Blind \Blind\, a. [AS.; akin to D., G., OS., Sw., & Dan. blind,
Icel. blindr, Goth. blinds; of uncertain origin.]
1. Destitute of the sense of seeing, either by natural defect
or by deprivation; without sight.
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He that is strucken blind can not forget
The precious treasure of his eyesight lost. --Shak.
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2. Not having the faculty of discernment; destitute of
intellectual light; unable or unwilling to understand or
judge; as, authors are blind to their own defects.
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But hard be hardened, blind be blinded more,
That they may stumble on, and deeper fall. --Milton.
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3. Undiscerning; undiscriminating; inconsiderate.
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This plan is recommended neither to blind
approbation nor to blind reprobation. --Jay.
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4. Having such a state or condition as a thing would have to
a person who is blind; not well marked or easily
discernible; hidden; unseen; concealed; as, a blind path;
a blind ditch.
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5. Involved; intricate; not easily followed or traced.
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The blind mazes of this tangled wood. --Milton.
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6. Having no openings for light or passage; as, a blind wall;
open only at one end; as, a blind alley; a blind gut.
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7. Unintelligible, or not easily intelligible; as, a blind
passage in a book; illegible; as, blind writing.
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8. (Hort.) Abortive; failing to produce flowers or fruit; as,
blind buds; blind flowers.
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Blind alley, an alley closed at one end; a cul-de-sac.
Blind axle, an axle which turns but does not communicate
motion. --Knight.
Blind beetle, one of the insects apt to fly against people,
esp. at night.
Blind cat (Zool.), a species of catfish (Gronias
nigrolabris), nearly destitute of eyes, living in caverns
in Pennsylvania.
Blind coal, coal that burns without flame; anthracite coal.
--Simmonds.
Blind door, Blind window, an imitation of a door or
window, without an opening for passage or light. See
Blank door or Blank window, under Blank, a.
Blind level (Mining), a level or drainage gallery which has
a vertical shaft at each end, and acts as an inverted
siphon. --Knight.
Blind nettle (Bot.), dead nettle. See Dead nettle, under
Dead.
Blind shell (Gunnery), a shell containing no charge, or one
that does not explode.
Blind side, the side which is most easily assailed; a weak
or unguarded side; the side on which one is least able or
disposed to see danger. --Swift.
Blind snake (Zool.), a small, harmless, burrowing snake, of
the family Typhlopid[ae], with rudimentary eyes.
Blind spot (Anat.), the point in the retina of the eye
where the optic nerve enters, and which is insensible to
light.
Blind tooling, in bookbinding and leather work, the
indented impression of heated tools, without gilding; --
called also blank tooling, and blind blocking.
Blind wall, a wall without an opening; a blank wall.
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Coal \Coal\ (k[=o]l), n. [AS. col; akin to D. kool, OHG. chol,
cholo, G. kohle, Icel. kol, pl., Sw. kol, Dan. kul; cf. Skr.
jval to burn. Cf. Kiln, Collier.]
1. A thoroughly charred, and extinguished or still ignited,
fragment from wood or other combustible substance;
charcoal.
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2. (Min.) A black, or brownish black, solid, combustible
substance, dug from beds or veins in the earth to be used
for fuel, and consisting, like charcoal, mainly of carbon,
but more compact, and often affording, when heated, a
large amount of volatile matter.
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Note: This word is often used adjectively, or as the first
part of self-explaining compounds; as, coal-black; coal
formation; coal scuttle; coal ship. etc.
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Note: In England the plural coals is used, for the broken
mineral coal burned in grates, etc.; as, to put coals
on the fire. In the United States the singular in a
collective sense is the customary usage; as, a hod of
coal.
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Age of coal plants. See Age of Acrogens, under Acrogen.
Anthracite or Glance coal. See Anthracite.
Bituminous coal. See under Bituminous.
Blind coal. See under Blind.
Brown coal or Brown Lignite. See Lignite.
Caking coal, a bituminous coal, which softens and becomes
pasty or semi-viscid when heated. On increasing the heat,
the volatile products are driven off, and a coherent,
grayish black, cellular mass of coke is left.
Cannel coal, a very compact bituminous coal, of fine
texture and dull luster. See Cannel coal.
Coal bed (Geol.), a layer or stratum of mineral coal.
Coal breaker, a structure including machines and machinery
adapted for crushing, cleansing, and assorting coal.
Coal field (Geol.), a region in which deposits of coal
occur. Such regions have often a basinlike structure, and
are hence called coal basins. See Basin.
Coal gas, a variety of carbureted hydrogen, procured from
bituminous coal, used in lighting streets, houses, etc.,
and for cooking and heating.
Coal heaver, a man employed in carrying coal, and esp. in
putting it in, and discharging it from, ships.
Coal measures. (Geol.)
(a) Strata of coal with the attendant rocks.
(b) A subdivision of the carboniferous formation, between
the millstone grit below and the Permian formation
above, and including nearly all the workable coal beds
of the world.
Coal oil, a general name for mineral oils; petroleum.
Coal plant (Geol.), one of the remains or impressions of
plants found in the strata of the coal formation.
Coal tar. See in the Vocabulary.
To haul over the coals, to call to account; to scold or
censure. [Colloq.]
Wood coal. See Lignite.
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