Lexic.us

Definition of Black

1. Noun. The quality or state of the achromatic color of least lightness (bearing the least resemblance to white).

2. Verb. Make or become black. "The ceiling blackened"

3. Adjective. Being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light. "Rich black soil"

4. Noun. Total absence of light. "In the black of night"

5. Adjective. Of or belonging to a racial group having dark skin especially of sub-Saharan African origin. "A great people--a black people--...injected new meaning and dignity into the veins of civilization"

6. Adjective. Marked by anger or resentment or hostility. "Black words"

7. Noun. British chemist who identified carbon dioxide and who formulated the concepts of specific heat and latent heat (1728-1799).

8. Adjective. Offering little or no hope. "Took a dim view of things"

9. Noun. Popular child actress of the 1930's (born in 1928).

10. Adjective. Stemming from evil characteristics or forces; wicked or dishonorable. "The scheme of some sinister intelligence bent on punishing him"

11. Noun. A person with dark skin who comes from Africa (or whose ancestors came from Africa).

12. Adjective. (of events) having extremely unfortunate or dire consequences; bringing ruin. "A fateful error"

13. Noun. (board games) the darker pieces.

14. Adjective. (of the face) made black especially as with suffused blood. "A face black with fury"

15. Noun. Black clothing (worn as a sign of mourning). "The widow wore black"

16. Adjective. Extremely dark. "It was pitch-dark in the cellar"

17. Adjective. Harshly ironic or sinister. "Fun ranging from slapstick clowning ... to savage mordant wit"

18. Adjective. (of intelligence operations) deliberately misleading. "Black propaganda"

19. Adjective. Distributed or sold illicitly. "The black economy pays no taxes"

20. Adjective. (used of conduct or character) deserving or bringing disgrace or shame. "A shameful display of cowardice"

21. Adjective. (of coffee) without cream or sugar.

22. Adjective. Soiled with dirt or soot. "His shirt was black within an hour"

Definition of Black

1. a. Destitute of light, or incapable of reflecting it; of the color of soot or coal; of the darkest or a very dark color, the opposite of white; characterized by such a color; as, black cloth; black hair or eyes.

2. adv. Sullenly; threateningly; maliciously; so as to produce blackness.

3. n. That which is destitute of light or whiteness; the darkest color, or rather a destitution of all color; as, a cloth has a good black.

4. v. t. To make black; to blacken; to soil; to sully.

Definition of Black

1. Proper noun. (surname from=Middle English) ¹

2. Adjective. (context: of an object) absorbing all light and reflecting none; dark and colourless. ¹

3. Adjective. (context: of a place, etc) without light. ¹

4. Adjective. (context: sometimes capitalize) Relating to persons of (usually noticeable) negroid African descent or their culture. Also people of Aborigine or Maori descent. ¹

5. Adjective. Bad; evil; ill-omened. ¹

6. Adjective. Illegitimate, illegal or disgraced. ¹

7. Adjective. (context: Ireland informal) Overcrowded. ¹

8. Adjective. (context: of coffee or tea) Without any cream, milk(,) or creamer. ¹

9. Adjective. (context: board games chess) The standard denomination of the playing pieces of a board game deemed to belong to the "black" set, no matter what the actual colour. ¹

10. Adjective. (context: Germany politics) Related to the Christian Democratic Union. ¹

11. Noun. The colour/color perceived in the absence of light. ¹

12. Noun. A black dye, pigment. ¹

13. Noun. A pen, pencil, crayon, etc., made of black pigment. ¹

14. Noun. (context: in the plural) Black cloth hung up at funerals. ¹

15. Noun. (context: sometimes capitalised) A person of African descent, Aborigine or Maori. ¹

16. Noun. (context: billiards snooker pool with ''the'') The black ball. ¹

17. Noun. (baseball) The edge of home plate ¹

18. Noun. (British) a type of firecracker that is really more dark brown in colour. ¹

19. Noun. (informal) blackcurrant syrup (in mixed drinks, e.g. snakebite and black, cider and black). ¹

20. Noun. In chess and similar games, the person playing with the black set of pieces. ¹

21. Verb. To make black, to blacken. ¹

22. Verb. To apply blacking to something. ¹

23. Verb. (British) To boycott something or someone, usually as part of an industrial dispute. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Black

1. being of the darkest color [adj BLACKER, BLACKEST] / to make black [v -ED, -ING, -S] - See also: black

