| Blind | a. [ AS.; akin to D., G., OS., Sw., & Dan. blind, Icel. blindr, Goth. blinds; of uncertain origin. ] 1. Destitute of the sense of seeing, either by natural defect or by deprivation; without sight. [ 1913 Webster ] He that is strucken blind can not forget
The precious treasure of his eyesight lost. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. Not having the faculty of discernment; destitute of intellectual light; unable or unwilling to understand or judge; as, authors are blind to their own defects. [ 1913 Webster ] But hard be hardened, blind be blinded more,
That they may stumble on, and deeper fall. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ] 3. Undiscerning; undiscriminating; inconsiderate. [ 1913 Webster ] This plan is recommended neither to blind approbation nor to blind reprobation. Jay. [ 1913 Webster ] 4. Having such a state or condition as a thing would have to a person who is blind; not well marked or easily discernible; hidden; unseen; concealed; as, a blind path; a blind ditch. [ 1913 Webster ] 5. Involved; intricate; not easily followed or traced. [ 1913 Webster ] The blind mazes of this tangled wood. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ] 6. Having no openings for light or passage; as, a blind wall; open only at one end; as, a blind alley; a blind gut. [ 1913 Webster ] 7. Unintelligible, or not easily intelligible; as, a blind passage in a book; illegible; as, blind writing. [ 1913 Webster ] 8. (Hort.) Abortive; failing to produce flowers or fruit; as, blind buds; blind flowers. [ 1913 Webster ]
Blind alley, an alley closed at one end; a cul-de-sac. --
Blind axle, an axle which turns but does not communicate motion. Knight. --
Blind beetle, one of the insects apt to fly against people, esp. at night. --
Blind cat (Zool.), a species of catfish (Gronias nigrolabris), nearly destitute of eyes, living in caverns in Pennsylvania. --
Blind coal, coal that burns without flame; anthracite coal. Simmonds. --
Blind door,
Blind window, an imitation of a door or window, without an opening for passage or light. See Blank door or Blank window, under Blank, a. --
Blind level (Mining), a level or drainage gallery which has a vertical shaft at each end, and acts as an inverted siphon. Knight. --
Blind nettle (Bot.), dead nettle. See Dead nettle, under Dead. --
Blind shell (Gunnery), a shell containing no charge, or one that does not explode. --
Blind side, the side which is most easily assailed; a weak or unguarded side; the side on which one is least able or disposed to see danger. Swift. --
Blind snake (Zool.), a small, harmless, burrowing snake, of the family Typhlopidæ, with rudimentary eyes. --
Blind spot (Anat.), the point in the retina of the eye where the optic nerve enters, and which is insensible to light. --
Blind tooling, in bookbinding and leather work, the indented impression of heated tools, without gilding; -- called also blank tooling, and blind blocking. --
Blind wall, a wall without an opening; a blank wall. [ 1913 Webster ]
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| Blind | v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blinded; p. pr. & vb. n. Blinding. ] 1. To make blind; to deprive of sight or discernment. “To blind the truth and me.” Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ] A blind guide is certainly a great mischief; but a guide that blinds those whom he should lead is . . . a much greater. South. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. To deprive partially of vision; to make vision difficult for and painful to; to dazzle. [ 1913 Webster ] Her beauty all the rest did blind. P. Fletcher. [ 1913 Webster ] 3. To darken; to obscure to the eye or understanding; to conceal; to deceive. [ 1913 Webster ] Such darkness blinds the sky. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ] The state of the controversy between us he endeavored, with all his art, to blind and confound. Stillingfleet. [ 1913 Webster ] 4. To cover with a thin coating of sand and fine gravel; as a road newly paved, in order that the joints between the stones may be filled. [ 1913 Webster ] |
