I. ˈblak adjective
( -er/-est )
Etymology: Middle English blak, from Old English blæc; akin to Old High German blah black, Old Norse blakra to blink, Latin flagrare to burn, Greek phlegein, Sanskrit bharga radiance, Old English bǣl fire, pyre — more at bald
1.
a. : of the color black : having the color of soot or coal
black cloth
black as ebony
b. : very dark in color
his face black with rage — T.B.Costain
c. of written or printed letters : characterized by thickness of form and consequent intense contrast with the white of a page
a heavy black type
d. : covered or darkened with numerous dark objects close together
the … ceiling was … black with flies — Ann Bridge
the boxcars going north would be black with harvesters sitting on the top — Meridel Le Sueur
2.
a. of human beings
(1) : having darkly pigmented skin, hair, and eyes : dark-complexioned : brunet
whether the writer … be a black or a fair man — Joseph Addison
(2) : dark in comparison to the average complexion of a group : swarthy
a black Irishman
(3) : being a member of a group or race characterized by dark pigmentation
organized Negro regiments commanded by black officers
especially : negroid — compare brown 2a, colored , white , yellow
b. : of, belonging to, consisting of, or connected with black, especially negroid, people
black Africa
black races
especially : having a large Negro population
a black belt
c. : advocating more rights for Negroes — used especially in reference to the slavery controversy of the 19th century in the U.S.
black abolitionist
black Republican
3.
a. : characterized by wearing black clothes or black armor
the black knight
b. : of, belonging to, or being a member of a group characterized or formerly characterized by wearing black: as
(1) : clerical in politics
(2) : fascist
the red and black totalitarians — Mark Starr
— see blackshirt
4. : soiled with dirt : dirty
how black your hands are
the pot calls the kettle black
5.
a. : characterized by the absence of light or the presence of very little light
a black night
: reflecting or transmitting little or no light
black water
black glass
b. of coffee : served without cream or milk and sometimes also without sugar
6.
a. : outrageously wicked : deserving unmitigated condemnation
a black deed
a black heart
a black villain
a moralist to whom everything is either black or white
sometimes : dishonorable , discreditable
b. : expressing or indicating disgrace, dishonor, discredit, or guilt sometimes through symbolic use of an object that is black in color
a black mark for tardiness
with evidence so black against him — Charlotte Armstrong
7. : connected with some baneful aspect of the supernatural, especially the devil
a black curse
black magic
the black art
8.
a. : unrelievedly sad, gloomy, or calamitous
black despair
things are looking black
the autumn of 1776 was a black season for the Continental Army — J.D.Hart
b. sometimes capitalized , of a day : marked by the occurrence of a disaster
on September 24, 1869, when Jay Gould, James Fisk, Jr., and their associates effected the partial corner in gold that ended so disastrously in the panic of black Friday — S.A.Nelson
9. : expressing or characterized by menace or angry discontent : sullen , hostile
he gave me a black look
black resentment filled his heart — Miriam James
10. : being such to the greatest possible extent : extreme , unqualified , utter
it was a black born fool I had for a son — J.M.Synge
they were all black strangers to me — Mary Deasy
11. : constituting, committing, or connected with a violation of an official quota, price ceiling, rationing restriction, or other public regulation : illicit , illegal
the black market
black gasoline
12.
[short for blackleg (I) ]
chiefly Britain : subject to boycott by trade-union members as employing or favoring nonunion workmen or as operated, conducted, or made under conditions considered unfair by trade-union members
a black ship
declare a pub black
13. : marked by or as if by a black section on a map or chart as being affected by some undesirable condition (as infection or a high rate of unemployment)
the polio situation is improving but there are still some black areas
14. : covered with a dark scale of oxide : not galvanized
black iron pipe
15.
a. of propaganda : conducted so as to appear to originate within an enemy country and designed to weaken enemy morale — opposed to white
b. : characterized by or connected with the use of black propaganda
black psychological warfare
black radio
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English blak black color, black particle, black material, from Old English blæc ink, from blæc, adjective
1. : any of various substances (as bone black, carbon black, lampblack) containing elemental carbon usually as the chief constituent
2.
a. : the neutral or achromatic object color of least lightness : the darkest gray : the achromatic color bearing the least resemblance to white
b. : the one of the six psychologically primary colors that is characteristically perceived to belong to objects that neither reflect nor transmit an appreciable fraction of the incident light
c. : any object color of very low lightness and saturation
the painter's blacks and browns
3. : a black part or area : a black speck or stain
4. : a black material or substance:
a. : black clothing
black is becoming to her
especially as worn as a sign of mourning
wear black for her father
b. : a black garment especially as worn as a sign of mourning or by men on formal occasions
the lawyer … in his blacks and his silk hat — G.K.Chesterton
uncomfortable in his wedding blacks — Edna Ferber
— usually used in plural
5. : a Negro, Negrito, or Australian aborigine : a person belonging to a darkly pigmented race : a person whose appearance shows that some of his ancestors belonged to a darkly pigmented race
6. : a poacher in 18th century England who operated as a member of a band disguised by blackened faces
7. : the dark-colored pieces in a two-handed board game ; also : the player by or the side of the board from which these pieces are played
8.
a. : a black animal: as
(1) : a black horse
(2) : an Aberdeen Angus
(3) : a Norfolk turkey
b. : an individual of a black or melanistic variety of certain common mammals (as squirrel or skunk)
9. usually capitalized : one of the Neri
10. : the black circle of a target ; also : a shot that hits it
11. usually capitalized : a member or adherent of a group characterized or formerly characterized by wearing black: as
a. : a member or adherent of a clerical political party
b. : fascist
12. : something deserving unmitigated condemnation
pure whites and seamy blacks of character, inviting sighs and hisses — Leslie Rees
the tendency to think only in terms of black or white — D.K.Berninghausen
13. print : boldface 2
14. : total or nearly total absence of light : darkness
the black of night
15.
[from the bookkeeping practice of entering credit items in black ink]
: the condition of making a profit — usually used with the
the company is now operating in the black
— opposed to red
III. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English blaken, from blak, n.
intransitive verb
1. : blacken — often used with over
the sky blacked over
2. : to put black coloring matter on one's face in preparation for playing the role of a Negro — used with up
black up for the minstrel show
transitive verb
1.
a. : blacken 1
b. : to bruise and discolor (an eye) by a blow
say that again and I'll black your eye
2. : blacken 2
3. : to apply black coloring matter to: as
a. : to make black and shiny by applying blacking to
who will black these shoes
they blacked the stove
b. : to put black coloring matter on in preparation for playing the role of a Negro
the makeup man blacked the actor's face
— often used with up
he blacked himself up for the next performance
c. : to obliterate with or as if with black ink : blot : delete or suppress through censorship — used with out
ordered the passage blacked out from all copies in the school libraries — Upton Sinclair
d. : to treat (a ship's rigging) with tar or with a mixture containing a black oil or grease — used with down
IV. adverb
Etymology: black (I)
dialect Britain : extremely
black afraid
: utterly , completely
the fire was black out
V. adjective
1. : of or relating to the Afro-American people or their culture
black literature
black college
black pride
black studies
2. : typical or representative of the most readily perceived characteristics of black culture
trying to sound black
played blacker jazz
3.
a. : of or relating to covert intelligence operations
b. : employed in covert intelligence operations
4. : characterized by black humor
that black , bitterly funny book, full of pain — Edmund Morris
VI. transitive verb
chiefly Britain : to declare (as a business or industry) subject to boycott by trade-union members