blindfold
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a piece of cloth tied around someone's head to cover their eyes.
n.a bandage or cloth covering for the eyes, intended to obstruct vision.
Simple“The magician asked for a volunteer to check that the blindfold was thick enough.”
In context“The hostage was forced to wear a heavy silk blindfold, which completely disoriented his sense of direction during the journey.”
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to put a cloth over someone's eyes so they cannot see.
v.to cover the eyes of a person with a cloth or bandage to prevent sight. Transitive — requires a direct object.
Simple“They blindfolded him before leading him to the surprise party.”
In context“In many psychological experiments, researchers blindfold participants to ensure that visual cues do not interfere with their tactile perception.”
- 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.having your eyes covered so you cannot see.
adj.having the eyes covered by a blindfold; non-gradable.
Simple“The blindfold prisoner was led slowly across the courtyard.”
In context“The blindfold subjects were asked to identify various aromatic herbs using only their sense of smell.”
Synonymssightless - 04 B2 Upper Intermediate
adv.doing something while your eyes are covered, or doing something very easily.
adv.with the eyes covered; figuratively used to indicate a task performed with extreme ease or without due caution.
Simple“He has played that piano piece so many times he could do it blindfold.”
In context“The mechanic claimed he could disassemble the vintage engine blindfold, having worked on that specific model for over thirty years.”
Synonyms
From Middle English blyndefolde, blyndfuld, blynfold, blindfeld, blindfelt, yblynfeld, variants of y-blyndfalled, blyndfelled, etc. ("stricken blind, blindfolded"), past participle of Middle English blindfellen (“to strike blind”), from blind (“to blind”) and fellen (“to fell”), equivalent to blind + felled. Later influenced by the unrelated verb fold.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.