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blessing
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
blessing
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
great
▪ In each case the younger son received the greater blessing.
▪ Work is one of our greatest blessings.
▪ It is a great blessing to have Julyan and Lenna Lidstone living and working among us.
▪ This freedom brought great blessing in its train.
▪ That, and the electric kettle, given to me by a good friend, are a great blessing.
▪ This residential healing centre has proved a great blessing to many of my friends.
▪ These meetings were attended with great blessing.
mixed
▪ The disintegration of the Takeshita faction was seen as a mixed blessing for Miyazawa.
▪ Even that has been a mixed blessing.
▪ For voluntary organisations the budget was more of a mixed blessing.
▪ The sheer pace of accumulation was itself a mixed blessing.
▪ Ultraviolet light is a mixed blessing as far as living things are concerned.
▪ Carmakers view this as a mixed blessing.
▪ Significant technological advances in underwater excavation and recovery are proving a mixed blessing in the field of marine archaeology.
▪ Pedagogically the need to be much clearer about what is being taught and why is a mixed blessing.
■ VERB
ask
▪ I will not ask for your blessing.
▪ The performers lit incense and asked for blessings, though blankets might have been preferable.
▪ He ended this eulogy by asking Leopold's blessing on the marriage.
▪ Starting from my head, she smoothed the linen against my contours, asking for blessings from the protective spirits.
▪ And people are asking for advice and blessings, telling him about the problems they trust him to solve.
▪ Many come here to ask blessings for an ill or injured loved one.
count
▪ Or perhaps he was waiting for them to start counting their blessings there and then.
▪ If all this studying is making you a bit queasy, count your blessings.
▪ You can be sure I count my blessings nowadays.
▪ About how much fun it is, count your blessings, all of that.
▪ Rebecca had refused to count her modest blessings, as her parents counseled.
▪ He was counting his blessings having backed the first 3 horses that actually finished the race.
▪ It would be far better to count her blessings, she told herself firmly.
give
▪ Is he really going to give his blessing to Bruce Kent?
▪ Or was he going to give them his blessing and yet refuse to give custody of the child to Maria Luisa?
▪ Personally I would advise you to give them your blessing, what with the baby and all.
▪ He gave his blessing to the meeting and came close to finding himself partnering Desert Orchid in the opening race.
▪ The permanent secretary, Sir Peter Thornton, saw the sense of this and gave the idea his blessing.
▪ We concluded by singing the carol O Come all ye Faithful and I gave them a blessing.
▪ I can tell you one thing - the pater won't give you his blessing.
receive
▪ The new plans, which have yet to receive official blessing, would drop this to 1-6 times.
▪ By refraining I have no doubt I shall receive the silent blessings of the multitude of duffers among whom I find myself.
▪ May we turn our eyes towards this great sun, draw warmth and strength and comfort from it and receive its blessing.
▪ Eochaid's hand, still marked with ink, touched his hair, and he received Eochaid's blessing.
▪ At many Siva temples and Cobra shrines, women are often seen in prayer or receiving the blessings of the attending priest.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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.
count your blessings
▪ About how much fun it is, count your blessings, all of that.
▪ He was counting his blessings having backed the first 3 horses that actually finished the race.
▪ If all this studying is making you a bit queasy, count your blessings.
▪ In this country we can count our blessings that our children are not constantly at the mercy of these diseases.
▪ It would be far better to count her blessings, she told herself firmly.
▪ Or perhaps he was waiting for them to start counting their blessings there and then.
▪ Then put your feet up and count your blessings!
▪ You can be sure I count my blessings nowadays.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Darren and Teresa planned to live together before they got married, with their parents' blessing.
▪ It allows patients to live a more normal life, which is a blessing.
▪ Mayor Wharton gave the proposal his blessing.
▪ The store is a blessing for those on a budget.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ He was counting his blessings having backed the first 3 horses that actually finished the race.
▪ Hence, the blessing of bread on her feast day.
▪ Know that every year brings its own peculiar mix of disasters and blessings.
▪ Many come here to ask blessings for an ill or injured loved one.
▪ One of the most bizarre things I saw was the lengthy and intricate preparation for the blessing of a new furniture store.
▪ Or perhaps he was waiting for them to start counting their blessings there and then.
▪ Poor Jonas' death was a blessing in disguise, though one could wish it had happened differently.
▪ Until then she had not even known she needed a blessing.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Blessing

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.

Blessing

Blessing \Bless"ing\, n. [AS. bletsung. See Bless, v. t.]

  1. The act of one who blesses.

  2. A declaration of divine favor, or an invocation imploring divine favor on some or something; a benediction; a wish of happiness pronounces.

    This is the blessing, where with Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel.
    --Deut. xxxiii. 1.

  3. A means of happiness; that which promotes prosperity and welfare; a beneficent gift.

    Nature's full blessings would be well dispensed.
    --Milton.

  4. (Bib.) A gift. [A Hebraism]
    --Gen. xxxiii. 11.

  5. Grateful praise or worship.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
blessing

Old English bletsunga, bledsunge; see bless. Meaning "gift from God" is from mid-14c. In sense of "religious invocation before a meal" it is recorded from 1738. Phrase blessing in disguise is recorded from 1746.

