blank check—freedom to choose whatever course of action one thinks is necessary:
- The coach was given a blank check by the university to try and improve the team.
blank sheet—(also: clean sheet)
1. a fresh start when people decide to forget about previous mistakes, failures, etc.:
- Managers should start with a blank sheet regardless of the commitments already made and resources applied.
2. said of the human mind at birth, regarded as having no innate conceptions:
- Nor were they alone in their belief that a new-born’s mind is a blank sheet on which society can write what it pleased.