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black and white - 5 dictionary results
black-and-white
[blak-uh
n-hwahyt, -wahyt] 
–adjective
| 1. | displaying only black and white tones; without color, as a picture or chart: a black-and-white photograph. |
| 2. | partly black and partly white; made up of separate areas or design elements of black and white: black-and-white shoes. |
| 3. | of, pertaining to, or constituting a two-valued system, as of logic or morality; absolute: To those who think in black-and-white terms, a person must be either entirely good or entirely bad. |
Origin:
1590–1600
1590–1600
black
[blak] adjective, -er, -est, noun, verb, adverb –adjective
| 1. | lacking hue and brightness; absorbing light without reflecting any of the rays composing it. |
| 2. | characterized by absence of light; enveloped in darkness: a black night. |
| 3. | (sometimes initial capital letter)
|
| 4. | soiled or stained with dirt: That shirt was black within an hour. |
| 5. | gloomy; pessimistic; dismal: a black outlook. |
| 6. | deliberately; harmful; inexcusable: a black lie. |
| 7. | boding ill; sullen or hostile; threatening: black words; black looks. |
| 8. | (of coffee or tea) without milk or cream. |
| 9. | without any moral quality or goodness; evil; wicked: His black heart has concocted yet another black deed. |
| 10. | indicating censure, disgrace, or liability to punishment: a black mark on one's record. |
| 11. | marked by disaster or misfortune: black areas of drought; Black Friday. |
| 12. | wearing black or dark clothing or armor: the black prince. |
| 13. | based on the grotesque, morbid, or unpleasant aspects of life: black comedy; black humor. |
| 14. | (of a check mark, flag, etc.) done or written in black to indicate, as on a list, that which is undesirable, sub-standard, potentially dangerous, etc.: Pilots put a black flag next to the ten most dangerous airports. |
| 15. | illegal or underground: The black economy pays no taxes. |
| 16. | showing a profit; not showing any losses: the first black quarter in two years. |
| 17. | deliberately false or intentionally misleading: black propaganda. |
| 18. | British. boycotted, as certain goods or products by a trade union. |
| 19. | (of steel) in the form in which it comes from the rolling mill or forge; unfinished. |
–noun
| 20. | the color at one extreme end of the scale of grays, opposite to white, absorbing all light incident upon it. Compare white (def. 19). |
| 21. | (sometimes initial capital letter)
|
| 22. | black clothing, esp. as a sign of mourning: He wore black at the funeral. |
| 23. | Chess, Checkers. the dark-colored men or pieces or squares. |
| 24. | black pigment: lamp black. |
| 25. | Slang. black beauty. |
| 26. | a horse or other animal that is entirely black. |
–verb (used with object)
| 27. | to make black; put black on; blacken. |
| 28. | British. to boycott or ban. |
| 29. | to polish (shoes, boots, etc.) with blacking. |
–verb (used without object)
| 30. | to become black; take on a black color; blacken. |
–adverb
—Verb phrase| 31. | (of coffee or tea) served without milk or cream. |
| 32. | black out,
|
| 33. | black and white,
|
| 34. | black or white, completely either one way or another, without any intermediate state. |
| 35. | in the black, operating at a profit or being out of debt (opposed to in the red ): New production methods put the company in the black. |
Origin:
bef. 900; ME blak, OE blæc; c. OHG blah-; akin to ON blakkr black, blek ink
bef. 900; ME blak, OE blæc; c. OHG blah-; akin to ON blakkr black, blek ink
Related forms:
blackish, adjective
black⋅ish⋅ly, adverb
black⋅ish⋅ness, noun
Synonyms:
1. dark, dusky; sooty, inky; swart, swarthy; sable, ebony. 4. dirty, dingy. 5. sad, depressing, somber, doleful, mournful, funereal. 7. disastrous, calamitous. 9. sinful, inhuman, fiendish, devilish, infernal, monstrous; atrocious, horrible; nefarious, treacherous, traitorous, villainous.
1. dark, dusky; sooty, inky; swart, swarthy; sable, ebony. 4. dirty, dingy. 5. sad, depressing, somber, doleful, mournful, funereal. 7. disastrous, calamitous. 9. sinful, inhuman, fiendish, devilish, infernal, monstrous; atrocious, horrible; nefarious, treacherous, traitorous, villainous.
Antonyms:
1. white. 4. clean. 5. hopeful, cheerful.
1. white. 4. clean. 5. hopeful, cheerful.
Usage note:
3, 21. Black, colored, and Negro have all been used to describe or name the dark-skinned African peoples or their descendants. Colored, now somewhat old-fashioned, is often offensive. In the late 1950s black began to replace Negro and today is the most widely used term. Common as an adjective (black woman, man, American, people, etc.), black is also used as a noun, especially in the plural. Like other terms referring to skin color (white, yellow), black is usually not capitalized, except in proper names or titles (Black Muslim; Black English). In the appropriate meanings Afro-American is sometimes used instead of black.
3, 21. Black, colored, and Negro have all been used to describe or name the dark-skinned African peoples or their descendants. Colored, now somewhat old-fashioned, is often offensive. In the late 1950s black began to replace Negro and today is the most widely used term. Common as an adjective (black woman, man, American, people, etc.), black is also used as a noun, especially in the plural. Like other terms referring to skin color (white, yellow), black is usually not capitalized, except in proper names or titles (Black Muslim; Black English). In the appropriate meanings Afro-American is sometimes used instead of black.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
|
Link To black and white
| black and white n.
|
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
black and white
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A monochromatic picture, drawing, television image, computer monitor, or film, as opposed to one using many colors, as in Photos in black and white fade less than those taken with color film. [Late 1800s]
-
Also, black or white. Involving a very clear distinction, without any gradations. For example, He tended to view everything as a black and white issue
it was either right or wrongwhereas his partner always found gray areas. This usage is based on the association of black with evil and white with virtue, which dates back at least 2,000 years. [Early 1800s] Also see gray area. -
in black and white. Written down or in print, and therefore official. For example, The terms of our agreement were spelled out in black and white, so there should be no question about it. This term alludes to black ink or print on white paper. Shakespeare used it in Much Ado about Nothing (5:1). [Late 1500s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
