‖n. [ D., fr. bles a white spot on the forehead + bok buck. ] (Zool.) A South African antelope (Alcelaphus albifrons), having a large white spot on the forehead. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blessed r Blest; p. pr. & vb. n. Blessing. ] [ OE. blessien, bletsen, AS. bletsian, bledsian, bloedsian, fr. bl&unr_;d blood; prob. originally to consecrate by sprinkling with blood. See Blood. ] 1. To make or pronounce holy; to consecrate [ 1913 Webster ]

And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it. Gen. ii. 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make happy, blithesome, or joyous; to confer prosperity or happiness upon; to grant divine favor to. [ 1913 Webster ]

The quality of mercy is . . . twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

It hath pleased thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue forever before thee. 1 Chron. xvii. 27 (R. V. ) [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To express a wish or prayer for the happiness of; to invoke a blessing upon; -- applied to persons. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bless them which persecute you. Rom. xii. 14. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To invoke or confer beneficial attributes or qualities upon; to invoke or confer a blessing on, -- as on food. [ 1913 Webster ]

Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them. Luke ix. 16. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To make the sign of the cross upon; to cross (one's self). [ Archaic ] Holinshed. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To guard; to keep; to protect. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To praise, or glorify; to extol for excellences. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Ps. ciii. 1. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. To esteem or account happy; to felicitate. [ 1913 Webster ]

The nations shall bless themselves in him. Jer. iv. 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. To wave; to brandish. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

And burning blades about their heads do bless. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

Round his armed head his trenchant blade he blest. Fairfax. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This is an old sense of the word, supposed by Johnson, Nares, and others, to have been derived from the old rite of blessing a field by directing the hands to all parts of it. “In drawing [ their bow ] some fetch such a compass as though they would turn about and bless all the field.” Ascham. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bless me!
Bless us! an exclamation of surprise. Milton. --
To bless from, to secure, defend, or preserve from. “Bless me from marrying a usurer.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] To bless the doors from nightly harm. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ] --
To bless with,
To be blessed with, to favor or endow with; to be favored or endowed with; as, God blesses us with health; we are blessed with happiness. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Hallowed; consecrated; worthy of blessing or adoration; heavenly; holy. [ 1913 Webster ]

O, run; prevent them with thy humble ode,
And lay it lowly at his blessed feet. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Enjoying happiness or bliss; favored with blessings; happy; highly favored. [ 1913 Webster ]

All generations shall call me blessed. Luke i. 48. [ 1913 Webster ]

Towards England's blessed shore. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Imparting happiness or bliss; fraught with happiness; blissful; joyful. “Then was a blessed time.” “So blessed a disposition.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Enjoying, or pertaining to, spiritual happiness, or heavenly felicity; as, the blessed in heaven. [ 1913 Webster ]

Reverenced like a blessed saint. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Cast out from God and blessed vision. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (R. C. Ch.) Beatified. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Used euphemistically, ironically, or intensively. [ 1913 Webster ]

Not a blessed man came to set her [ a boat ] free. R. D. Blackmore. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Happily; fortunately; joyfully. [ 1913 Webster ]

We shall blessedly meet again never to depart. Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being blessed; happiness; felicity; bliss; heavenly joys; the favor of God. [ 1913 Webster ]

The assurance of a future blessedness. Tillotson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Single blessedness, the unmarried state. “Grows, lives, and dies in single blessedness.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Delight; beatitude; ecstasy. See Happiness. [ 1913 Webster ]

See under Thistle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who blesses; one who bestows or invokes a blessing. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. bletsung. See Bless, v. t. ] 1. The act of one who blesses. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A declaration of divine favor, or an invocation imploring divine favor on some or something; a benediction; a wish of happiness pronounces. [ 1913 Webster ]

This is the blessing, where with Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel. Deut. xxxiii. 1. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A means of happiness; that which promotes prosperity and welfare; a beneficent gift. [ 1913 Webster ]

Nature's full blessings would be well dispensed. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Bib.) A gift. [ A Hebraism ] Gen. xxxiii. 11. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Grateful praise or worship. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Blessed. “This patriarch blest.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

White these blest sounds my ravished ear assail. Trumbull. [ 1913 Webster ]