, vague, varnish, veil, visionless, weak-minded, whitewash, wile, wily device, winker braces, wrapped in clouds, yoke

ROGET THESAURUS

Blind

Necessity

N necessity, involuntariness, instinct, blind impulse, inborn proclivity, innate proclivity, native tendency, natural tendency, natural impulse, predetermination, necessity, necessitation, obligation, compulsion, subjection, stern necessity, hard necessity, dire necessity, imperious necessity, inexorable necessity, iron necessity, adverse necessity, fate, what must be, destiny, destination, fatality, fate, kismet, doom, foredoom, election, predestination, preordination, foreordination, lot fortune, fatalism, inevitableness, spell, star, stars, planet, planets, astral influence, sky, Fates, Parcae, Sisters three, book of fate, God's will, will of Heaven, wheel of Fortune, Ides of March, Hobson's choice, last shift, last resort, dernier ressort, pis aller, necessaries, necessarian, necessitarian, fatalist, automaton, necessary, needful, fated, destined, elect, spellbound compulsory, uncontrollable, inevitable, unavoidable, irresistible, irrevocable, inexorable, avoidless, resistless, involuntary, instinctive, automatic, blind, mechanical, unconscious, unwitting, unthinking, unintentional, impulsive, necessarily, of necessity, of course, ex necessitate rei, needs must, perforce, nolens volens, will he nil he, willy nilly, bon gre mal gre, willing or unwilling, coute que coute, faute de mieux, by stress of, if need be, it cannot be helped, there is no help for, there is no helping it, it will be, it must be, it needs to be, it must be so, it will have its way, the die is cast, jacta est alea, che sara sara, it is written, one's days are numbered, one's fate is sealed, Fata obstant, diis aliter visum, actum me invito factus, non est meus actus, aujord'hui roi demain rien, quisque suos patimur manes, The moving finger writes and having writ moves on, Nor all thy piety nor wit shall draw it back to ca.

Pretext

N pretext, pretense, pretension, plea, allegation, advocation, ostensible motive, ostensible ground, ostensible reason, phony reason, excuse, subterfuge, color, gloss, guise, cover, loop hole, starting hole, how to creep out of, salvo, come off, way of escape, handle, peg to hang on, room locus standi, stalking-horse, cheval de bataille, cue, pretense, put off, dust thrown in the eyes, blind, moonshine, mere pretext, shallow pretext, lame excuse, lame apology, tub to a whale, false plea, sour grapes, makeshift, shift, white lie, special pleading, soft sawder, ostensibly, alleged, apologetic, pretended, ostensibly, under color, under the plea, under the pretense of, under the guise of.

Shade

N shade, awning, parasol, sunshade, umbrella, chick, portiere, screen, curtain, shutter, blind, gauze, veil, chador, mantle, mask, cloud, mist, gathering, of clouds, umbrage, glade, shadow, beach umbrella, folding umbrella, shady, umbrageous, welcome ye shades! ye bowery thickets hail.

Blindness

VB be blind, not see, lose sight of, have the eyes bandaged, grope in the dark, not look, close the eyes, shut the eyes-, turn away the eyes, avert the eyes, look another way, wink, shut the eyes to, be blind to, wink at, blink at, render blind, blind, blindfold, hoodwink, dazzle, put one's eyes out, throw dust into one's eyes, pull the wool over one's eyes, jeter de la poudre aux yeux, screen from sight.

N blindness, cecity, excecation, amaurosis, cataract, ablepsy, ablepsia, prestriction, dim-sightedness, Braille, Braille-type, guttaserena (drop serene), noctograph, teichopsia, blind, eyeless, sightless, visionless, dark, stone-blind, sand- blind, stark-blind, undiscerning, dimsighted, blind as a bat, blind as a buzzard, blind as a beetle, blind as a mole, blind as an owl, wall-eyed, blinded, blindly, blindfold, blindfolded, darkly, O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon.

Inattention

N inattention, inconsideration, inconsiderateness, oversight, inadvertence, inadvertency, nonobservance, disregard, supineness, etourderie, want of thought, heedlessness, insouciance, abstraction, absence of mind, absorption of mind, preoccupation, distraction, reverie, brown study, deep musing, fit of abstraction, inattentive, unobservant, unmindful, heedless, unthinking, unheeding, undiscerning, inadvertent, mindless, regardless, respectless, listless, blind, deaf, bird-witted, hand over head, cursory, percursory, giddy-brained, scatter-brained, hare-brained, unreflective, unreflecting, ecervele, offhand, dizzy, muzzy, brainsick, giddy, giddy as a goose, wild, harum-scarum, rantipole, highflying, heedless, careless, inconsiderate, thoughtless, absent, abstracted, distrait, absentminded, lost, lost in thought, wrapped in thought, rapt, in the clouds, bemused, dreaming on other things, musing on other things, preoccupied, engrossed, daydreaming, in a reverie, off one's guard, napping, dreamy, caught napping, disconcerted, distracted, put out, inattentively, inadvertently, absent-mindedly, per incuriam, sub silentio, Int, stand at ease, stand easy!, the attention wanders, one's wits gone a woolgathering, one's wits gone a bird's nesting, it never entered into one's head, the mind running on other things, one's thoughts being elsewhere, had it been a bear it would have bitten you.

