blesht

t. [ME. ble hen, bleschen, ble en, bli en, prob. of LG. origin: MD. ble chen, blu chen, D. blu chen = LG. bluschen, quench, extinguish, appar. contr. of * be les chen, MHG. leschen, G. löschen, put out, causal of OHG. leskan, MHG. leschen (G. löschen ), go out, as fire; prob., with present-formative -sk (= AS. -sc, E. -sh, as in thresh, wash, etc.), from the root of AS. lecgan, OHG. legen, etc., lay: see lay1.] To quench; extinguish; put out (a fire). Bleschyn [var. ble hyn ], or qwenchyn, extinguo. Prompt . Parv . , p. 39. ble 1 (bles), v. t.; pret. and pp. ble ed or blest, ppr. ble ing. [ Icel. bletza, bleza, mod. ble a, ble ), originally * blōdis on, which may have meant 'consecrate the altar by sprinkling it with the blood of the sacrifice' (Sweet), lit. make bloody, And God ble ed the seventh day, and sanctified it. Gen. ii. 3. IMG:content-2177.png:[blocks in formation] 3. To sanctify (one's self) by making the sign of the cro , especially as a defense against evil influences or agencies: used reflexively. Aryse be tyme oute of thi bedde, And bly e thi brest & thi forhede. Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 17. When they heard these words, some blest them selves with both hands, thinking. that he had been a devil disguised. Urquhart, Rabelais, i. 35. ( N. E. D. ) I fancy I see you ble yourself at this terrible relation. Lady M. W. Montagu , Letters, II. 47. ( N. E. D. ) 4t. To defend; preserve; protect or guard from evil; reflexively, to guard one's self from; avoid; eschew. And, were not hevenly grace that did him ble e , He had beene pouldred all, as thin as flowre. Spenser , F. Q., I. vii. 12. Ble me from this woman! I would stand the cannon, Before ten words of hers. Fletcher , Wild goose Chase, i. 3. And therefore God ble us from that [separation by death], and I will hope well of the rest. Arabella Stuart , in D'Israeli's Curios. of Lit., II. 277. 5. To invoke or pronounce a ble ing upon (another or others); commend to God's favor or protection. And Isaac called Jacob, and ble ed him. Gen. xxviii. 1. A you sand times I blest him, as he knelt beside my bed. Tennyson, May Queen. 6. To confer well-being upon; bestow happine , prosperity, or good of any kind upon; make happy, prosperous, or fortunate; prosper with temporal or spiritual benefits: as, a nation ble ed with peace and plenty. The Lord thy God shall ble thee in all that thou doest. Deut. xv. 18. Heaven ble your expedition. Shak., 2 Hen. IV., 1. 2. ble If I do well I shall be ble ed , whether any ble me or not. Selden, Table-Talk, p. 17. 7. To favor (with); make happy or fortunate by some specified means: as, ble ed with a good constitution; ble ed with filial children. You will to your lute, I heard you could touch it cunningly; pray ble my ears a little. Shirley, Witty Fair One, i. 3. Mrs. Bull... ble ed John with three daughters. Arbuthnot , John Bull (1755), p. 30. ( N. E. D.) 8. To praise or extol ( a ) as holy or worthy of reverence, or ( b ) as the giver of benefits; extol or glorify with thankful acknowledgment of benefits received. Ble the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, ble His holy name. Ps. ciii. 1. I am content with this, and ble my fortune. Fletcher, Wild goose Chase, iii. 1. 9. To esteem or account happy; congratulate; felicitate: used reflexively. The nations shall ble themselves in him. Jer. iv. 2. Ble not thyself only that thou wert born in Athens. Sir T. Browne , Christ. Mor., i. 35. [Often used in exclamations with various shades of mean- ing departing more or le widely from the literal sense: as, God ble me! ble you! ble the mark! etc.]-God ble the mark. See mark . - Not to have a penny to ble one's self with, to be pennile : in allusion to the cro on the silver penny (cf. Ger. Kreuzer ), or to the prac- tice of cro ing the palm with a piece of silver. N. E. D. -To be ble ed, a euphemism for to be damned ; as, I'm ble ed if he didn't run away; I'm ble ed if I know. [Slang.] I'm ble ed if I don't expect the cur back to-morrow morning. Marryat , Snarleyyow, II. xi. An emphatic and earnest desire to be ble ed if she would. Dickens , Oliver Twist, xiii. To ble one's self. (a) To felicitate one's self; exult. (b) To ejaculate "Ble me," "God ble me," or the like. -To ble one's stars, to congratulate or felicitate one's self. ble 2+ (bles), v. t.and i. [ He priked in formest & ble ed so with his brigt bront aboute in eche side That what rink so he rauzt he ros never after. William of Palerne , 1. 1191. His sparkling blade about his head he blest. Spenser, F. Q., I. viii. 22. ble bok, n. See blesbok . ble ed (bles'ed or blest; as pret. and pp. com- monly pronounced blest , and often so written), p. a. [Pp. of ble 1 .] 1. Consecrated; holy: as, the ble ed sacrament. 586 8. By euphemism: Cursed; damned; confounded: a term of mitigated objurgation, and often merely emphatic without objurgation: as, the ble ed thing gave way; our ble ed system of caucusing; he lost every ble ed cent he had. Ble ed bell. See bell1. - Ble ed thistle. See thistle. The ble ed, the saints in heaven; the beatified saints. The state also of the ble ed in Paradise, though never so perfect, is not therefore left without discipline. Milton, Church-Government, i. 1. IMG:content-2178.png:[blocks in formation] bletcht, v. t. [The a ibilated form of bleck, v. Cf. blatch, black.] To black; make black. Levins.