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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
bland
adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a bland expression (=one that does not show any emotion)
▪ She searched his face for answers, but his bland expression gave nothing away.
bland (=not strong or interesting)
▪ Some people find the taste of rice too bland.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
rather
▪ In places, of course, her pastorals are rather bland.
▪ Processed Caerphilly can be rather bland, but a traditional farmhouse variety has a delicious, if subtle flavour.
so
▪ Just going out to resupply some patrols on a secure road was so bland that we played games to make it interesting.
▪ He was so bland, he could have been Dan Reeves.
So why, oh why, does local journalism have to be so bland?
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ a bland suburban neighborhood
▪ a few bland songs on the radio
▪ At first, give the baby tiny portions of any bland food that has been sieved or pureed.
▪ If the sauce is bland, add a little more vinegar.
▪ Most job descriptions are bland, boring and totally lacking in colour.
▪ The college's bland appearance made it seem a little unfriendly.
▪ The language in her speech was deliberately bland.
▪ Tofu is a bland food made from soy beans.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ At best she had expected bland sympathy from him, but the sparks shooting in his eyes were genuine.
▪ For the second time Daley had misjudged the voter appeal of a seemingly bland, stolid, young lawyer named Richard Ogilvie.
▪ He had the same bland good looks, the same friendly if formal manner and the same knack for courteous evasion.
▪ They are bland in flavor and almost odour free.
▪ They look all right but taste bland and the filling turns to runny brown jam once warmed up.
▪ To that end, the carpeting in virtually all the residences is a bland beige -- making the homes easier to sell.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Bland

Bland \Bland\, a. [L. blandus, of unknown origin.]

  1. Mild; soft; gentle; smooth and soothing in manner; suave; as, a bland temper; bland persuasion; a bland sycophant. ``Exhilarating vapor bland.''
    --Milton.

  2. Having soft and soothing qualities; not drastic or irritating; not stimulating; as, a bland oil; a bland diet.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
bland

1660s, from Italian blando "delicate," or Old French bland "flattering, complimentary," both from Latin blandus "smooth-talking, flattering, alluring," perhaps from PIE *mlad-, nasalized variant of *meld-, extended form of root *mel- (see melt). Related: Blandly; blandness. Latin also had blandiloquentulus "flattering in speech," which might have yielded a useful English *blandiloquent.

Wiktionary
bland

Etymology 1 vb. 1 (context transitive UK dialectal English) To mix; blend; mingle. 2 (context transitive UK dialectal English) To connect; associate. Etymology 2

alt. 1 (context UK dialectal English) mixture; union. 2 A summer beverage prepared from the whey of churned milk, common among the inhabitants of the Shetland Islands. n. 1 (context UK dialectal English) mixture; union. 2 A summer beverage prepared from the whey of churned milk, common among the inhabitants of the Shetland Islands. Etymology 3

  1. 1 (lb en now rare) mild; soft, gentle, balmy; smooth in manner; suave. 2 Having a soothing effect; not irritating or stimulating. 3 Lacking in taste, flavor, or vigor.

WordNet
bland
  1. adj. lacking either stimulating or irritating characteristics; "a bland pudding"; "a bland diet for her irritated stomach" [ant: pungent]

  2. lacking taste or flavor or tang; "a bland diet"; "insipid hospital food"; "flavorless supermarket tomatoes"; "vapid beer"; "vapid tea" [syn: flat, flavorless, flavourless, insipid, savorless, savourless, vapid]

  3. lacking stimulating characteristics; uninteresting; "a bland little drama"; "a flat joke" [syn: flat]

Gazetteer
Bland, MO -- U.S. city in Missouri
Population (2000): 565
Housing Units (2000): 299
Land area (2000): 0.641615 sq. miles (1.661774 sq. km)
Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km)
Total area (2000): 0.641615 sq. miles (1.661774 sq. km)
FIPS code: 06256
Located within: Missouri (MO), FIPS 29
Location: 38.302510 N, 91.634232 W
ZIP Codes (1990): 65014
Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
Headwords:
Bland, MO
Bland
Bland -- U.S. County in Virginia
Population (2000): 6871
Housing Units (2000): 3161
Land area (2000): 358.668496 sq. miles (928.947101 sq. km)
Water area (2000): 0.063072 sq. miles (0.163357 sq. km)
Total area (2000): 358.731568 sq. miles (929.110458 sq. km)
Located within: Virginia (VA), FIPS 51
Location: 37.132329 N, 81.126500 W
Headwords:
Bland
Bland, VA
Bland County
Bland County, VA
Wikipedia
Bland

Bland may refer to:

Places:

