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What is "bless"

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bless
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
bless
verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ NOUN
bread
▪ With these hands I have blessed bread and wine, I have touched the leper and the blind.
▪ Hence, the blessing of bread on her feast day.
curse
▪ The challenge of the car, which has blessed humanity so much, is to stop that blessing turning into a curse.
▪ Aptitudes are both a blessing and a curse.
▪ Interesting times have been the proverbial blessing and a curse for Sassoon.
▪ This is both a blessing and a curse when it comes to cultivating long-term success.
▪ The spots proved to be a blessing and a curse for Christine.
disguise
▪ It might be a blessing in disguise.
▪ Well, maybe this is a blessing in disguise.
▪ The crash was a blessing in disguise for Schwab.
▪ But in a way that time lag, though it could be frustrating, was also a blessing in disguise.
▪ The great cattle freeze of the white winter had been, in retrospect, a blessing in disguise.
heart
▪ They love every minute of it, too, bless their hearts particularly the scandals.
▪ But, bless her heart, she was very understanding about the situation.
▪ It was preserved for posterity with David's Mum smiling away - bless her heart.
▪ He counts himself among the statistically blessed survivors of heart disease.
▪ And Cymbeline - bless her heart - is down by the fence, still busy making tea for the workers.
house
▪ She was born on Diwali-the Hindu festival of light-when the goddess of wealth blesses your house.
life
▪ Those with such an awakened spirit might be blessed in this life with divine dreams and revelations.
lord
▪ May the Lord bless you on your journey.
▪ The Lord has truly blessed me and I enjoy my life.
▪ Ask the Lord to bless and encourage them at this time and that they would not suffer from ill health.
▪ The Lord has truly blessed me with a lot of ability to excite people and make them happy.
▪ May the Lord bless the earth and may he bless our sharing and our work for justice.
marriage
▪ Now the happy couple plan a new ceremony to bless their marriage.
▪ But both Raquel and Freddie were at a celebration here last year to bless the marriage.
▪ There he not only blessed the marriage with his presence, but he turned the water into wine.
■ VERB
ask
▪ We thank you, too, for this food and ask a special blessing on the one who prepared it.
feel
▪ I really feel blessed and lucky.
▪ She felt this blessing now and kissed his temple, and then a corner of one salty eye.
▪ I feel very blessed that I have my family around me every day and that we all work so well together.
▪ Although they feel for their neighbors, other residents said they felt blessed to see their homes still intact.
give
▪ The Clinton administration has given its blessing to the force's creation.
▪ Guest John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO, gave his blessing.
▪ The Catholic Church, for one, is not about to give the operation its blessing.
▪ Clinton, while giving his blessing to the discussions, has carefully avoided endorsing any legislation.
▪ Novell Inc. has already given Java its blessing, and Apple could be next.
mix
▪ Economic globalisation -- entailing deregulated trade and investment -- is a mixed blessing for health.
▪ My celebrity was a mixed blessing.
▪ Such a prestigious credit was something of a mixed blessing.
▪ But the passenger pigeon, as we now know this bird, was a mixed blessing for the Pilgrims.
▪ Switching to College Prep was a mixed blessing.
▪ This is one of the reasons that programs that automatically save your work can be a mixed blessing.
▪ Working for Steve Jobs was a decidedly mixed blessing.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
God bless
▪ Good night and God bless.
God bless
a blessing in disguise
▪ The loss of fertilizer proved to be a blessing in disguise. It forced us to use compost, which is better for the soil and crops.
▪ Again, one may be forced to the conclusion that his departure was a blessing in disguise for him.
▪ Be positive, this could be a blessing in disguise, use the time gained wisely.
▪ But in a way that time lag, though it could be frustrating, was also a blessing in disguise.
▪ Poor Jonas' death was a blessing in disguise, though one could wish it had happened differently.
▪ The crash was a blessing in disguise for Schwab.
▪ The great cattle freeze of the white winter had been, in retrospect, a blessing in disguise.
▪ The Labour defeat was a disaster, but it might be a blessing in disguise.
▪ Well, maybe this is a blessing in disguise.
a mixed blessing
▪ Staying at home with the baby has been something of a mixed blessing for Pam.
▪ The color printer is a mixed blessing - it looks good, but it takes a long time to print.
▪ But the passenger pigeon, as we now know this bird, was a mixed blessing for the Pilgrims.
▪ Even that has been a mixed blessing.
▪ For voluntary organisations the budget was more of a mixed blessing.
▪ My celebrity was a mixed blessing.
▪ Such a prestigious credit was something of a mixed blessing.
▪ Switching to College Prep was a mixed blessing.
▪ The disintegration of the Takeshita faction was seen as a mixed blessing for Miyazawa.
▪ The sheer pace of accumulation was itself a mixed blessing.
a mixed blessing
▪ But the passenger pigeon, as we now know this bird, was a mixed blessing for the Pilgrims.
▪ Even that has been a mixed blessing.
▪ For voluntary organisations the budget was more of a mixed blessing.
▪ My celebrity was a mixed blessing.
▪ Such a prestigious credit was something of a mixed blessing.
▪ Switching to College Prep was a mixed blessing.
▪ The disintegration of the Takeshita faction was seen as a mixed blessing for Miyazawa.
▪ The sheer pace of accumulation was itself a mixed blessing.
bless my soul/upon my soul
this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ May God bless you and keep you safe from harm.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Here, she tells the story of Mud, an orphan member of an elephant tribe who is blessed with visionary powers.
▪ How essential it was to be able to work, and to be blessed with the will to work.
▪ Korb is blessed with a sunny vocal style, her phrasing both easygoing and all her own.
▪ The Bible not withstanding, peacemakers are targeted, not blessed, in today's Middle East.
▪ The challenge of the car, which has blessed humanity so much, is to stop that blessing turning into a curse.
▪ The cross was blessed two days after the crash by the Rev.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Bless

