blanket
/ˈblæŋkɪt/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈblæŋkɪt/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈblaŋ-kət/ (ame, mw) · /ˈblæŋ.kɪt/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈblæŋ.kɪt/ (ame, ipa)
blanket — noun
1. a large piece of soft, thick cloth, often woollen, that you put on top of a bed
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.
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
Dimitri spread a checked picnic blanket on the grass under the cherry tree.
The puppy slept on a folded blanket beside the kitchen door.
There is an extra blanket in the wardrobe if you feel cold tonight.
文法句型
a blanket on/over something
wrap somebody in a blanket
用法筆記
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.
常見錯誤
2. a thick, even covering of something such as snow, fog, smoke, or cloud that hide
a thick, even covering of something such as snow, fog, smoke, or cloud that hides the surface underneath.
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
The forest floor lay under a soft blanket of fallen pine needles.
Smoke from the wildfire hung over Sacramento like a grey blanket for days.
文法句型
a blanket of something
用法筆記
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.
常見錯誤
blanket — adjective
1. applied to every member of a group or every situation, with no exceptions made f
applied to every member of a group or every situation, with no exceptions made for individual cases.
The principal issued a blanket ban on mobile phones in all classrooms.
a blanket ban on something
The hotel chain offered a blanket apology to every guest affected by the data leak.
a blanket apology / refund / pardon
Doctors warn against blanket statements that all carbohydrates make people gain weight.
The new mayor refused to give blanket approval to every planning request from developers.
- across-the-board
very close in meaning; slightly more informal and often hyphenated
- sweeping
stresses how wide-reaching the effect is, often with negative tone
- wholesale
emphasises that no individual cases are looked at separately
- case-by-case
each situation judged on its own facts
- selective
only some members or cases are included
文法句型
a blanket + noun
用法筆記
Always sits directly before the noun; you cannot say 'the ban was blanket'. Often pairs with nouns of policy, judgement, or treatment ('ban', 'rule', 'apology', 'approval', 'statement', 'coverage').
常見錯誤
blanket — verb
1. to lie over the whole surface of a place in a thick, even layer, so that nothing
to lie over the whole surface of a place in a thick, even layer, so that nothing underneath can be seen.
Overnight, fresh snow blanketed the streets and cars of downtown Boston.
subject is snow / fog / ash; object is a place
The hillside was blanketed in wild yellow daffodils every April.
passive: be blanketed in / with something
Volcanic ash blanketed the rooftops of villages near Mount Merapi for weeks.
A thick mist blanketed the valley and hid the river from the climbers above.
文法句型
blanket something (in/with something)
be blanketed in/with something
用法筆記
Subject is almost always a substance that arrives in large quantity (snow, fog, ash, smoke, flowers, leaves). Frequently passive with 'in' or 'with' before the substance when the substance is presented as the result.