blanket

The word “blanket” means a large piece of soft, thick fabric used for warmth, typically on a bed or wrapped around the body. In plain terms, a warm covering for a bed, or figuratively any covering layer — and, as an adjective, something that applies to everything without exception.

“Blanket” is pronounced BLANG-kiht (/ˈblæŋ.kɪt/ in IPA).

Here is “blanket” used in a sentence: “She pulled the blanket up to her chin and fell asleep.”

Depending on how it is used, “blanket” can be a noun, an adjective and a verb.

The word “blanket” comes from Old French. From Old French blanchet, a diminutive of blanc ("white"), originally naming a white woollen cloth.

“Blanket” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A2 level.

“Blanket” has 4 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a large piece of soft, thick fabric used for warmth, typically on a bed or wrapped around the body.

A blanket statement is a claim applied generally to every case, with no allowance for exceptions — 'nobody reads anymore,' for example. The phrase uses blanket's adjective sense, 'applying to all cases without exceptions,' and it is usually critical, implying the claim is an overgeneralization. Blanket ban, blanket rule, and blanket approval work the same way.

A blanket is a single large piece of soft, thick fabric used for warmth on a bed or wrapped around the body. A quilt is made of two layers of fabric with padding stitched between them, the stitching typically forming a decorative pattern. A comforter is similar to a quilt but plainer and usually thicker.

Yes — to blanket something is to cover it completely, as if with a blanket: 'snow blanketed the town,' 'fog blanketed the coast.' The verb is especially common in weather description. Related is the set phrase 'blanket coverage,' meaning reporting that covers an event completely.