Wiktionary
blessing

n. 1 Some kind of divine or supernatural aid, or reward. 2 A pronouncement invoke divine aid.

Related phrases:
WordNet
blessing

  1. n. the formal act of giving approval; "he gave the project his blessing"; "his decision merited the approval of any sensible person" [syn: approval, approving] [ant: disapproval]

  2. a desirable state; "enjoy the blessings of peace"; "a spanking breeze is a boon to sailors" [syn: boon]

  3. a short prayer of thanks before a meal [syn: grace, thanksgiving]

  4. a ceremonial prayer invoking divine protection [syn: benediction]

  5. the act of praying for divine protection [syn: benediction]

Gazetteer
Blessing, TX -- U.S. Census Designated Place in Texas
Population (2000): 861
Housing Units (2000): 334
Land area (2000): 2.031646 sq. miles (5.261940 sq. km)
Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km)
Total area (2000): 2.031646 sq. miles (5.261940 sq. km)
FIPS code: 08668
Located within: Texas (TX), FIPS 48
Location: 28.871300 N, 96.220740 W
ZIP Codes (1990): 77419
Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
Headwords:
Blessing, TX
Blessing
Wikipedia
Blessing

A blessing (also used to refer to bestowing of such) is the infusion of something with holiness, spiritual redemption, or divine will.

Blessing (disambiguation)

A blessing is a type of religious pronouncement.

Blessing or Blessings may also refer to:

Blessing (Catholic Church)

Blessing in Roman Catholicism, in the narrow liturgical sense, is a rite consisting of a ceremony and prayers performed in the name and with the authority of the Church by a duly qualified minister by which persons or things are sanctified as dedicated to Divine service or by which certain marks of Divine favour are invoked upon them. In a wider sense blessing has a variety of meanings in the sacred writings:

  • Synonymous with praise; thus the Psalmist, "I will bless the Lord at all times; praise shall be always in my mouth."
  • A wish or desire that all good fortune, especially of a spiritual or supernatural kind, may go with the person or thing, as the Psalmist says, "Blessed art thou, and it shall be well with thee".
  • The sanctification or dedication of a person or thing to some sacred purpose; e.g., Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it....
  • A gift, as when Naaman addresses Eliseus: "Now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant".
Blessing (name)

Blessing is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include:

Surname:

  • Donald Blessing, American coxswain
  • Karl Blessing, German banker
  • Lee Blessing, American playwright
  • Lou Blessing, American politician
  • Martin Blessing, German banker
  • Tom Blessing IV, American film and television producer

Given name:

  • Blessing Nyanhete, Zimbabwean Dj
  • Blessing Chinedu, Nigerian football player
  • Blessing Chebundo, Zimbabwean politician
  • Blessing Kaku, Nigerian football player
  • Blessing Mahwire, Zimbabwean cricketer
  • Blessing Makunike, Zimbabwean football player
  • Blessing Okagbare, Nigerian athlete
  • Blessing Okardi, Nigerian football player
Related phrases:

Usage examples of "blessing".

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

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.

Beside, they had been blessed with an especially bounteous harvest this year, and she wished to share her blessing.

Ian had explained to me that one buries iron beneath a new hearth, to ensure blessing and prosperity on the house.

And that, Manesh thought as he walked to his bed, would most certainly be a blessing.

It was after all not fit to be a citizen of Tira Virte if the Matra ei Filho denied that blessing, so the death therefore was a gift.

But had the Matra ei Filho, for some unknown but naturally exalted reason, withdrawn the blessing bestowed at birth?

Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, who hath vouchsafed to choose you to an espousalship like that of the blessed Mary, mother of our Lord, Jesus Christ - ad beatae Mariae matris Domini nostri Jesus Christ consortium - hallow you, that in the presence of God and of His angels, you may persevere, untouched and undefiled, and hold to your purpose, love, chastity, and keep patience that you may merit to receive the crown of His blessing, through the same Christ our Lord.

Looking forward to the speedy establishment of a permanent government to take the place of this, which by its greater moral and physical power will be better able to combat with many difficulties that arise from the conflicting interests of separate nations, I enter upon the duties of the office to which I have been chosen with the hope that the beginning of our career, as a Confederacy, may not be obstructed by hostile opposition to our enjoyment of the separate existence and independence we have asserted, and which, with the blessing of Providence, we intend to maintain.

Cloud took out his quizzing glass, blessing Charlie Parrett for treating it kindly, and surveyed the overturned furniture, the broken glassware, and, finally, the livid baronet.

Swaying his head, like the oriental palm whose shade is a blessing to the perfervid wanderer below, smiling gravely, he was indirectly asking his dignity what he could say to maintain it and deal this mad young woman a bitterly compassionate rebuke.

And, perhaps, upon a very nice examination into the matter, we shall find that this circumstance bears no inconsiderable part among the many blessings of grandeur.

To all who are under our treatment we devote our highest energies and skill, fully realizing that an untold blessing is conferred upon every person whom we cure, and that such cures insure the permanency of our business.

She wanted to get the film to Max before the parade actually arrived at the docks, for the arrival and the Blessing itself were the most photogenic parts of the ceremony.