-In non-literal free-form lines, consecutive blocks of whitespace are
-pruned from input and added later in the output filter, if applicable:
-.Bd -literal -offset indent
-These spaces are pruned from input.
-\&.Bd \-literal
-These are not.
-\&.Ed
-.Ed
-.
+Whitespace consists of the space character.
+In free-form lines, whitespace is preserved within a line; un-escaped
+trailing spaces are stripped from input (unless in a literal context).
+Blank free-form lines, which may include whitespace, are only permitted
+within literal contexts.