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.
He that is strucken blind can not forget
The precious treasure of his eyesight lost.
Shak.
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.
But hard be hardened, blind be blinded more,
That they may stumble on, and deeper fall.
Milton.
3. Undiscerning; undiscriminating;
inconsiderate.
This plan is recommended neither to blind approbation
nor to blind reprobation.
Jay.
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.
5. Involved; intricate; not easily followed or
traced.
The blind mazes of this tangled wood.
Milton.
6. Having no openings for light or passage; as, a
blind wall; open only at one end; as, a blind alley; a
blind gut.
7. Unintelligible, or not easily intelligible; as,
a blind passage in a book; illegible; as, blind
writing.
8. (Hort.) Abortive; failing to produce
flowers or fruit; as, blind buds; blind flowers.
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 (Zoöl.), 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 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
(Zoöl.), 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.
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.
A blind guide is certainly a great mischief; but a guide
that blinds those whom he should lead is . . . a much greater.
South.
2. To deprive partially of vision; to make vision
difficult for and painful to; to dazzle.
Her beauty all the rest did blind.
P. Fletcher.
3. To darken; to obscure to the eye or
understanding; to conceal; to deceive.
Such darkness blinds the sky.
Dryden.
The state of the controversy between us he endeavored, with
all his art, to blind and confound.
Stillingfleet.
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.
Blind (?), n. 1.
Something to hinder sight or keep out light; a screen; a cover; esp. a
hinged screen or shutter for a window; a blinder for a horse.
2. Something to mislead the eye or the
understanding, or to conceal some covert deed or design; a
subterfuge.
3. [Cf. F. blindes, p?., fr. G. blende,
fr. blenden to blind, fr. blind blind.] (Mil.) A
blindage. See Blindage.
4. A halting place. [Obs.]
Dryden.
{ Blind, Blinde } (?), n.
See Blende.