blanket term

blanket term

A word or phrase used to describe a broad range of similarly related things, usually resulting in diluting the specific meaning of individual items. "Idiom" is often used as a blanket term for any element of language that is used strangely or uniquely by its users. "American" can be seen as something of a blanket term, considering how drastically people differ from one part of the country to the next.
See also: blanket, term
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • eggs is eggs
  • Heinz
  • Heinz 57
  • Heinz 57 (variety)
  • Heinz 57 variety
  • 57
  • (as) sure as eggs (is eggs)
  • sure as eggs is eggs
  • and the rest
  • how/what about...?
References in periodicals archive
AI is broadly used as a blanket term. A widely accepted definition by Russell and Peter, at its root define AI as 'the ability to replicate or imitate human thought' and more recently as 'using human reasoning as a model to solve problems.' However, previously terms like manufacturing were used for the production of everything from cars to clothes to processed foods.
are heading towards Khan Sheikhun to help the terrorists," a foreign ministry source said, using the regime's blanket term for rebels and jihadists.
Anti-social behaviour (ASB) is a blanket term for conduct that can cause harassment, alarm or distress.
When combined with the experience of growing up in Appalachia, queerness -- as defined by the collection, a blanket term for being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender -- leads to a new subculture that can leave its members stuck between two worlds.
Severe maternal morbidity is a blanket term for 18 indicators of life-threatening maternal conditions associated with childbirth, including kidney failure, fluid in the lungs, and heart failure.
It's essentially a blanket term encapsulating Israel, New Zealand, and everything in-between.
Many librarians might be familiar with the blanket term, but grey literature covers a wide variety of sources, and knowing which types to search and under what circumstances might not be so familiar.
Heart disease is a blanket term that includes a variety of conditions and illnesses.
Aristotle seems to have gotten by without any recourse to the concept of "moral." It is significant that Aristotle has no blanket term for wrongdoing, like "illicit." Following his lead, Anscombe writes, "Instead of saying morally wrong we should say, untruthful, unjust, unchaste, or pass directly to a description." Moral philosophy depends on a philosophical psychology absent in modern moral philosophy.
Now it's the blanket term, which amounts to daily negative reinforcement.
In her article, LoVetri was clear that "each CCM style needs to be taken seriously on its own terms." (15) However, anecdotal evidence suggests many voice teachers and researchers were still clumping all nonclassical styles together under the blanket term "contemporary commercial music" without delineating the different qualities that make each style unique.
Speculative fiction is a blanket term encompassing science fiction and fantasy, as well as other subgenres with elements that could be considered "outside" reality as humans perceive it.
He said that Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is a blanket term for various types of specialised zones with specific types of enterprises operating in a well-defined geographic area where certain economic activities are promoted by a set of policy measures that are not generally applicable to the rest of the country.
These days the term bank holiday is used as a blanket term for all public holidays when banks, government offices and many businesses are closed.