Library / English Dictionary

BLEND

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of blending components together thoroughly

Synonyms:

blend; blending

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("blend" is a kind of...):

combination; combining; compounding (the act of combining things to form a new whole)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "blend"):

confluence; conflux; merging (a flowing together)

homogenisation; homogenization (the act of making something homogeneous or uniform in composition)

Derivation:

blend (mix together different elements)

blend (combine into one)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A new word formed by joining two others and combining their meanings

Example:

'brunch' is a well-known portmanteau

Synonyms:

blend; portmanteau; portmanteau word

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("blend" is a kind of...):

coinage; neologism; neology (a newly invented word or phrase)

Domain member usage:

motel (a motor hotel)

brunch (combination breakfast and lunch; usually served in late morning)

shopaholic (a compulsive shopper)

workaholic (person with a compulsive need to work)

smog; smogginess (air pollution by a mixture of smoke and fog)

dandle (move (a baby) up and down in one's arms or on one's knees)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An occurrence of thorough mixing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("blend" is a kind of...):

mix; mixture (an event that combines things in a mixture)

Derivation:

blend (mix together different elements)

blend (combine into one)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Mix together different elements

Example:

The colors blend well

Synonyms:

blend; coalesce; combine; commingle; conflate; flux; fuse; immix; meld; merge; mix

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "blend" is one way to...):

change integrity (change in physical make-up)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "blend"):

gauge (mix in specific proportions)

absorb (cause to become one with)

meld; melt (lose its distinct outline or shape; blend gradually)

blend in; mix in (cause (something) to be mixed with (something else))

accrete (grow together (of plants and organs))

conjugate (unite chemically so that the product is easily broken down into the original compounds)

admix (mix or blend)

alloy (make an alloy of)

syncretise; syncretize (become fused)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

blend (the act of blending components together thoroughly)

blend (an occurrence of thorough mixing)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Combine into one

Example:

We don't intermingle much

Synonyms:

blend; immingle; intermingle; intermix

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "blend" is one way to...):

amalgamate; commix; mingle; mix; unify (to bring or combine together or with something else)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "blend"):

commingle (mix or blend)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

blend (the act of blending components together thoroughly)

blend (an occurrence of thorough mixing)

blender (an electrically powered mixer with whirling blades that mix or chop or liquefy foods)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Blend or harmonize

Example:

This sofa won't go with the chairs

Synonyms:

blend; blend in; go

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "blend" is one way to...):

accord; agree; concord; consort; fit in; harmonise; harmonize (go together)

Verb group:

fit; go (be the right size or shape; fit correctly or as desired)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Credits

 Context examples: 

To find out how the brain categorizes auditory input, the researchers invented new sounds using an acoustic blending tool to produce sounds from two types of monkey calls.

(How does the brain learn categorization for sounds? The same way it does for images, National Science Foundation)

How could I, when, blended with it all, was her dear self, the better angel of my life?

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Presently a voice blent with the rich tones of the instrument; it was a lady who sang, and very sweet her notes were.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

His first wooing had been of the tempestuous order, and he looked back upon it as if through a long vista of years with a feeling of compassion blended with regret.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

He walked past the couch to the open window, and held up the drooping stalk of a moss-rose, looking down at the dainty blend of crimson and green.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He took no heed of any of us, but his eyes were fixed upon Holmes’s face with an expression in which hatred and amazement were equally blended.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The result, in modern-day peanuts, is a complex genomic blend that’s nearly as big as the human genome, which is about 3 billion DNA base pairs.

(Peanut Genome Sequenced with Unprecedent Accuracy, U.S. Department of Agriculture)

(i) the systematic study of clinical and basic science and its application for the reduction of pain and suffering; (ii) the blending of tools, techniques and principles taken from the discrete healing art disciplines and reformulated as a holistic application for the reduction of pain and suffering; and (iii) a newly emerging discipline emphasizing an interdisciplinary approach with a goal of reduction of pain and suffering.

(Pain Therapy, NCI Thesaurus)

Everything was a friend, or bore her thoughts to a friend; and though there had been sometimes much of suffering to her; though her motives had often been misunderstood, her feelings disregarded, and her comprehension undervalued; though she had known the pains of tyranny, of ridicule, and neglect, yet almost every recurrence of either had led to something consolatory: her aunt Bertram had spoken for her, or Miss Lee had been encouraging, or, what was yet more frequent or more dear, Edmund had been her champion and her friend: he had supported her cause or explained her meaning, he had told her not to cry, or had given her some proof of affection which made her tears delightful; and the whole was now so blended together, so harmonised by distance, that every former affliction had its charm.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the other was deep in one of Clark Russell’s fine sea-stories until the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of the sea waves.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)