blanket

blanket — noun

1. a large piece of soft, thick cloth, often woollen, that you put on top of a bed

1.nounA2
Definition

a large piece of soft, thick cloth, often woollen, that you put on top of a bed or wrap around a person or animal to keep them warm.

Example

Grandma pulled a heavy wool blanket up to my chin before turning off the lamp.

pull a blanket up to / over somebody

The firefighters wrapped the shivering boy in a foil blanket on the pavement.

wrap somebody in a blanket

Common collocations
  • wool blanket
  • electric blanket
  • picnic blanket
  • fold a blanket
  • tuck a blanket around
Synonyms
  • quilt

    thicker, padded with filling between two layers; usually decorative

  • throw

    smaller decorative blanket draped over a sofa or chair

  • duvet

    thick filled bed cover used instead of sheets and blankets

Grammar Patterns

a blanket on/over something

wrap somebody in a blanket

Usage Note

Subject of the verb 'wrap' is usually the carer; the cold person is the object. The blanket itself takes prepositions 'on', 'over', or 'around' depending on whether it lies flat, drapes, or is tucked.

Common Mistakes

I covered with a blanket on the sofa.
I covered myself with a blanket on the sofa.
'cover' needs an object; you cover yourself, not just 'cover'.
She put her child into the blanket.
She wrapped her child in a blanket.
use 'wrap in', not 'put into', for blankets.

2. a thick, even covering of something such as snow, fog, smoke, or cloud that hide

2.nounB2
Definition

a thick, even covering of something such as snow, fog, smoke, or cloud that hides the surface underneath.

Example

By dawn, a heavy blanket of snow had buried the village rooftops.

a blanket of snow / fog / cloud

A thick blanket of fog rolled in from the bay and swallowed the harbour lights.

a blanket of fog rolled in

Common collocations
  • a blanket of snow
  • a blanket of fog
  • a blanket of cloud
  • a blanket of smoke
  • thick blanket
Synonyms
  • layer

    neutral, can be thin or thick; not necessarily covering everything

  • carpet

    metaphorical even covering; often of flowers, leaves, or moss

  • shroud

    hides things in a mysterious or gloomy way

Grammar Patterns

a blanket of something

Usage Note

Almost always singular and preceded by 'a' plus an adjective of thickness ('thick', 'heavy', 'soft', 'dense'). The 'of' phrase names the substance doing the covering.

Common Mistakes

There were blankets of fog over the city.
There was a blanket of fog over the city.
this sense is normally singular even when the area is large.

blanket — adjective

blanket — verb

Word family

  • blanketed
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four words describe rules or actions that apply to everyone with no individual review, but their tone differs. 'Blanket' is the most neutral and is typical in news and policy English: 'a blanket ban on fireworks'. 'Across-the-board' feels slightly more informal and is favoured in business and sports contexts: 'an across-the-board pay rise of three percent'. 'Sweeping' adds emotion — it stresses how wide and dramatic the change is and often signals worry or disapproval: 'sweeping reforms to the health system'. 'Wholesale' is the strongest of the four and suggests that no thought has been given to individual cases, often in a critical sense: 'the wholesale dismissal of every part-time worker'. Choose 'blanket' for a calm, factual description of a rule that covers everyone; reach for 'sweeping' or 'wholesale' when you want to highlight scale or criticism.

blanket ↗across-the-boardsweeping ↗wholesale ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • blanket ban
  • blanket coverage
  • blanket policy
  • blanket approval
  • blanket rule
  • wool blanket
  • electric blanket
  • picnic blanket

Adverbs

Phrases

  • a blanket of snow
  • a blanket of fog
  • wrap somebody in a blanket
  • pull the blanket up
  • blanketed in white

Prepositions

  • under a blanket
  • in a blanket
  • with a blanket
  • of (snow / fog / cloud)

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

The word came into Middle English from Old French 'blanchet', a small white woollen cloth, formed from 'blanc' meaning 'white'. Early blankets were undyed off-white wool, so the colour gave the cloth its name. Later the word stopped pointing to colour and pointed instead to the kind of warm covering itself, no matter what shade. From the eighteenth century onwards, English speakers began stretching the noun figuratively to a 'thick layer of snow or fog', then to an adjective and verb meaning to cover everything evenly — extensions still alive in 'a blanket ban' and 'snow blanketed the streets'.