blank a also blanked OED ~ a 4 b, 'void of result, unsuccessful, fruitless' (1553-1832). See BLANK n. Of the cod or seal fishery, unsuccessful.
   1924 ENGLAND 203 Without luck, a ship may suffer weeks of misery and come home almost blanked. 1936 DEVINE 10 Even some went to Australia, all thinking that St John's and Newfoundland generally was finished as a place to get a living in, and seeing five blank (or nearly so) cod-fisheries, good times would never come again.

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