bleak

bleak
bleak1
bleakish, adj.bleakly, adv.bleakness, n.
/bleek/, adj., bleaker, bleakest.
1. bare, desolate, and often windswept: a bleak plain.
2. cold and piercing; raw: a bleak wind.
3. without hope or encouragement; depressing; dreary: a bleak future.
[1300-50; ME bleke pale, b. variants bleche (OE blaec) and blake (OE blac); both c. ON bleikr, G bleich; akin to BLEACH]
Syn. 3. See austere.
bleak2
/bleek/, n.
a European freshwater fish, Alburnus alburnus, having scales with a silvery pigment that is used in the production of artificial pearls.
[1400-50; late ME bleke, n. use of bleke pale; see BLEAK1]

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fish
      (Alburnus alburnus), small, slender fish of the carp family, Cyprinidae, found in rivers and lakes of England and Europe. A silvery-green fish, it grows to a maximum length of about 20 centimetres (8 inches). It lives in schools, usually near the surface, and eats aquatic invertebrates. The bleak is edible but bony. Its scales are used in eastern Europe for the manufacture of artificial pearls.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • bleak — [ blik ] adjective * 1. ) without any reasons to feel happy or hopeful: Things look very bleak for the team. Textile workers face a bleak future. paint a bleak picture (=say that the situation is not hopeful): The survey paints a bleak picture of …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • Bleak — (bl[=e]k), a. [OE. blac, bleyke, bleche, AS. bl[=a]c, bl[=ae]c, pale, wan; akin to Icel. bleikr, Sw. blek, Dan. bleg, OS. bl[=e]k, D. bleek, OHG. pleih, G. bleich; all from the root of AS. bl[=i]can to shine; akin to OHG. bl[=i]chen to shine; cf …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Bleak — may refer to:* a kind of fish ** Common Bleak ** Danube Bleak ** Italian Bleak * Bleak (band) * David B. Bleakee also* Bleek …   Wikipedia

  • bleak — [bli:k] adj [Date: 1300 1400; : Old Norse; Origin: bleikr pale, white ] 1.) without anything to make you feel happy or hopeful a bleak future/prospect ▪ The company still hopes to find a buyer, but the future looks bleak . 2.) cold and without… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • Bleak — Bleak, n. [From {Bleak}, a., cf. {Blay}.] (Zo[ o]l.) A small European river fish ({Leuciscus alburnus}), of the family Cyprinid[ae]; the blay. [Written also {blick}.] [1913 Webster] Note: The silvery pigment lining the scales of the bleak is used …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • bleak — UK US /bliːk/ adjective ► not giving much hope for the future: »Their long term prospects appear bleak. »In a bleak assessment of the coming months, they said market conditions were almost certain to remain challenging …   Financial and business terms

  • bleak — bleak·ly; bleak·ness; bleak; …   English syllables

  • bleak — bleak1 [blēk] adj. [ME bleik < ON bleikr, pale: see BLEACH] 1. exposed to wind and cold; unsheltered; treeless; bare 2. cold and cutting; harsh 3. not cheerful; gloomy; dreary 4. not promising or hopeful [a bleak future] …   English World dictionary

  • bleak — (adj.) c.1300, pale, from O.N. bleikr pale, whitish, blond, from P.Gmc. *blaika shining, white, from PIE root *bhel (1) to shine, flash, burn (see BLEACH (Cf. bleach) (v.)). Later bare, windswept (1530s). Sense of cheerless is c.1719 figurative… …   Etymology dictionary

  • bleak — [adj1] barren austere, bare, blank, blighted, bombed, bulldozed, burned, chilly, cleared, cold, deforested, desert, deserted, desolate, dreary, exposed, flat, gaunt, grim, open, raw, scorched, stripped, unpopulated, unsheltered, weather beaten,… …   New thesaurus

  • bleak — I (exposed and barren) adjective bare, barren, blank, cold, deserted, desolate, exposed, unpopulated, unsheltered, waste II (not favorable) adjective dark, depressing, disheartening, dismal, distressing, forbidding, gloomy, grave, grim,… …   Law dictionary

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