BLANKET

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does blanket mean? 

• BLANKET (noun)
  The noun BLANKET has 3 senses:

1. bedding that keeps a person warm in bed

2. anything that covers

3. a layer of lead surrounding the highly reactive core of a nuclear reactor

  Familiarity information: BLANKET used as a noun is uncommon.

• BLANKET (adjective)
  The adjective BLANKET has 1 sense:

1. broad in scope or content

  Familiarity information: BLANKET used as an adjective is very rare.

• BLANKET (verb)
  The verb BLANKET has 2 senses:

1. cover as if with a blanket

2. form a blanket-like cover (over)

  Familiarity information: BLANKET used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BLANKET (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Bedding that keeps a person warm in bed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

blanket; cover

Context example:

he pulled the covers over his head and went to sleep

Hypernyms ("blanket" is a kind of...):

bed clothing; bedclothes; bedding (coverings that are used on a bed)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "blanket"):

afghan (a blanket knitted or crocheted in strips or squares; sometimes used as a shawl)

electric blanket (a blanket containing and electric heating element that can be controlled to the desired temperature by a rheostat)

mackinaw; Mackinaw blanket (a thick plaid blanket formerly used in the northwestern United States)

manta (a blanket that is used as a cloak or shawl)

security blanket (a blanket (or toy) that a child carries around in order to reduce anxiety)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Anything that covers

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

blanket; mantle

Context example:

there was a blanket of snow

Hypernyms ("blanket" is a kind of...):

cover; covering; natural covering (a natural object that covers or envelops)

Derivation:

blanket (cover as if with a blanket)

blanket (form a blanket-like cover (over))

Sense 3

Meaning:

A layer of lead surrounding the highly reactive core of a nuclear reactor

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("blanket" is a kind of...):

bed; layer (single thickness of usually some homogeneous substance)

Holonyms ("blanket" is a part of...):

breeder reactor (a nuclear reactor that produces more fissile material than it burns)

• BLANKET (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Broad in scope or content

Synonyms:

across-the-board; all-embracing; all-encompassing; all-inclusive; blanket; broad; encompassing; extensive; panoptic; wide

Context example:

granted him wide powers

Similar:

comprehensive (including all or everything)

• BLANKET (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they blanket    ... he / she / it blankets   
Past simple: blanketed   
Past participle: blanketed   
-ing form: blanketing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cover as if with a blanket

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

snow blanketed the fields

Hypernyms (to "blanket" is one way to...):

cover (provide with a covering or cause to be covered)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sentence example:

The wind storms blanket the area with dust and dirt

Derivation:

blanket (anything that covers)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Form a blanket-like cover (over)

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "blanket" is one way to...):

cover; spread over (form a cover over)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sentence example:

Dust and dirt blanket the area

Derivation:

blanket (anything that covers)

 Context examples 

Why, you’d not survive the night without blankets: I know how strong you are.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

They assessed whether or not the valleys carved into the blankets of surrounding debris ejected from the craters, as an indicator of whether the valleys are older or younger than the craters.

(Some Ancient Mars Lakes Came Long After Others, NASA)

His eyes went lack-lustre, and he lay back on the pillow, pulling the blanket about him and up to his chin.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

They were heavily burdened with blanket packs which were strapped to their shoulders. Head-straps, passing across the forehead, helped support these packs.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

The Crater Lake region is blanketed with ash deposits from such volcanoes.

(New answer to MRSA, other 'superbug' infections: clay minerals?, NSF)

By the same computation, they provided me with sheets, blankets, and coverlets, tolerable enough for one who had been so long inured to hardships.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Wintertime covers roughly 30 percent of the Earth in a blanket of snow, which means solar panels usually do not operate smoothly in these regions during this season.

(Nanogenerator Creates Electricity from Snowfall, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Daylight was yet three hours away, though it was already six o'clock; and in the darkness Henry went about preparing breakfast, while Bill rolled the blankets and made the sled ready for lashing.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

A solution common to both groups is to release carbon dioxide gas trapped in the Martian surface to thicken the atmosphere and act as a blanket to warm the planet.

(Mars Terraforming Not Possible Using Present-Day Technology, NASA)

As soon as he showed signs of life we wrapped him up in blankets and placed him near the chimney of the kitchen stove.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)