fill in the blank
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English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
As a noun, a clipping of fill-in-the-blank question, problem, &c.
Noun[edit]
fill in the blank (plural fill in the blanks)
Examples |
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My name is _____. |
- A language exercise in which one or more words are replaced with a blank line and the reader is tasked with supplying a valid replacement.
- The test consisted of fill-in-the-blank sentences.
- 2009, Randy Huddleston, Getting to Know God[1], page 43:
- The emphasis on doing the Bible study portion. This is not a fill in the blank with a simple answer from the Bible that “says” what we are looking for.
- (idiomatic, figuratively) A placeholder allowing for any of a variety of possible answers or a single elicited answer.
- 2011, Debra Ginsberg, The Neighbors Are Watching: A Novel[2], page 55:
- It was important that she make something memorable. She wanted to be complimented. She wanted people to go home after the party and say, “Wasn't Dorothy's — fill in the blank — amazing?"
Synonyms[edit]
- (language exercise): gap fill (UK)
Hyponyms[edit]
- (language exercise): cloze
Translations[edit]
Verb[edit]
fill in the blank (third-person singular simple present fills in the blank, present participle filling in the blank, simple past and past participle filled in the blank)
- To complete a single fill in the blank question.
- (idiomatic, figuratively) To complete an interruption, ambiguity, or vagueness in understanding, perception, or context.
- 2010, George Friedman, Flotillas and the Wars of Public Opinion:
- The Zionists intended to shape the perceptions of a global public with limited interest in or understanding of the issues, filling in the blanks with their own narrative.
Synonyms[edit]
- gapfill (UK)