draw a blank
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Get no successful response.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
It's important to get the appropriate medical advice to rule out any underlying disorder, of course, but thereafter, most parents end up drawing a blank.
Sir Ian painstakingly worked over the evidence for this from decade to weary decade — and drew a blank.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Euphemism (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “draw a blank” mean?
Get no successful response.
Is “draw a blank” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.