Bleak \Bleak\ (bl[=e]k), a. [OE. blac, bleyke, bleche, AS.
   bl[=a]c, bl[=ae]c, pale, wan; akin to Icel. bleikr, Sw. blek,
   Dan. bleg, OS. bl[=e]k, D. bleek, OHG. pleih, G. bleich; all
   from the root of AS. bl[imac]can to shine; akin to OHG.
   bl[imac]chen to shine; cf. L. flagrare to burn, Gr. fle`gein
   to burn, shine, Skr. bhr[=a]j to shine, and E. flame.
   [root]98. Cf. {Bleach}, {Blink}, {Flame}.]
   1. Without color; pale; pallid. [Obs.]
      
[1913 Webster]


            When she came out she looked as pale and as bleak as
            one that were laid out dead.          --Foxe.
      
[1913 Webster]


   2. Desolate and exposed; swept by cold winds.
      
[1913 Webster]


            Wastes too bleak to rear
            The common growth of earth, the foodful ear.
                                                  --Wordsworth.
      
[1913 Webster]


            At daybreak, on the bleak sea beach.  --Longfellow.
      
[1913 Webster]


   3. Cold and cutting; cheerless; as, a bleak blast.
      
[1913 Webster]
 -- {Bleakish}, a. -- {Bleakly}, adv. --
      {Bleakness}, n.
      
[1913 Webster]

Bleak \Bleak\, n. [From {Bleak}, a., cf. {Blay}.] (Zool.)
   A small European river fish ({Leuciscus alburnus}), of the
   family Cyprinid[ae]; the blay. [Written also {blick}.]
   
[1913 Webster]


   Note: The silvery pigment lining the scales of the bleak is
         used in the manufacture of artificial pearls. --Baird.
         
[1913 Webster]