blank sb. (etymol. meaning is ‘something white’)
1.
white spot in the centre of a
target; fig. anything aimed at, range of such aim
Wint. II. iii. 5
“out of the blank And
level of my brain,”
Troil. III. iii. 232,
Ham. IV. i. 42
“As level as the cannon
to his blank”
. . ., Lr. I. i.
161,
Oth. III. iv. 127
“stood within the blank
of his displeasure.”
2.
lottery ticket which
does not gain a prize
Cor. V. ii. 10
“lots to blanks”
(=all the world to nothing).
3.
blank paper Sonn. lxxvii. 10;
esp.=“blank
charter” (R2 I. iv.
48), document given to the agents of the
crown in Richard II's reign to fill up as they
pleased R2 II. i. 251.
4.
void
Tw.N. II. iv. 112
“what's her
history?—A blank.”
