Join free

blat

English · Română · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

blat¹

  • /blæt/

Rhymes with -æt

Where it comes from

Imitative. First attested in 1846 in the intransitive sense of "bleat". Compare English bleat, Old English blǣtan (“to bleat”).

verb blats · blatting · blatted

  1. intransitive To cry, as a calf, sheep, or goat. Near-synonym: baa (sheep or goat)

    Similar: bleat, baa

  2. intransitive To make a senseless noise. A moment later the engine roared into life. Exhaust blatted through the straight-pipes; people stopped on the street to look.
  3. To talk inconsiderately; blab.
  4. To produce an overrich or overblown sound on a brass instrument such as a trumpet, trombone, or tuba.
  5. transitive To utter loudly or foolishly; blurt.

blat²

  • /blæt/

Rhymes with -æt

Where it comes from

Borrowed from German Blatt (“newspaper”). Doublet of blade.

noun blats · blatt

  1. US, slang A newspaper. "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."

blat³

  • /blæt/

Rhymes with -æt

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Russian блат (blat), from Polish blat (“cover, umbrella”) or Yiddish בלאַט (blat, “leaf, list”). Doublet of blade.

noun

  1. uncountable The Soviet system of connections and social relationships; one's social or business network (in Russian or Soviet society). To open a new business in Russia you need blat.

    Similar: guanxi

BLAT⁴

noun

  1. abbreviation, initialism Initialism of bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato: a sandwich made with these main ingredients.

Translations

Every language

verb to cry, as a calf or sheep; to bleat

Русскийблеять blejatʹ

verb to talk inconsiderately

Русскийбалаболить balabolitʹ

noun connections; relationships; one's social or business network (Russia)

Españolblat
中文關係 /关系 guānxi
Italianoblat
Русскийблат blat

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"blat." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/blat. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

blat. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/blat

Chicago

"blat." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/blat.

BibTeX
@misc{blat_2026,
  title = {blat},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/blat},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}