blind (bl nd)adj. blind·er, blind·est 1. a. Sightless. b. Having a maximal visual acuity of the better eye, after correction by refractive lenses, of one-tenth normal vision or less (20/200 or less on the Snellen test). c. Of, relating to, or for sightless persons. 2. a. Performed or made without the benefit of background information that might prejudice the outcome or result: blind taste tests used in marketing studies. b. Performed without preparation, experience, or knowledge: made a blind stab at answering the question. c. Performed by instruments and without the use of sight: blind navigation. 3. Unable or unwilling to perceive or understand: blind to a lover's faults. 4. Not based on reason or evidence; unquestioning: put blind faith in their leaders. 5. Slang Drunk. 6. Lacking reason or purpose: blind fate; blind choice. 7. a. Difficult to comprehend or see; illegible. b. Incompletely or illegibly addressed: blind mail. c. Hidden from sight: a blind seam. d. Screened from the view of oncoming motorists: a blind driveway. e. Secret or otherwise undisclosed: a blind item in a military budget. 8. Closed at one end: a blind socket; a blind passage. 9. Having no opening: a blind wall. 10. Botany Failing to produce flowers or fruits: a blind bud. n. 1. (used with a pl. verb) Blind people considered as a group. Used with the: a radio station for reading to the blind. 2. Something, such as a window shade or a Venetian blind, that hinders vision or shuts out light. 3. A shelter for concealing hunters or nature photographers. 4. Something intended to conceal the true nature, especially of an activity; a subterfuge. adv. 1. a. Without seeing; blindly. b. Without the aid of visual reference: flew blind through the fog. 2. Without forethought or provision; unawares: entered into the scheme blind. 3. Without significant information, especially that might affect an outcome or result: "When you read blind, you see everything but the author" (Margaret Atwood). 4. Informal Into a stupor: drank themselves blind. 5. Used as an intensive: Thieves in the bazaar robbed us blind. tr.v. blind·ed, blind·ing, blinds 1. To deprive of sight: was blinded in an industrial accident. 2. To dazzle: skiers temporarily blinded by sunlight on snow. 3. To deprive of perception or insight: prejudice that blinded them to the merits of the proposal. 4. To withhold light from: Thick shrubs blinded our downstairs windows. [Middle English, from Old English; see bhel-1 in Indo-European roots.] blind  ing·ly adv.blind ly adv.blind ness n. |
blindness (blndn s) A lack or impairment of vision in which maximal visual acuity after correction by refractive lenses is one-tenth normal vision or less in the better eye. Blindness can be genetic but is usually acquired as a result of injury, cataracts, or diseases such as glaucoma or diabetes. In Asia and Africa, trachoma is a common infectious cause of blindness. |
Blindness
See also eyes.
a lack or loss of sight. — ableptical, adj.
a condition of partial or total blindness, caused by a disease of the optie nerve. — amaurotic, adj.
obscurity of vision, occurring without any organic change in the eyes; the first stage of amaurosis. — amblyopic, adj.
blindness.
blindness.
Medicine. the condition of snow blindness.
Obsolete, the state of having defective eyesight; purblindness.
Obsolete, the process of blinding.
a disease of the eyes, in which the eyeball hardens and becomes tense, often resulting in blindness. — glaucomatous, adj.
the loss of sight in daylight. — hemeralopic, adj.
a writing frame designed for use by blind people.
the loss of sight in darkness. — nyctalopic, adj.
a device combining a selenium cell and telephone apparatus that converts light energy into sound energy, used to enable blind people to sense light through the hearing and thus read printed matter.
an instrument for writing when unable to see.
a blind spot or blind area in the field of vision.
the totality of medical knowledge concerning the causes, treatment, and prevention of blindness.
a person who devotes himself to helping the blind.
blindness. — typhlotic, adj.
Blindness
See Also: EYE(S); EYE EXPRESSIONS, BLANK
- Blind as a bat —Anon
Attribution for this enduringly popular cliche dates back to the seventeenth century and a somewhat longer old English version from John Clarke’s Paromiologia: “Blind as a bat at noone.” Less used variants are “Blind as a beetle” and “Blind as a buzzard.”
- Blind as a flame of fire —Algernon Charles Swinburne
- Blind as a fool’s heart —Robert Browning
- Blind [about understanding love and hate] as a newborn child —Marguerite Duras
- Blind as a newt —Leigh Allison Wilson
- Blind as a night fog —Daniel Berrigan
- Blind as a stone —Anon
This still commonly used expression dates back to the fourteenth century, even before Chaucer used it in Canterbury Tales: “Blind as is a stoon.”
- (Eyes staring,) blind as glass —Rose Tremain
- Blind as Hell —William Habbington
- Blind as ignorance —Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher
- Blind as inexperience —Victor Hugo
- Blind as love —Percy Bysshe Shelley
- Blind as maggots —Mark Helprin
- Blind as night —Beryl Markham
- (Bright and) blind as the moon in the blank mid-morning sky —F. D. Reeve
- Blind as the waves of the sea —Eva Gore-Booth
- Oblivious of … as an ant or a flea might be to the sound of the avalanche on which it rides —William Faulkner
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Noun | 1. |  blindness - the state of being blind or lacking sightlegal blindness - vision that is 20/200 or worse in both eyes (20/200 vision is the ability to see at 20 feet what a normal eye can see at 200 feet) anopia - sightlessness (especially because of a structural defect in or the absence of an eye) snow-blindness, snowblindness - temporary blindness caused by exposure to sunlight reflected from snow or ice eyelessness - blindness due to loss of the eyes figural blindness - inability to see shapes and contours |
Translations
blindness
n (lit, fig) → Blindheit f → (to gegenüber)
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