Fill in the blanks

fill in the blank(s)

1. verb Literally, to complete a statement by adding information to a space that has been intentionally left empty or blank. The instructions at the top of the test sheet told us to fill in the blanks with the correct information about World War I.
2. expression A phrase used when one does not supply all the necessary information, instead relying on the listener to infer the missing details. A: "What happened last night between Katie and Rob? I saw them leave the bar together." B: "What do you think happened? She went home with him—fill in the blanks!"
See also: fill
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

Fill in the blanks.

You can figure out the rest.; You can draw a conclusion from that. (Fixed order. See also fill something in.) Mary. What happened at Fred's house last night? Bill: There was a big fight, then the neighbors called the police. Mary: Then what happened? Bill: Fill in the blanks. What do you think? John: They had been lost for two days, then the wolves came, and the rest is history. Jane: Yes, I think I can fill in the blanks.
See also: blank, fill
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • break out
  • fall out
  • fallout
  • dig at
  • dig at (someone or something)
  • biff
  • be in
  • close up
  • cross over
  • face off
References in periodicals archive
Setting up a narrative that enables prospects to fill in the blanks about how they would interact with these larger-than-life aspects of the property is a great way to illustrate the potential lifestyle at Epic, she adds.
Setup of fill volumes, capping torques and check weights can be accomplished with pre-programmed graphical interface screens, which allow users to fill in the blanks and save their information.
(The students could take a certain number of pages, work through them alone, then get together to review or quiz one another.) Each of the ten units ends with a review section including matching, fill in the blanks, writing definitions and even a cross word puzzle.
If you have doubts about paperwork, let DA Pare 738-751, TAMMS-A, help fill in the blanks.
DIRECTIONS: Fill in the blanks to complete the following sentences.
Readers without some cursory knowledge of African or African American history or religious practices may be left to "fill in the blanks." Fortunately, the endnotes provide a helpful trail for those wishing to dive deeper.
Listeners may need to read the full novel to fill in the blanks in this abridgment.
A pair of French researchers contend that an analysis of the yearly grape-harvest dates in Europe could help climatologists fill in the blanks of the continent's postmedieval climate records.
Just as filling in more blanks in the crossword puzzle makes it easier to figure out those difficult words you originally don't know, so also getting more information in the story makes it easier to "fill in the blanks" of a situation you originally have never heard of.
He never did fill in the blanks and ended up content only with Vollard's shirtfront.
They look at the numbers from similar stations and try to find common patterns to fill in the blanks. "The reconstructed time-series behaves as if the station observed weather under its current conditions throughout its history," according to information posted on AIR's Web site.
We had loads of great entries for last week's competition on consequences when we asked you to fill in the blanks.
"It took about four years to fill in the blanks about who these people were."
Highlight cells to format Choose Format, Conditional Formatting Fill in the blanks Click OK
Check out what drugs can do to the brain, then fill in the blanks in the box below.