Blan"ket (?), n. [F. blanchet, OF. also blanket, a woolen waistcoat or shirt, the blanket of a printing press; prop. white woolen stuff, dim. of blanc white; blanquette a kind of white pear, fr. blanc white. See Blank, a.] 1. A heavy, loosely woven fabric, usually of wool, and having a nap, used in bed clothing; also, a similar fabric used as a robe; or any fabric used as a cover for a horse.
2. Print. A piece of rubber, felt, or woolen cloth, used in the tympan to make it soft and elastic.
3. A streak or layer of blubber in whales.
⇒ The use of blankets formerly as curtains in theaters explains the following figure of Shakespeare.
Nares.
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark
To cry, "Hold, hold!"
Shak.
Blanket sheet, a newspaper of folio size. -- A wet blanket, anything which damps, chills, dispirits, or discourges.
© Webster 1913.
Blan"ket, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Blanketed; p. pr. & vb. n. Blanketing.] 1. To cover with a blanket.
I'll . . . blanket my loins.
Shak.
2. To toss in a blanket by way of punishment.
We'll have our men blanket 'em i' the hall.
B. Jonson.
3. To take the wind out of the sails of (another vessel) by sailing to windward of her.
Blanket cattle. See Belted cattle, under Belted.
© Webster 1913. | 
