blot
3 dictionary results for: blot out
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
blot1 
[blot] Pronunciation Key noun, verb, blot·ted, blot·ting.
—Related forms
[blot] Pronunciation Key noun, verb, blot·ted, blot·ting. –noun
–verb (used with object)
–verb (used without object)
—Verb phrase
| 1. | a spot or stain, esp. of ink on paper. |
| 2. | a blemish on a person's character or reputation: He had been haunted by a blot on his past. |
| 3. | Archaic. an erasure or obliteration, as in a writing. |
| 4. | to spot, stain, soil, or the like. |
| 5. | to darken; make dim; obscure or eclipse (usually fol. by out): We watched as the moon blotted out the sun. |
| 6. | to dry with absorbent paper or the like: to blot the wet pane. |
| 7. | to remove with absorbent paper or the like. |
| 8. | to make a blot; spread ink, dye, etc., in a stain: The more slowly I write, the more this pen blots. |
| 9. | to become blotted or stained: This paper blots too easily. |
| 10. | Chemistry. to transfer an array of separated components of a mixture to a chemically treated paper for analysis. Compare gel, gel electrophoresis. |
| 11. | blot out,
|
[Origin: 1275–1325; (n.) ME blotte, akin to ON blettr blot, spot, stain; (v.) late ME blotten, deriv. of the n.]
] —Related forms
blotless, adjective
blot·ting·ly, adverb
blotty, adjective
—Synonyms 1. blotch, ink stain. 2. stain, taint, dishonor, disgrace, spot. 4. sully, disfigure. 5. obliterate, efface, erase, expunge. 7. absorb.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| blot out | |
verb | |
| make undecipherable or imperceptible by obscuring or concealing; "a hidden message"; "a veiled threat" [syn: obscure] |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This
blot out
Obliterate, wipe out of existence or memory, as in At least one Indian nation was blotted out as the pioneers moved west, or The trauma of the accident blotted out all her memory of recent events. This idiom, first recorded in 1516, uses the verb to blot in the sense of making something illegible by spotting or staining it with ink. The New Testament has it (Acts 3:19): "Repent ye ... that your sins may be blotted out."
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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