'Bless' definitions:

Definition of 'bless'

(from WordNet)
verb
Give a benediction to; "The dying man blessed his son" [ant: anathemise, anathemize, bedamn, beshrew, curse, damn, imprecate, maledict]
verb
Confer prosperity or happiness on
verb
Make the sign of the cross over someone in order to call on God for protection; consecrate [syn: bless, sign]
verb
Render holy by means of religious rites [syn: consecrate, bless, hallow, sanctify] [ant: deconsecrate, desecrate, unhallow]

Definition of 'Bless'

From: GCIDE
  • Bless \Bless\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Blessedor 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 [1913 Webster]
  • And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it. --Gen. ii. 3. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To make happy, blithesome, or joyous; to confer prosperity or happiness upon; to grant divine favor to. [1913 Webster]
  • The quality of mercy is . . . twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • It hath pleased thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue forever before thee. --1 Chron. xvii. 27 (R. V. ) [1913 Webster]
  • 3. To express a wish or prayer for the happiness of; to invoke a blessing upon; -- applied to persons. [1913 Webster]
  • Bless them which persecute you. --Rom. xii. 14. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. To invoke or confer beneficial attributes or qualities upon; to invoke or confer a blessing on, -- as on food. [1913 Webster]
  • Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them. --Luke ix. 16. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. To make the sign of the cross upon; to cross (one's self). [Archaic] --Holinshed. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. To guard; to keep; to protect. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • 7. To praise, or glorify; to extol for excellences. [1913 Webster]
  • Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. --Ps. ciii. 1. [1913 Webster]
  • 8. To esteem or account happy; to felicitate. [1913 Webster]
  • The nations shall bless themselves in him. --Jer. iv. 3. [1913 Webster]
  • 9. To wave; to brandish. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • And burning blades about their heads do bless. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
  • Round his armed head his trenchant blade he blest. --Fairfax. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • To bless the doors from nightly harm. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'bless'

From: Easton
  • Bless
  • God blesses his people when he bestows on them some gift temporal or spiritual (Gen. 1:22; 24:35; Job 42:12; Ps. 45:2; 104:24, 35).
  • We bless God when we thank him for his mercies (Ps. 103:1, 2; 145:1, 2).
  • A man blesses himself when he invokes God's blessing (Isa. 65:16), or rejoices in God's goodness to him (Deut. 29:19; Ps. 49:18).
  • One blesses another when he expresses good wishes or offers prayer to God for his welfare (Gen. 24:60; 31:55; 1 Sam. 2:20). Sometimes blessings were uttered under divine inspiration, as in the case of Noah, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses (Gen. 9:26, 27; 27:28, 29, 40; 48:15-20; 49:1-28; Deut. 33). The priests were divinely authorized to bless the people (Deut. 10:8; Num. 6:22-27). We have many examples of apostolic benediction (2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 6:23, 24; 2 Thess. 3:16, 18; Heb. 13:20, 21; 1 Pet. 5:10, 11).
  • Among the Jews in their thank-offerings the master of the feast took a cup of wine in his hand, and after having blessed God for it and for other mercies then enjoyed, handed it to his guests, who all partook of it. Ps. 116:13 refers to this custom. It is also alluded to in 1 Cor. 10:16, where the apostle speaks of the "cup of blessing."

Synonyms of 'bless'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'Bless'