point blank

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See also: pointblank and point-blank

English

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It has been requested that this entry be merged with point-blank(+).
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Etymology

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(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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point blank (not comparable)

  1. The distance between a gun and a target such that it requires minimal effort in aiming it. In particular no allowance needs to be made for effects of gravity, target movement or wind in aiming the projectile.
  2. Blunt, outright.

Adverb

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point blank (not comparable)

  1. Horizontally (as the angle at which a projectile is launched); directly or straight (at the target).
  2. (idiomatic) Directly; bluntly; without pretense or caution.
    I asked him point blank whether he was cheating on his wife.
    • 1896, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter I, in Tom Sawyer, Detective:
      There’s a neighbor named Brace Dunlap that’s been wanting to marry their Benny for three months, and at last they told him point blank and once for all, he COULDN’T; so he has soured on them, and they’re worried about it.

Translations

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