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bleak

 - 6 dictionary results
Bleek
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bleak

1  [bleek]
Use bleak in a Sentence
–adjective, -er, -est.
1. bare, desolate, and often windswept: a bleak plain.
2. cold and piercing; raw: a bleak wind.
3. without hope or encouragement; depressing; dreary: a bleak future.
Origin:
1300–50; ME bleke pale, b. variants bleche (OE blǣc) and blake (OE blāc); both c. ON bleikr, G bleich; akin to bleach

Related forms:
bleakish, adjective
bleakly, adverb
bleakness, noun

Synonyms:
3. See austere.
Bleek
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bleak

2  [bleek]
–noun
a European freshwater fish, Alburnus alburnus, having scales with a silvery pigment that is used in the production of artificial pearls.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME bleke, n. use of bleke pale; see bleak 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To bleak
bleak 1   (blēk)   
adj.   bleak·er, bleak·est

    1. Gloomy and somber: "Life in the Aran Islands has always been bleak and difficult" (John Millington Synge).

    2. Providing no encouragement; depressing: a bleak prospect.

  2. Cold and cutting; raw: bleak winds of the North Atlantic.

  3. Exposed to the elements; unsheltered and barren: the bleak, treeless regions of the high Andes.


[Middle English bleik, pale, from Old Norse bleikr, white; see bhel-1 in Indo-European roots.]
bleak'ly adv., bleak'ness n.
bleak 2   (blēk)   
n.   pl. bleak or bleaks
A small European freshwater fish of the genus Alburnus that is related to the carp and has silvery scales used in the manufacture of artificial pearls.

[Middle English bleke, probably alteration (influenced by bleke, pale) of *blay, from Old English blǣge.]
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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Word Origin & History

bleak 
c.1300, from O.N. bleikr "pale" (see bleach). Sense of "cheerless" is c.1719 figurative extension. The same Gmc. root produced the O.E. blac "pale," but this died out, probably from confusion with blæc "black;" but bleikr persisted, with a sense of "bare" as well as "pale."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia

bleak

(Alburnus alburnus), small, slender fish of the carp family, Cyprinidae, found in rivers and lakes of England and Europe. A silvery-green fish, it grows to a maximum length of about 20 centimetres (8 inches). It lives in schools, usually near the surface, and eats aquatic invertebrates. The bleak is edible but bony. Its scales are used in eastern Europe for the manufacture of artificial pearls.

Learn more about bleak with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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