blanket term

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

A term that encompasses a broad range of concepts or ideas

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

một thuật ngữ bao gồm nhiều khái niệm hoặc ý tưởng rộng

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: a term that covers everything like a blanket
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

The phrase 'alternative medicine' is a blanket term for many different therapies

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “blanket term” mean?

A term that encompasses a broad range of concepts or ideas Literally: a term that covers everything like a blanket

Is “blanket term” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.