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.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
bless

Old English bletsian, bledsian, Northumbrian bloedsian "to consecrate, make holy, give thanks," from Proto-Germanic *blodison "hallow with blood, mark with blood," from *blotham "blood" (see blood (n.)).\n

\nOriginally a blood sprinkling on pagan altars. This word was chosen in Old English bibles to translate Latin benedicere and Greek eulogein, both of which have a ground sense of "to speak well of, to praise," but were used in Scripture to translate Hebrew brk "to bend (the knee), worship, praise, invoke blessings." Meaning shifted in late Old English toward "pronounce or make happy," by resemblance to unrelated bliss. No cognates in other languages. Related: Blessed; blessing.

Wiktionary
bless

Etymology 1 vb. 1 To make something blessed; to confer blessing upon. 2 To make the sign of the cross upon; to cross (oneself). 3 To praise, or glorify; to extol for excellences. 4 To esteem or account happy; to felicitate. 5 (context obsolete English) To wave; to brandish. 6 (context Perl programming transitive English) (context past tense only '''blessed''' English) To turn (a reference) into an object. 7 (context archaic English) To secure, defend, or preserve ''from''. Etymology 2

interj. (context UK informal English) (non-gloss definition: Used as an expression of endearment, or (ironically) belittlement.)

Related phrases:
WordNet
bless

  1. v. give a benediction to; "The dying man blessed his son" [ant: curse]

  2. confer prosperity or happiness on

  3. make the sign of the cross over someone in order to call on God for protection; consecrate [syn: sign]

  4. render holy by means of religious rites [syn: consecrate, hallow, sanctify] [ant: desecrate]

  5. [also: blest]

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Bless (rapper)

Bless (born February 10, 1983, as Ben Rinehart) is a hip-hop artist from Montreal, Canada.

Bless

Bless may refer to:

  • Blessing, a religious pronouncement
  • Bless (rapper) (born 1983), hip-hop artist from Montreal
  • "Bless" (song), a 2010 single by L'Arc-en-Ciel
  • Bless, another name for the Swedish group Bubbles
  • Bless (album), a 2003 album by Bubbles
  • Bless (game), a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Neowiz Games
Bless (album)

Bless is the third studio album by Swedish girl band Bubbles,

Bless (song)

"Bless" is the thirty-seventh single by L'Arc-en-Ciel, released on January 27, 2010. It was used as the theme song to the NHK broadcast of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. "Bless" reached number 2 on the Oricon singles chart, selling 80,859 copies during the first week.

Bless (video game)

Bless ( Korean: 블레스) is an upcoming massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Neowiz Games. The game is based on the Unreal Engine 3 and is the first to utilize the engine's landscape tool, developed by Epic Games for Neowiz.

Bless is set in a medieval fantasy world. The main story revolves around a decade-long war between two factions. Players can choose their character's race and class, with race determining which faction they align with.

Related phrases:

Usage examples of "bless".

She wrenched her own hand free from his and struck it backward against him, as Lester had struck at Richard, one gesture whether accurst or blest.

My poor mind has been distressed at her weak state: I should sink under discouragement, did I not consider that He who sends affliction can support in it, and he who brings low can raise up in his own time, if it be his blessed will, to which all must be submitted.

Now began I afresh to give myself up to a serious examination after my state and condition for the future, and of my evidences for that blessed world to come: for it hath, I bless the name of God, been my usual course, as always, so especially in the day of affliction, to endeavour to keep my interest in the life to come, clear before mine eyes.

Domremy should know of the baptism of King Clovis of France, and of the descent of the Holy Ghost, at the singing of Veni Creator Spiritus, bearing in its beak the holy ampulla, full of chrism blessed by Our Lord?

LORD to strengthen us by His HOLY SPIRIT for this end, and to bless our desires and proceedings with such success, as may be deliverance and safety to His people, and encouragement to other Christian churches, groaning under, or in danger of, the yoke of antichristian tyranny, to join in the same or like association and covenant, to the glory of GOD, the enlargement of the kingdom of JESUS CHRIST, and the peace and tranquility of Christian kingdoms and commonwealths.

And although Blessed Albert the Great agrees with the other Doctors, yet he says more expressly that in such matters there is always apostasy either in word or in deed.

Blessed Albert, it is apostasy of deed, because that action is looked for from the devil.

An archpriest, His Sanctity Krastokles, is traveling hither with rich gifts and the blessing of Styphon.

The conception is attributed to the Blessed Virgin, not as the active principle thereof, but because she supplied the matter, and because the conception took place in her womb.

Preserved in balladry, too, though not illustrating the same point, is the hideous tale of Lady Mary de la Poer, who shortly after her marriage to the Earl of Shrewsfield was killed by him and his mother, both of the slayers being absolved and blessed by the priest to whom they confessed what they dared not repeat to the world.

Balon the Brave, Balon the Blessed, Balon Twice-Crowned, who won us back our freedoms and our god.

But your chapman or your bearward will swear that there is a lime in the wine, and water in the ale, and fling off at the last with a curse instead of a blessing.

While Blad moaned over dead comrades, Thayla felt that the discovery was somewhat a mixed blessing.

As the blessed Father hath inspired me with the knowledge of him, and I am blessed with the consciousness of his immortal love, so he that believes and assimilates these truths as I proclaim them, he shall experience the same blessedness through my instruction.

His Grace, the Blesser of Sorbold, has an honor regiment here to greet you.