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Blur - 5 dictionary results

blur

  [blur] verb, blurred, blur⋅ring, noun
Use Blur in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to obscure or sully (something) by smearing or with a smeary substance: The windows were blurred with soot.
2. to obscure by making confused in form or outline; make indistinct: The fog blurred the outline of the car.
3. to dim the perception or susceptibility of; make dull or insensible: The blow on the head blurred his senses.
–verb (used without object)
4. to become indistinct: Everything blurred as she ran.
5. to make blurs.
–noun
6. a smudge or smear that obscures: a blur of smoke.
7. a blurred condition; indistinctness: They could see nothing in the foggy blur.
8. something seen indistinctly: The ship appeared as a blur against the horizon.
Origin:
1540–50; akin to blear

Related forms:
blur⋅red⋅ly  [blur-id-lee, blurd-] , adverb
blur⋅red⋅ness, noun
blur⋅ring⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
2. cloud, dim, darken, veil, mask.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Blur
blur   (blûr)   
v.   blurred, blur·ring, blurs

v.   tr.
  1. To make indistinct and hazy in outline or appearance; obscure.
  2. To smear or stain; smudge.
  3. To lessen the perception of; dim: "For street children . . . drugs offer the chance to blur their hopeless poverty" (Alma Guillermoprieto).
v.   intr.
  1. To become indistinct.
  2. To make smudges or stains by smearing.
n.  
  1. A smear or blot; a smudge.
  2. Something that is hazy and indistinct to the sight or mind.

[Probably akin to Middle English bleren, to blear.]
blur'ri·ness n., blur'ry adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Blur

Blur\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Blurred; p. pr. & vb. n. Blurring.] [Prob. of same origin as blear. See Blear.]

1. To render obscure by making the form or outline of confused and uncertain, as by soiling; to smear; to make indistinct and confused; as, to blur manuscript by handling it while damp; to blur the impression of a woodcut by an excess of ink.

But time hath nothing blurred those lines of favor Which then he wore. --Shak.

2. To cause imperfection of vision in; to dim; to darken.

Her eyes are blurred with the lightning's glare. --J. R. Drake.

3. To sully; to stain; to blemish, as reputation.

Sarcasms may eclipse thine own, But can not blur my lost renown. --Hudibras.

Syn: To spot; blot; disfigure; stain; sully.

Blur

Blur\ (bl[^u]r), n. 1. That which obscures without effacing; a stain; a blot, as upon paper or other substance.

As for those who cleanse blurs with blotted fingers, they make it worse. --Fuller.

2. A dim, confused appearance; indistinctness of vision; as, to see things with a blur; it was all blur.

3. A moral stain or blot.

Lest she . . . will with her railing set a great blur on mine honesty and good name. --Udall.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : Blur
Spanish: imagen borrosa, *imprecisa,
German: die Verschwommenheit,
Japanese: ぼやけた状態
More Translations »

blur 
1548, akin to blear. The verb is 1581, from the noun.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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