What does "blanket" mean?
A heavy, loosely woven fabric, usually large and woollen, used for warmth while sleeping or resting.
Blanket
/ˈblæŋkɪt/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A heavy, loosely woven fabric, usually large and woollen, used for warmth while sleeping or resting.
- Grammar: blanket is listed as adj, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: across the board, across-the-board, across-the-board, afghan.
- Useful contrasts: bare, duvet, expose.
- Usage evidence: I'm very sensitive to cold. May I have another blanket?
How to use "blanket"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "blanket" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "blanket" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "blanket" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "blanket" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "blanket" is acting as adj, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "across the board" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "blanket", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A heavy, loosely woven fabric, usually large and woollen, used for warmth while sleeping or resting.
"The baby was cold, so his mother put a blanket over him."
- 2 bedding that keeps a person warm in bed wordnet
- 3 A covering layer of anything.
"The city woke under a thick blanket of fog."
- 4 a layer of lead surrounding the highly reactive core of a nuclear reactor wordnet
- 5 A thick rubber mat used in the offset printing process to transfer ink from the plate to the paper being printed.
"A press operator must carefully wash the blanket whenever changing a plate."
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 anything that covers wordnet
- 7 A streak or layer of blubber in whales.
Verb
- 1 To cover with, or as if with, a blanket. attributive, transitive
"A fresh layer of snow blanketed the area."
- 2 cover as if with a blanket wordnet
- 3 To traverse or complete thoroughly. attributive, transitive
"The salesman blanketed the entire neighborhood."
- 4 form a blanket-like cover (over) wordnet
- 5 To toss in a blanket by way of punishment. attributive, transitive
"Hang him, poore grogran-raſcall, pray thee thinke not of him: I’le ſend for him to my lodging, and haue him blanketted when thou wilt, man."
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 To take the wind out of the sails of (another vessel) by sailing to windward of it. attributive, transitive
- 7 To nullify the impact of (someone or something). attributive, transitive
- 8 Of a radio signal: to override or block out another radio signal. attributive
Adjective
- 1 General; covering or encompassing everything. attributive, not-comparable
"Another observer offered a less blanket criticism."
Adjective
- 1 broad in scope or content wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"I'm very sensitive to cold. May I have another blanket?"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "blanket"?
Common synonyms include: across the board, across-the-board, across-the-board, afghan, afghan, all comprehensive.
How do you use "blanket" in a sentence?
I'm very sensitive to cold. May I have another blanket?
How do you pronounce "blanket"?
Pronounced /ˈblæŋkɪt/.
Etymology
From Middle English blanket, blonket, blaunket, from Old Northern French blanket, blancet (“white horse", also "white woollen cloth or flannel; a type of jacket”, literally “that which is white”) (whence Modern French blanchet), diminutive of blanc (“white”), of Germanic origin (compare Old English blanca (“white horse”); see more at blank). Furthermore, the sense "white woollen cloth" is likely a calque of Old English hwītel (“blanket; cloak, mantle”), from Old English hwīt (“white”) + -el (diminutive suffix). Compare also Old Norse hvítill (“a white bed-cover, sheet”), Norwegian kvitel (“blanket”). Compare also blunket, plunket. Displaced native Middle English whytel, from Old English hwītel (whence Modern English whittle (“blanket, cloak, shawl”)).