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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.
4.
soiled or stained with dirt: That shirt was black within an hour.
5.
EXPANDgloomy; 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.
COLLAPSE(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, especially those of Africa, Oceania, and Australia.
22.
black clothing, especially as a sign of mourning: He wore black at the funeral.
23.
Chess, Checkers. the dark-colored men or pieces or squares.
24.
EXPANDblack pigment: lamp black.
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In the black
is always a great word to know.
So is ort. Does it mean:
| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
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 phrase31.
(of coffee or tea) served without milk or cream.
32.
Idiomsblack 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.
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:
before 900; Middle English blak, Old English blæc; cognate with Old High German blah-; akin to Old Norse blakkr black, blek ink
before 900; Middle English blak, Old English blæc; cognate with Old High German blah-; akin to Old Norse blakkr black, blek ink
Related forms
black·ish, adjective
black·ish·ly, adverb
black·ish·ness, noun
non·black, adjective, noun
un·blacked, adjective
EXPANDwell-blacked, adjective
COLLAPSESynonyms
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. EXPANDIn 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.
COLLAPSE
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. EXPANDIn 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.
COLLAPSE
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To in the black
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
black
O.E. blæc "black, dark," from P.Gmc. *blakaz "burned" (cf. O.N. blakkr "dark," O.H.G. blah "black," Swed. bläck "ink," Du. blaken "to burn"),
from PIE *bhleg- "to burn, gleam, shine, flash" (cf. Gk. phlegein "to burn, scorch," L. flagrare "to blaze, glow, burn"), from base *bhel- (1);
EXPAND see bleach. The same root produced O.E. blac "bright, shining, glittering, pale;" the connecting notions being, perhaps, "fire" (bright) and "burned" (dark). The usual O.E. word for "black" was sweart (see swart). According to OED: "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 1620s (blackamoor is from 1540s; see moor). Of coffee, first attested 1796. Sense of "dark purposes, malignant" emerged 1580s (e.g. black art). To be in the black (1928) is from the accounting practice of recording credits and balances in black ink.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
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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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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American Heritage
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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Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
black definition
|
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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in the black definition
|
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Idioms & Phrases
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