GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

Found 2 definitions

1.       
   Bleak (blēk), a. [OE. blac, bleyke, bleche, AS. blāc, blǣc, pale, wan; akin to Icel.  bleikr, Sw. blek, Dan. bleg, OS. blēk, D. bleek, OHG. pleih, G.  bleich; all from the root of AS. blīcan to shine; akin to OHG. blīchen to shine; cf. L. flagrare to burn, Gr. φλέγειν to burn, shine, Skr. bhrāj to shine, and E. flame. √98. Cf. Bleach, Blink, Flame.]
   1. Without color; pale; pallid. [Obs.]
   
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   When she came out she looked as pale and as bleak as one that were laid out dead. Foxe.
   
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   2. Desolate and exposed; swept by cold winds.
   
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   Wastes too bleak to rear
   
   The common growth of earth, the foodful ear. Wordsworth.
   
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   At daybreak, on the bleak sea beach. Longfellow.
   
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   3. Cold and cutting; cheerless; as, “a bleak blast”.
   
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   -- Bleak"ish, a. -- Bleak"ly, adv. -- Bleak"ness, n.
   
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2.       
   Bleak, n. [From Bleak, a., cf. Blay.] (Zool.) A small European river fish (Leuciscus alburnus), of the family Cyprinidæ; the blay. [Written also blick.]
   
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   ☞ The silvery pigment lining the scales of the bleak is used in the manufacture of artificial pearls.  Baird.
   
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