Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Blanket

Blan′ket (blăn′kĕt), n. [F. blanchet, OF. also blanket, a woolen waistcoat or shirt, the blanket of a printing press; prop. white woolen stuff, dim. of blanc white; blanquette a kind of white pear, fr. blanc white. See Blank, a.] 1. A heavy, loosely woven fabric, usually of wool, and having a nap, used in bed clothing; also, a similar fabric used as a robe; or any fabric used as a cover for a horse.

2. (Print.) A piece of rubber, felt, or woolen cloth, used in the tympan to make it soft and elastic.

3. A streak or layer of blubber in whales.

☞ The use of blankets formerly as curtains in theaters explains the following figure of Shakespeare. Nares.

Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark To cry, "Hold, hold!" Shak.

Blanket sheet, a newspaper of folio size. — A wet blanket, anything which damps, chills, dispirits, or discourages.

Blan′ket, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Blanketed; p. pr. & vb. n. Blanketing.] 1. To cover with a blanket.

I'll . . . blanket my loins. Shak.

2. To toss in a blanket by way of punishment.

We'll have our men blanket 'em i' the hall. B. Jonson.

3. To take the wind out of the sails of (another vessel) by sailing to windward of her.

Blanket cattle. See Belted cattle, under Belted.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.