draw a blank

English

Verb

draw a blank (third-person singular simple present draws a blank, present participle drawing a blank, simple past drew a blank, past participle drawn a blank)

1. (idiomatic) To be unable to recall a required piece of information.

   I should know that person's name, but I'm drawing a blank.

2. (idiomatic) To fail; not to find anything; to produce no successful response.
   • 1856, Lucius Manlius Sargent, Dealings with the Dead, volume 2, page 472:

     "Oh," she replied, "when I came to think of it, I saw, that you were right. I thought, 'twas quite likely it [the lottery ticket] would draw a blank. […] "

   • 2022, Ling Ma, “Office Hours”, in Bliss Montage, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN:

     When she brainstormed about what else she would do, where else she would go, her mind drew a blank.

Translations

being unable to recall a piece of information

• Finnish: ei tulla mieleen
• French: trou de mémoire (fr) (noun)
• Polish: mieć pustkę w głowie impf
• Portuguese: dar um branco (expression)

idiomatic: to fail

• Finnish: vetää vesiperä

See also

• brain cramp
• come up empty
• on the tip of one's tongue
• thinko