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black and white

 - 11 dictionary results
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black-and-white

  [blak-uhn-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

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)
a. pertaining or belonging to any of the various populations characterized by dark skin pigmentation, specifically the dark-skinned peoples of Africa, Oceania, and Australia.
b. African-American.
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)
a. a member of any of various dark-skinned peoples, esp. those of Africa, Oceania, and Australia.
b. African-American.
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
31. (of coffee or tea) served without milk or cream.
—Verb phrase
32. black out,
a. to lose consciousness: He blacked out at the sight of blood.
b. to erase, obliterate, or suppress: News reports were blacked out.
c. to forget everything relating to a particular event, person, etc.: When it came to his war experiences he blacked out completely.
d. Theater. to extinguish all of the stage lights.
e. to make or become inoperable: to black out the radio broadcasts from the U.S.
f. Military. to obscure by concealing all light in defense against air raids.
g. Radio and Television. to impose a broadcast blackout on (an area).
h. to withdraw or cancel (a special fare, sale, discount, etc.) for a designated period: The special air fare discount will be blacked out by the airlines over the holiday weekend.
—Idioms
33. black and white,
a. print or writing: I want that agreement in black and white.
b. a monochromatic picture done with black and white only.
c. a chocolate soda containing vanilla ice cream.
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

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.

Antonyms:
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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To black and white
black and white  
n.  

  1. Writing or print: saw their words in black and white.

  2. A visual medium, as in photography or printmaking, employing only black and white or black, white, and values of gray: a film shot in black and white; a painting reproduced in black and white.

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

  1. mod.
    without cream or milk. (Said of coffee.) : Black coffee, good and hot, please.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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black and white

  1. n.
    the police; a black and white police patrol car; any police car. : Call the black and whites. We got trouble here.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

black 
O.E. blæc "black," from P.Gmc. *blak- (cf. O.N. blakkr "dark," Du. blaken "to burn"), from PIE *bhleg- "burn, gleam" (cf. Gk. phlegein "to burn, scorch," L. flagrare "to blaze, glow, burn"). Same root produced O.E. blac "white, bright" (see bleach), the common notion being "lack of hue." The main O.E. word for "black" was sweart. "In ME. it is often doubtful whether blac, blak, blake, means 'black, dark,' or 'pale, colourless, wan, livid.' " Adjective used of dark-skinned people in O.E. The noun in this sense is first attested 1625 (blackamoor is from 1547; see moor). Of coffee, first attested 1796. Sense of "dark purposes, malignant" emerged 1583 (e.g. black art, 1590). Black list "list of persons who have incurred suspicion" is from 1692. Black market first attested 1931. Black eye in figurative sense of "bad reputation" is from 1880s. Blackberry was in O.E.; blackbird is from 1486. Black friar "Dominican" is first recorded 1500, so called from the color of their dress. black widow spider (1915) so called from the female's supposed habit of eating the male after mating (they are cannibalistic, but this particular behavior is rare in the wild). Black panther is from 1965, the movement an outgrowth of Student Nonviolent Co-ordinating Committee. Black comedy first recorded 1963 (cf. Fr. pièce noire). To be in the black (1928) is from the accounting practice of recording credits and balances in black ink.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Financial Dictionary

black

Of or relating to the profitability of a firm or the operations of a firm. The term derives from the color of ink used to enter a profit figure on a financial statement. Compare red.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Medical Dictionary

Black (blāk), Sir James Whyte. Born 1924.

British pharmacologist. He shared a 1988 Nobel Prize for developing drugs to treat heart disease and stomach and duodenal ulcers.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Science Dictionary
Black, Joseph 1728-1799.  
British chemist who in 1756 discovered carbon dioxide, which he called "fixed air." In addition to further studies of carbon dioxide, Black formulated the concepts of latent heat and heat capacity.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Idioms & Phrases

black and white

  1. 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]

  2. Also, black or white. Involving a very clear distinction, without any gradations. For example, He tended to view everything as a black and white issueit 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.

  3. 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.
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