blank out

Verb

blank out (third-person singular simple present blanks out, present participle blanking out, simple past and past participle blanked out)

1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To become blank.
   • He removed the paper from the heat, and the paper blanked out.
   • The screen blanked out during the power cut.
   1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To temporarily lose memory.
      • He blanked out five minutes into the meeting.
      • I'm blanking out on your name, I'm afraid.
2. (transitive) To erase (something), leaving a blank in its place.
   • The teacher blanked out some words from the text, which the students had to fill in.
   • They had to blank out five obscenities before airing the song.
3. (transitive) To erase from one's memory.
   • He blanked out the abuse he had suffered as a child.
4. (idiomatic, transitive) To get even; to neutralise.
   • Beckham's second-half goal blanked out Filippi's first-half header to put the score at 1-1.