black eye

See synonyms for black eye on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. discoloration of the skin around the eye, resulting from a blow, bruise, etc.

  2. a mark of shame, dishonor, etc.: These slums are a black eye to our town.

  1. damaged reputation: Your behavior will give the family a black eye.

Origin of black eye

1
First recorded in 1595–1605

Words Nearby black eye

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use black eye in a sentence

  • Nor did Ethel know that that caricature had been the cause of the black eye that Harry had brought home last summer.

    The Daisy Chain | Charlotte Yonge
  • Mrs. Macauley writes her all about him every week, only she probably didn't mention the black eye.

    Red Pepper Burns | Grace S. Richmond
  • The noble blackbird, with full black eye, pecks at the decaying apples upon the sward, and takes no heed of a footstep.

    The Hills and the Vale | Richard Jefferies
  • But Sidney, on the third day, came back with a black eye, and he would return no more.

    Night and Morning, Complete | Edward Bulwer-Lytton
  • He would have passed in comic opera anywhere; but the dart of his black eye was keen, his voice crisp and assured.

British Dictionary definitions for black eye

black eye

noun
  1. bruising round the eye

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with black eye

black eye

A mark of shame, a humiliating setback, as in That there are enough homeless folks to need another shelter is a black eye for the administration. This metaphor alludes to having discolored flesh around the eye resulting from a blow. The term is also used literally, as in The mugger not only took Bill's wallet but gave him a black eye. [Late 1800s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.