Meaning of Idiom ‘Draw a Blank’
Draw a Blank: To try to find something, obtain something, accomplish something, etc. and fail; to try to think of something and fail; to get no result or response.
Usage
“I’ve been looking for the missing file for weeks but I’ve drawn a blank.”
“I tried to get some friends to help me move but I drew a blank.”
“We’ve tried to get to the senator but we drew a blank.”
“I know his face but every time I try to think of his name, I draw a blank.”
Origin
Dating from the early 1800’s, the expression alludes to drawing a lottery or raffle ticket with nothing written on it, so that one cannot win a prize. (Bloomsbury Dictionary of Idioms, American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms)
More Idioms Starting with D
- Dead Weight Meaning
- Dead Wood Idiom Meaning
- Dead Silence Meaning
- Dead of Night Meaning
- Dead Certain Meaning
More Blank Idioms
More Draw Idioms
- Run a Bath (and Draw a Bath) Meaning
- Quick On The Draw
- Luck Of The Draw
- Drawn Like a Moth to a Flame
- Draw the Short Straw
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