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The Collaborative International Dictionary
To bless from

Bless \Bless\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Blessedor Blest; p. pr. & vb. n. Blessing.] [OE. blessien, bletsen, AS. bletsian, bledsian, bloedsian, fr. bl?d blood; prob. originally to consecrate by sprinkling with blood. See Blood.]

  1. To make or pronounce holy; to consecrate

    And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.
    --Gen. ii. 3.

  2. To make happy, blithesome, or joyous; to confer prosperity or happiness upon; to grant divine favor to.

    The quality of mercy is . . . twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
    --Shak.

    It hath pleased thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue forever before thee.
    --1 Chron. xvii. 27 (R. V. )

  3. To express a wish or prayer for the happiness of; to invoke a blessing upon; -- applied to persons.

    Bless them which persecute you.
    --Rom. xii. 1

  4. 4. To invoke or confer beneficial attributes or qualities upon; to invoke or confer a blessing on, -- as on food.

    Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them.
    --Luke ix. 16.

  5. To make the sign of the cross upon; to cross (one's self). [Archaic]
    --Holinshed.

  6. To guard; to keep; to protect. [Obs.]

  7. To praise, or glorify; to extol for excellences.

    Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
    --Ps. ciii. 1.

  8. To esteem or account happy; to felicitate.

    The nations shall bless themselves in him.
    --Jer. iv. 3.

  9. To wave; to brandish. [Obs.]

    And burning blades about their heads do bless.
    --Spenser.

    Round his armed head his trenchant blade he blest.
    --Fairfax.

    Note: This is an old sense of the word, supposed by Johnson, Nares, and others, to have been derived from the old rite of blessing a field by directing the hands to all parts of it. ``In drawing [their bow] some fetch such a compass as though they would turn about and bless all the field.''
    --Ascham.

    Bless me! Bless us! an exclamation of surprise.
    --Milton.

    To bless from, to secure, defend, or preserve from. ``Bless me from marrying a usurer.''
    --Shak.

    To bless the doors from nightly harm.
    --Milton.

    To bless with, To be blessed with, to favor or endow with; to be favored or endowed with; as, God blesses us with health; we are blessed with happiness.