From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Bless \Bless\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Blessed}or {Blest}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Blessing}.] [OE. blessien, bletsen, AS. bletsian, bledsian, bloedsian, fr. bl?d 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. --Gen. ii. 3.
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. --Shak.
It hath pleased thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue forever before thee. --1 Chron. xvii. 27 (R. V. )
3. To express a wish or prayer for the happiness of; to invoke a blessing upon; -- applied to persons.
Bless them which persecute you. --Rom. xii. 14.
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. --Luke ix. 16.
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. --Ps. ciii. 1.
8. To esteem or account happy; to felicitate.
The nations shall bless themselves in him. --Jer. iv. 3.
9. To wave; to brandish. [Obs.]
And burning blades about their heads do bless. --Spenser.
Round his armed head his trenchant blade he blest. --Fairfax.
Note: 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. --Milton.
{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.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Blessing \Bless"ing\, noun [AS. bletsung. See {Bless}, verb (used with an object)]
1. The act of one who blesses.
2. A declaration of divine favor, or an invocation imploring divine favor on some or something; a benediction; a wish of happiness pronounces.
This is the blessing, where with Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel. --Deut. xxxiii. 1.
3. A means of happiness; that which promotes prosperity and welfare; a beneficent gift.
Nature's full blessings would be well dispensed. --Milton.
4. (Bib.) A gift. [A Hebraism] --Gen. xxxiii. 11.
5. Grateful praise or worship.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: the formal act of giving approval; "he gave the project his blessing"; "his decision merited the approval of any sensible person" [syn: {approval}, {approving}] [ant: {disapproval}]
2: a desirable state; "enjoy the blessings of peace"; "a spanking breeze is a boon to sailors" [syn: {boon}]
3: a short prayer of thanks before a meal [syn: {grace}, {thanksgiving}]
4: a ceremonial prayer invoking divine protection [syn: {benediction}]
5: the act of praying for divine protection [syn: {benediction}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
136 Moby Thesaurus words for "blessing": Godspeed, OK, acceptance, accord, acquiescence, act of grace, act of kindness, adherence, admiration, advantage, affirmation, affirmative, affirmative voice, agreement, approbation, approval, assent, asset, avail, aye, beatification, beatitude, behalf, behoof, benedicite, benediction, benefaction, benefit, benevolence, benignity, benison, best wishes, blessedness, boon, bounty, break, canonization, compliance, compliment, congratulation, connivance, consecration, consent, countenance, courtesy, dedication, devotion, eagerness, endorsement, enshrinement, esteem, exaltation, favor, favorable vote, felicitation, felicity, fluke, fortunateness, fortune, gain, gift, glorification, godsend, good, good deed, good fortune, good luck, good offices, good turn, good wishes, grace, gratulation, hallowing, happy fortune, help, interest, invocation, justification, justification by works, kind deed, kind offices, kindly act, kindness, labor of love, loaves and fishes, luck, luckiness, lucky break, lucky strike, manna, manna from heaven, mercy, mitzvah, nod, obligation, office, okay, permission, prayer, profit, promptitude, promptness, purification, ratification, readiness, respect, run of luck, sainthood, sainting, sanctification, sanction, seal of approval, service, setting apart, smiles of fortune, stamp of approval, state of grace, streak of luck, stroke of luck, submission, thanks, thanksgiving, the breaks, turn, ungrudgingness, unloathness, unreluctance, valediction, voice, vote, welfare, well-being, willingness, world of good, yea, yea vote
From U.S. Gazetteer (1990) [gazetteer]:
Blessing, TX Zip code(s): 77419
From U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000) [gaz-place]:
Blessing, TX -- U.S. Census Designated Place in Texas Population (2000): 861 Housing Units (2000): 334 Land area (2000): 2.031646 sq. miles (5.261940 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 2.031646 sq. miles (5.261940 sq. km) FIPS code: 08668 Located within: Texas (TX), FIPS 48 Location: 28.871300 N, 96.220740 W ZIP Codes (1990): 77419 Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs. Headwords: Blessing, TX Blessing
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Let's see what we can do if we put our heads together.
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