bless

[bless]

To bless is to offer a holy seal of approval, like when a priest blesses water, making holy water. It’s also what people say when you sneeze: bless you, which is short for “may God bless you.”

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To make or pronounce holy; to consecrate

Verb
give a benediction to; "The dying man blessed his son"

Verb
render holy by means of religious rites

Verb
make the sign of the cross over someone in order to call on God for protection; consecrate

Verb
confer prosperity or happiness on

v. t.
To make or pronounce holy; to consecrate

v. t.
To make happy, blithesome, or joyous; to confer prosperity or happiness upon; to grant divine favor to.

v. t.
To express a wish or prayer for the happiness of; to invoke a blessing upon; -- applied to persons.

v. t.
To invoke or confer beneficial attributes or qualities upon; to invoke or confer a blessing on, -- as on food.

v. t.
To make the sign of the cross upon; to cross (one's self).

v. t.
To guard; to keep; to protect.

v. t.
To praise, or glorify; to extol for excellences.

v. t.
To esteem or account happy; to felicitate.

v. t.
To wave; to brandish.

Bless

Bless , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Blessed or Blest; p. pr. & vb. n. Blessing.] [OE. blessien, bletsen, AS. bletsian, bledsian, bloedsian, fr. bld 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.

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.

It hath pleased thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue forever before thee.

3. To express a wish or prayer for the happiness of; to invoke a blessing upon; -- applied to persons.

Bless them which persecute you.

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.

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.

8. To esteem or account happy; to felicitate.

The nations shall bless themselves in him.

9. To wave; to brandish. [Obs.]

And burning blades about their heads do bless.

Round his armed head his trenchant blade he blest.

&hand; 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.

-- 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.

To make or pronounce holy; to consecrate

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Usage Examples

A man filled with the love of God is not content with blessing his family alone, but ranges through the whole world, anxious to bless the whole human race.

Lord, Bless our enemies have mercy upon them, may they turn their course and let us alone, and let us live in peace at our homes in our own native land.

God bless you if you have one child, but I don't think anybody should have just one child. Everybody needs a sibling. I have siblings, and I have so many amazing, precious memories with my siblings. I don't know what I would do if I had been an only child.

I shouldn't have got married. My dad told me. I was 35 and I got married. He said, 'You're too young to be married'. 'What? I'm 35'. Said, 'You're far too young. You haven't lived yet'. He was right, bless him, thanks, Dad.

God sometimes does try to the uttermost those whom he wishes to bless.

God wants to bless us where we are.

May the God of your choice bless and keep you. I respect Him as long as He does not circumcise me anymore.

Misspelled Form

bless, vbless, gbless, hbless, nbless, bless, vless, gless, hless, nless, less, bvless, bgless, bhless, bnless, b less, bkless, boless, bpless, b:less, bkess, boess, bpess, b:ess, blkess, bloess, blpess, bl:ess, blwess, bl3ess, bl4ess, blress, blsess, bldess, blwss, bl3ss, bl4ss, blrss, blsss, bldss, blewss, ble3ss, ble4ss, blerss, blesss, bledss, bleass, blewss, bleess, bledss, blexss, blezss, bleas, blews, blees, bleds, blexs, blezs, blesas, blesws, bleses, blesds, blesxs, bleszs, blesas, blesws, bleses, blesds, blesxs, bleszs, blesa, blesw, blese, blesd, blesx, blesz, blessa, blessw, blesse, blessd, blessx, blessz.

Other Usage Examples

Ladies and gentlemen, god bless America - land of the free, home of the brave.

I contend the state ought to do its thing and provide legal rights for all couples who want to be joined together for life. The church should bless unions that it sees fit to bless, and they should be called marriages.

Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver.

I respect the fact that many denominations have different points of view with respect to gay marriage and they can hold that in the sanctity in the place of their religion and not bless them or solemnize them.

As far as the leading man/romantic lead, I'll tell you what, I really enjoyed my experience more than I thought or imagined I would on 'Catch and Release.' God bless them if they want to give me another shot at that. I would love to have that as something I can go to on occasion.

I bless God for this retirement: I never was more thankful for any thing than I have been of late for the necessity I am under of self-denial in many respects.

Lord, bless me with the ability to achieve all that I can, and the wisdom to realize it doesn't all have to be by tomorrow!