1. Any of various shiny minerals composed chiefly of metallic sulfides.
2. See sphalerite.

[German, from blenden, to deceive (because it resembles lead ore), from Middle High German blenden, from Old High German blentan, to blind, deceive.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.