blat
/blæt/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 1.94 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To talk inconsiderately; blab.
verb
To produce an overrich or overblown sound on a brass instrument such as a trumpet, trombone, or tuba.
noun
The Soviet system of connections and social relationships; one's social or business network (in Russian or Soviet society).
Uncountable
noun
Initialism of bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato: a sandwich made with these main ingredients.
Example Sentences
- "Near-synonym: baa (sheep or goat)"
- "A moment later the engine roared into life. Exhaust blatted through the straight-pipes; people stopped on the street to look."
- ""Of course I warned off the dicks and the FBI, but they're madder'n hell and we've got to get out of town at once. It'll miss the mornings but it'll be splashed all over the afternoon blatts and radio and TV'll have it.""
- "To open a new business in Russia you need blat."
- "Alena Ledeneva's book is the first to analyse blat in all its historical, socio-economic and cultural aspects, and to explore its implications for post-Soviet society. In a socialist distribution system which resulted in constant shortages, blat developed into an 'economy of favours' which shadowed an overcontrolling centre and represented the reaction of ordinary people to the social constraints they faced."
- "“We call her that but really it’s more post-Soviet. She's the blat girl.” “The what?” “Blat. What the old boys in your country called juice, I think. She's connected, Marina is."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: Blatt, блат, blat, בלאַט