white space

American

noun

the unprinted area of a piece of printing, as of a poster or newspaper page, or of a portion of a piece of printing, as of an advertisement; blank space.

White space is as effective in a layout as type.

Etymology

Origin of white space

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

At the place beside the beginning of the forest path where once there had been a clear white space, there were six lines of black writing.

From Literature

"They didn't represent who I was going to school with, it was a very white space."

From BBC

That’s why executive coach LK Pryzant employs a euphemism: “white space.”

From The Wall Street Journal

“Busywork sounds low-value, but white space sounds creative and it sounds strategic,” she says.

From The Wall Street Journal

Miles said that when he arrived in China, “We thought, let’s take the white space that Costco would take if they were here.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023