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 ]
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