blin
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /blɪn/
rhymes: -ɪn
Forms: form: blini
form: bliny
form: blins
Etymology: From Russian блин (blin, “pancake, flat object”).
Senses: examples: text: The cook raised an immense amount of dough for the bliny. […] “Hey, a blin for me!” one would call, holding out an empty plate with a hand dripping with butter and sour cream.
ref: 1933, Alexandra Tolstoy, translated by Elena Varneck, The Tragedy of Tolstoy, Yale University Press, page 107:
text: Have a deep round buttered dish by the side of the stove and put each blin into this dish as it is ready; butter the blin, and place the next blin on top. When all the bliny are cooked, cover the dish with a cloth; it is not essential to serve them immediately.
ref: a. 1991, Jane Grigson, The Best of Jane Grigson: The Enjoyment of Food, London: Grub Street, published 1992, republished 2015, →ISBN:
text: No one ever eats just one blin. This is probably why the singular of blini is unknown to most food aficionados, though they do know that these little thin pancakes, of either wheat or buckwheat, often accompany caviar. You wrap them around a little mound of it and dab the blin with sour cream. Royal Gourmet prepares wheat blini on order to go.
ref: 1995 May 11, Linda Burum, “Markets: Eastern Europe Meets West Hollywood”, in Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 18 May 2025, page H20, columns 2–4:
text: “But Papa, art requires sacrifices,” Olenka would say, standing up for Benedikt. / “The first blin is always lumpy,” Mother-in-law comforted. / “There you go, talking about bliny again! How come you only talk about one thing: bliny and more bliny! . . .”
ref: 2003, Tatyana Tolstaya, translated by Jamey Gambrell, The Slynx, New York, N.Y.: The New York Review of Books, →ISBN:
text: “I made blini for all. My grandmother’s secret recipe from Odessa.[…]” / […] “Can’t you see Jordie is hurting?” / “That’s why I offered her a blin.”
ref: 2006, Laurie Gwen Shapiro, Brand X: The Boyfriend Account, New York, N.Y.: Delacorte Press, Random House Children’s Books, →ISBN, page 140:
text: Medvedev took one of the blini from Bobby’s plate, spooned red caviar onto it, rolled the blin and wolfed it down. “The secret to drinking vodka, my friend, is eating, no?” / Bobby spooned black caviar onto a blin and downed it.
ref: 2011, David Perlstein, Slick!, Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, Inc., →ISBN, pages 116–117:
text: Unlike regular pancakes, blins should be fried in a small pancake pan. This is because a good blin is thick and juicy, and this is most easily achieved using a small pan with raised edges. The blins should be fried on both sides and served hot.
ref: 2013, Kari Ojala, translated by Tarja Dibaja, The Engineer’s Cookbook, Klaava Media, →ISBN:
text: “Those blins have a religious origin,” Addie explained. “They are partaken of to commemorate the advent of Spring, and they are round in shape, to represent the sun.[…]” she concluded.
ref: 2013, Jim Plosia, Shawn Plosia, The Shunting Yard: The Umschlagplatz, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN:
text: Then tea, with his wife Lydia making blins so thin you could almost see through them.
ref: 2013, Edward R. Rogaishio, You Can Survive and Live a Useful Life: Heart Disease, Cancer, Pemphigoid and a Shotgun, Xlibris, →ISBN, page 252:
text: She baked some bliny. “Go, old man, and fetch your daughter for burial.” The old man rode off. The dog under the table barked: “Arf, arf! The old man’s daughter in gold and silver will come, but no groom will have the old woman’s daughter.” “Shut up, you fool! For a blin say: ‘Grooms will take the old woman’s daughter, but they’ll bring in just the bones of the old man’s daughter!’” The dog ate the blin and once more said, […]
ref: 2014, Aleksandr Nikolaevich Afanas’ev, edited by Jack V. Haney, The Complete Folktales of A. N. Afanas’ev, volume I, University Press of Mississippi, →ISBN:
text: The tops of the blini should bubble up and set within 90 seconds (if they do not, then either the heat is not high enough or the pan hasn’t had time to heat up properly). Flip each blin and cook for another 90 seconds.
ref: 2017, Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Terry Hope Romero, Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook, 10th anniversary edition, Da Capo Press, →ISBN:
text: “More so,” Richter replied as the waiter returned with a plate of blini topped with glistening caviar. […] She took a blin and crammed it into her mouth: the taste was overwhelming and salty, not at all what she’d expected, and not to her taste.
ref: 2023, Bryn Turnbull, The Paris Deception, Toronto, Ont.: Mira, →ISBN:
glosses: A blintz or blini.