Medical Definition of Black

1. 1. That which is destitute of light or whiteness; the darkest colour, or rather a destitution of all colour; as, a cloth has a good black. "Black is the badge of hell, The hue of dungeons, and the suit of night." (Shak) 2. A black pigment or dye. 3. A negro; a person whose skin is of a black colour, or shaded with black; especially. A member or descendant of certain African races. 4. A black garment or dress; as, she wears black; pl. Mourning garments of a black colour; funereal drapery. "Friends weeping, and blacks, and obsequies, and the like show death terrible." (Bacon) "That was the full time they used to wear blacks for the death of their fathers." (Sir T. North) 5. The part of a thing which is distinguished from the rest by being black. "The black or sight of the eye." (Sir K. Digby) 6. A stain; a spot; a smooch. "Defiling her white lawn of chastity with ugly blacks of lust." (Rowley) Black and white, writing or print; as, I must have that statement in black and white. Blue black, a pigment of a blue black colour. Ivory black, a fine kind of animal charcoal prepared by calcining ivory or bones. When ground it is the chief ingredient of the ink used in copperplate printing. Berlin black. See Berlin. 1. Destitute of light, or incapable of reflecting it; of the colour of soot or coal; of the darkest or a very dark colour, the opposite of white; characterised by such a colour; as, black cloth; black hair or eyes. "O night, with hue so black!" (Shak) 2. In a less literal sense: Enveloped or shrouded in darkness; very dark or gloomy; as, a black night; the heavens black with clouds. "I spy a black, suspicious, threatening cloud." (Shak) 3. Dismal, gloomy, or forbidding, like darkness; destitute of moral light or goodness; atrociously wicked; cruel; mournful; calamitous; horrible. "This day's black fate." "Black villainy." "Arise, black vengeance." "Black day." "Black despair." 4. Expressing menace, or discontent; threatening; sullen; foreboding; as, to regard one with black looks. Black is often used in self-explaining compound words; as, black-eyed, black-faced, black-haired, black-visaged. Black act, the English statute 9 George I, which makes it a felony to appear armed in any park or warren, etc, or to hunt or steal deer, etc, with the face blackened or disguised. Subsequent acts inflicting heavy penalties for malicious injuries to cattle and machinery have been called black acts. Black angel, the palm cockatoo. See Cockatoo. Black copper. Same as Melaconite. Black currant. An American hawk (Buteo Harlani). Synonym: Dark, murky, pitchy, inky, somber, dusky, gloomy, swart, Cimmerian, ebon, atrocious. Origin: OE. Blak, AS. Blaec; akin to Icel. Blakkr dark, swarthy, Sw. Black ink, Dan. Blaek, OHG. Blach, LG. & D. Blaken to burn with a black smoke. Not akin to AS. Blac, E. Bleak pallid. 98. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Black

blabberer blabberers blabbering blabbermouth blabbermouthed blabbermouths blabbers blabbier blabbiest blabbing

blabbings blabby blabs blaccent blaccents black (current term) black-and-blue black-and-tan coonhound black-and-tan terrier black-and-white

black-and-white television black-and-white televisions black-arched moth black-arched moths black-backed antshrike black-backed antshrikes black-backed gull black-backed jackal black-bag black-bellied plover

Literary usage of Black

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville, Henry Reeve (1900)
"The most formidable of all the ills which threaten the future existence of the Union arises from the presence of a black population upon its territory; ..."

2. The Complete Works of Gustave Flaubert: Embracing Romances, Travels by Gustave Flaubert, Ferdinand Brunetière (1904)
"At length, the master of the ceremonies, in a black coat in the French fashion and short breeches, with a cloak, cambric mourning-bands, a long sword by his ..."

3. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (1908)
"There is no black Dog here," said the doctor, " except what you have on your own back. You have been drinking rum ; you have had a stroke, precisely as I ..."

4. The Intercourse Between the United States and Japan: An Historical Sketch by Inazō Nitobe (1891)
"Thro' a black night of cloud and rain, The black Ship plies her way— An alien thing ... Down in her hold, there labor men Of jet black visage dread; While, ..."

5. Paradise Lost: A Poem in Twelve Books by John Milton (1750)
"... wherein a black bituminous gurge Boils out from under ground, the mouth of Hell: Of brick, and of that fluff they caft to build A city' and tow'r, ..."

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