Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
blanket (noun)1.
a) a large usually oblong piece of woven fabric used as a bed covering
b) a similar piece of fabric used as a body covering (as for an animal) - a horse blanket
2.
something that resembles a blanket - a blanket of fog a blanket of gloom
3.
a rubber or plastic sheet on the cylinder in an offset press that transfers the image to the surface being printed
transitive verb
1.
to cover with or as if with a blanket - new grass blankets the slope
2.
a) to cover so as to obscure, interrupt, suppress, or extinguish - blanket a fire with foam
b) to interrupt the smooth flow of wind to (as a downwind ship)
c) to apply or cause to apply to uniformly despite wide separation or diversity among the elements included - freight rates that blanket a region
d) to cause to be included - automatically blanketed into the insurance program
1.
covering all members of a group or class - a blanket wage increase
2.
effective or applicable in all instances
Merriam-Webster Online Thesaurus
blanket (adjective)belonging or relating to the whole
SYNONIMS:
across-the-board, blanket, broad-brush, common, generic, global, overall, universalRELATED WORDS:
all-embracing, broad, broad-gauge ( broad-gauged), broadscale, comprehensive, extensive, inclusionary, overarching, pervasive, sweeping, ubiquitous, wholesale, wide, widespread; aggregate, collective, complete, full, plenary; planetary, worldwideNEAR ANTONYMS:
component, constituent; cross-sectional, divisional, fragmentary, partial; local, localized, regional, sectionalsomething that covers or conceals like a piece of cloth
SYNONIMS:
blanket, cope, cover, covering, coverture, cover-up, curtain, hood, mantle, mask, pall, penumbra, robe, shroud, veil, wrapsRELATED WORDS:
blind, concealer, screen, shield; fig leaf, Potemkin village, Trojan horse; camouflage, disguise, facade ( façade), face, mask, veneer; gloss, varnish1.
to form a layer over
SYNONIMS:
blanket, carpet, coat, overlay, overlie, overspread, sheetRELATED WORDS:
enclose ( inclose), enrobe, enshroud, enswathe, envelop, enwrap, mantle, shawl, shroud, swathe, wrap; cloak, clothe, curtain, veil; circle, encircle, encompass2.
to keep secret or shut off from view
SYNONIMS:
belie, blanket, blot out, cloak, conceal, cover, curtain, disguise, enshroud, mask, obscure, occult, paper over, screen, shroud, suppress, veilRELATED WORDS:
bury, camouflage, cover (up), smother; gild, gloss (over), varnish, whitewash; becloud, bedim, befog, block, cloud, darken, eclipse, obstruct, occlude, overcast, overshadow, shadeNEAR ANTONYMS:
bring out, present; clarify, illuminate; advertise, air, broadcast, get out, proclaim, publicize, publish, spread3.
to cause to cease burning
SYNONIMS:
blanket, douse ( dowse), put out, quench, snuff (out)RELATED WORDS:
choke, smother, suffocate; blow out, rub out, snub (out), stamp (out), stub