  • Bland, Missouri, a US city
  • Bland, Virginia, a US unincorporated community
  • Division of Bland, a former Australian Electoral Division

People with the surname Bland:

  • Bland (surname)
  • Bland baronets

People with the given name Bland:

  • Bland Ballard, an 18th-century soldier from Kentucky

Other:

  • Bland diet
Bland (surname)

Bland is a surname. Notable persons with that surname include:

  • Alexander Bland (1866–1947), Welsh international rugby player
  • Bill or Billy Bland, see William Bland (disambiguation)
  • Bobby Bland (1930–2013), American singer
  • Carl Bland (born 1961), American footballer
  • Sir Christopher Bland (born 1938), British politician
  • Colin Bland (born 1938), Rhodesian cricketer
  • Dave Bland (1929–2013), Australian rules footballer
  • Edward Bland (1926–2013), American composer and musical director
  • Eleanor Taylor Bland (1944–2010), African-American writer of crime fiction
  • Elizabeth Bland (fl. 1681–1712), Englishwoman celebrated for her knowledge of Hebrew
  • Francis Bland (1882–1967), Australian politician
  • Gordon Bland (born 1941), former English cricketer
  • Hamilton Bland, BBC swimming commentator
  • Harriet Bland (1915–1991), American athlete
  • Harry Bland (1898–after 1934), English professional footballer
  • Hubert Bland (1855–1914), British socialist and Fabian Society cofounder
  • Humphrey Bland (1686–1763), British Army general
  • James A. Bland (1854–1911), African-American musician and songwriter
  • Joanne Bland, American civil rights activist
  • John Bland (disambiguation)
  • Joyce Bland (1906–1963), British film actress
  • June Bland (born 1931), British actress
  • Leonard Thomas Bland (1851–1906), Canadian politician
  • Malcolm Bland, New Zealand footballer
  • Maria Bland (1769–1838), British singer
  • Martin Bland (born 1947), British statistician
  • Michael Bland (born 1969), American drummer
  • Nate Bland (born 1974), American former Major League Baseball pitcher
  • Sir Nevile Bland (1886–1972), British diplomat
  • Oscar E. Bland (1877–1951), U.S. Representative from Indiana
  • S. Otis Bland (1872–1950), U.S. Representative from Virginia
  • Peregrine Bland (c.1596–1647), early Virginia settler and politician
  • Peter Bland (born 1934), British-New Zealand poet and actor
  • Richard Bland (disambiguation)
  • Robert G. Bland, American mathematician and operations researcher
  • Salem Bland (1859–1950), Canadian Methodist theologian
  • Sammy Bland (born 1929), American broadcaster and entertainer
  • Sandra Bland (1987-2015), American woman found dead in a Texas jail cell
  • Theodorick Bland (disambiguation)
  • Tony Bland (1970-1993), an injured British man who was the subject of a notable court case
  • William Bland (disambiguation)

Usage examples of "bland".

She would have liked to point out to it in terms of passionate reproach that if he had only kept on turtling instead of parking provocatively in the exact middle of a dirt road she, Lorna Bland, sometimes called Blondie because of the inevitable alliteration, would not now be married to a long-legged, grunting maniac, capable of seeing life only through the lens of a camera.

At the present rate of speed, Quintus Bland reflected sardonically, theirs would soon assume the aspect of an April-October union.

There was little likelihood that Quintus and Lorna Bland would ever celebrate theirs.

Presently Quintus Bland arrived from the city with a bundle under his arm.

Then, as if suddenly realizing that the eyes of his wife were hatefully studying his reactions, Bland rallied gamely.

Lorna Bland rang for the maid, Fanny, a small, desperately passionate-looking girl, slightly oversized in the right places.

Both Quintus and Lorna Bland were always on the point of looking up in a book to find out just what sort of dog he was, but what with one thing and another they had never quite got round to it.

Lorna Bland triumphantly, as she went over backwards, dragging the dog with her.

And Quintus Bland became the most disconcerting sort of skeleton a man could become.

Quintus Bland had partially opened the door and thrust out a bony hand and arm, hoping that in the half-light of the hall the waiter would not notice their fleshless condition.

In spite of his unalluring appearance Bland could not help being slightly amused by the memory.

Quintus Bland, his professional interest overcoming his low spirits for the moment.

Quintus Bland arose and walked with a certain show of dignity from the room.

Bland were under discussion, Bland himself was busy with his trousers, which were showing an alarming inclination to make startling revelations.

Equally determined that no such horrifying revelation should be made, Pauline Whittle and her husband were clinging grimly to the edges of the pillowcase, and so successful were their joint efforts that, by the sheer weight of their bodies, Quintus Bland was borne off center and crumpled clatteringly back in his chair.