Meaning & use
blanketing
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“blanketing” is a form of “blanket”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitive
covering something completely with a thick layer, as if with a blanket
Grammar: Takes an object: 'Snow blanketed the town.' The -ing form is used in continuous tenses or as a participle.
Patterns
- blanket something with something
- be blanketed in something
The first snow of the season was blanketing the mountains in white.
Smoke from the fire was blanketing the valley, making it hard to breathe.
The city was blanketed in a thick fog that lasted all morning.
noununcountabletechnical
the act of covering something completely with a layer
Grammar: Used as a noun, often in technical contexts like 'cloud blanketing'.
Patterns
- blanketing of something
The blanketing of the fields with ash damaged the crops.
Cloud blanketing kept the temperatures low all day.
Word forms
| third person singular | blankets |
|---|---|
| past tense | blanketed |
| past participle | blanketed |
| -ing form | blanketing |
Common combinations
- blanketing snow
- The blanketing snow made the roads dangerous.
- blanket the area
- Fog blanketed the area by evening.
- be blanketed in white
- After the storm, the garden was blanketed in white.
Synonyms and how they differ
- covering
- More general; it can mean any kind of cover, not necessarily thick and complete like a blanket.
- smothering
- Suggests covering so thickly that something is suffocated or hidden, often with a negative feeling.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: blanketing or blanking?
blanketing vs blanking
Blanking means forgetting or ignoring something suddenly, not covering it.
Practice
By midnight, heavy snow was ______ the entire village.
Choose one answer.
'Blanketing' means covering completely with a layer, which fits snow covering a village. 'Blocking' means stopping movement, not covering with a layer.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “blanketing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.