Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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

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

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

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

   2. Desolate and exposed; swept by cold winds.

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

            At daybreak, on the bleak sea beach.  --Longfellow.

   3. Cold and cutting; cheerless; as, a bleak blast. --
      {Bleak"ish}, a. -- {Bleak"ly}, adv. -- {Bleak"ness}, n.

Source : WordNet®

bleak
     adj 1: offering little or no hope; "the future looked black";
            "prospects were bleak"; "Life in the Aran Islands has
            always been bleak and difficult"- J.M.Synge; "took a
            dim view of things" [syn: {black}, {dim}]
     2: providing no shelter or sustenance; "bare rocky hills";
        "barren lands"; "the bleak treeless regions of the high
        Andes"; "the desolate surface of the moon"; "a stark
        landscape" [syn: {bare}, {barren}, {desolate}, {stark}]
     3: unpleasantly cold and damp; "bleak winds of the North
        Atlantic" [syn: {cutting}, {raw}]