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a large, rectangular piece of soft fabric, often with bound edges, used especially for warmth as a bed covering.
a similar piece of fabric used as a covering for a horse, dog, etc.
the chief garment traditionally worn by some American Indians.
any extended covering or layer:
a blanket of snow.
Printing.

(in a press for offset printing) the rubber-covered cylinder to which an inked impression is transferred from the plate for transfer directly to the paper.
(in a press for letterpress printing) the resilient covering on the cylinder against which the paper is pressed in printing.

a thick roll or strip of material for thermal insulation.
to cover with or as with a blanket:
wild flowers blanketing the hillside.
to obscure or obstruct; interfere with; overpower (usually followed by out):
An electrical storm blanketed out the radio program.
to toss (someone) in a blanket, as in fraternity hazing.
Nautical. (of a vessel) to take wind from the sails of (another vessel) by passing closely to windward.
covering or intended to cover a large group or class of things, conditions, situations, etc.:
a blanket proposal; a blanket indictment.
born on the wrong side of the blanket, born out of wedlock.
Contemporary Examples

Royal Revelers Treated to Late-Night Snack The Daily Beast April 28, 2011
Charlie Crist’s Race Card Jim DeFede September 26, 2010
Newt’s Secret Florida Weapon: Marco Rubio’s 2010 Campaign Manager John Avlon January 25, 2012
Five Boehner Quotes—From One Interview—That Explain Everything Jamelle Bouie October 6, 2013
So You Have an Inconsequential But Awful Illness Kelly Williams Brown January 17, 2014

Historical Examples

Comrade Yetta Albert Edwards
Her Father’s Daughter Gene Stratton-Porter
The Scapegoat Hall Caine
The Last of the Mohicans James Fenimore Cooper
The Alaskan James Oliver Curwood

noun
a large piece of thick cloth for use as a bed covering, animal covering, etc, enabling a person or animal to retain natural body heat
a concealing cover or layer, as of smoke, leaves, or snow
a rubber or plastic sheet wrapped round a cylinder, used in offset printing to transfer the image from the plate, stone, or forme to the paper
(physics) a layer of a fertile substance placed round the core of a nuclear reactor as a reflector or absorber and often to breed new fissionable fuel
(modifier) applying to or covering a wide group or variety of people, conditions, situations, etc: blanket insurance against loss, injury, and theft
(informal) born on the wrong side of the blanket, illegitimate
verb (transitive)
to cover with or as if with a blanket; overlie
to cover a very wide area, as in a publicity campaign; give blanket coverage
(usually foll by out) to obscure or suppress: the storm blanketed out the TV picture
(nautical) to prevent wind from reaching the sails of (another sailing vessel) by passing to windward of it
n.

Only 26,000 blanket Indians are left in the United States. [“Atlantic Monthly,” March 1906]

v.

A pancake; hotcake (1950s+)
A cigarette paper (1950s+)
An overcoat •A shortening of blanket overcoat, which is attested in the early 1820s (1940s+)

see:

security blanket
wet blanket