Concealment

VB conceal, hide, secrete, put out of sight, lock up, seal up, bottle up, encrypt, encode, cipher, cover, screen, cloak, veil, shroud, cover up one's tracks, screen from sight, screen from observation, drawing the veil, draw the curtain, close the curtain, curtain, shade, eclipse, throw a view over, be cloud, be mask, mask, disguise, ensconce, muffle, smother, befog, whisper, keep from, keep back, keep to oneself, keep snug, keep close, keep secret, keep dark, bury, sink, suppress, keep from, keep from out of view, keep from out of sight, keep in the shade, throw into the shade, throw into background, stifle, hush up, smother, withhold, reserve, fence with a question, ignore, keep a secret, keep one's own counsel, hold one's tongue, make no sign, not let it go further, not breathe a word, not breathe a syllable about, not let the right hand know what the left is doing, hide one's light under a bushel, bury one's talent in a napkin, keep in the dark, leave in the dark, keep in the ignorance, blind, blind the eyes, blindfold, hoodwink, mystify, puzzle, bamboozle, be concealed, suffer an eclipse, retire from sight, couch, hide oneself, lie hid, lie in perdu, lie in close, lie in ambush (ambush), seclude oneself, lurk, sneak, skulk, slink, prowl, steal into, steal out of, steal by, steal along, play at bopeep, play at hide and seek, hide in holes and corners, still hunt.

Ambush

N ambush, camouflage, mimicry, hiding place, secret place, secret drawer, recess, hold, holes and corners, closet, crypt, adytum, abditory, oubliette, ambush, ambuscade, stalking horse, lurking hole, lurking place, secret path, back stairs, retreat, screen, cover, shade, blinker, veil, curtain, blind, cloak, cloud, mask, visor, vizor, disguise, masquerade dress, domino, pitfall, trap, camouflaged, hidden, concealed, aux aguets.

Deception

N deception, falseness, untruth, imposition, imposture, fraud, deceit, guile, fraudulence, fraudulency, covin, knavery, misrepresentation, bluff, straw-bail, straw bid, spoof, delusion, gullery, juggling, jugglery, slight of hand, legerdemain, prestigiation, prestidigitation, magic, conjuring, conjuration, hocus-pocus, escamoterie, jockeyship, trickery, coggery, chicanery, supercherie, cozenage, circumvention, ingannation, collusion, treachery, practical joke, trick, cheat, wile, blind, feint, plant, bubble, fetch, catch, chicane, juggle, reach, hocus, bite, card sharping, stacked deck, loaded dice, quick shuffle, double dealing, dealing seconds, dealing from the bottom of the deck, artful dodge, swindle, tricks upon travelers, stratagem, confidence trick, fake, hoax, theft, ballot-box stuffing, barney, brace game, bunko game, drop game, gum game, panel game, shell game, thimblerig, skin game, snare, trap, pitfall, decoy, gin, springe, springle, noose, hoot, bait, decoy-duck, tub to the whale, baited trap, guet-a-pens, cobweb, net, meshes, toils, mouse trap, birdlime, dionaea, Venus's flytrap, ambush, trapdoor, sliding panel, false bottom, spring-net, spring net, spring gun, mask, masked battery, mine, flytrap, green goods, panel house, Cornish hug, wolf in sheep's clothing, disguise, disguisement, false colors, masquerade, mummery, borrowed plumes, pattes de velours, mockery, copy, counterfeit, sham, make- believe, forgery, fraud, lie, a delusion a mockery and a snare, hollow mockery, whited sepulcher, painted sepulcher, tinsel, paste, junk jewelry, costume jewelry, false jewelry, synthetic jewels, scagliola, ormolu, German silver, albata, paktong, white metal, Britannia metal, paint, veneer, jerry building, man of straw, illusion, ignis fatuus, mirage, deceived, deceiving, cunning, prestigious, prestigiatory, deceptive, deceptious, deceitful, covinous, delusive, delusory, illusive, illusory, elusive, insidious, ad captandum vulgus, untrue, mock, sham, make-believe, counterfeit, snide, pseudo, spurious, supposititious, so-called, pretended, feigned, trumped up, bogus, scamped, fraudulent, tricky, factitious bastard, surreptitious, illegitimate, contraband, adulterated, sophisticated, unsound, rotten at the core, colorable, disguised, meretricious, tinsel, pinchbeck, plated, catchpenny, Brummagem, artificial, synthetic, ersatz, simulated, under false colors, under the garb of, under cover of, over the left, keep the word of promise to the ear and break it t, fronti nulla fides, ah that deceit should steal such gentle shapes, a quicksand of deceit, decipimur specie recti, falsi crimen, fraus est celare fraudem, lupus in fabula, so smooth, he daubed his vice with show of virtue.