Black

• POS: Adjective, Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Black, a. [OE. blak, AS. blæc; akin to Icel. blakkr dark, swarthy, Sw. bläck ink, Dan. blæk, OHG. blach, LG. & D. blaken to burn with a black smoke. Not akin to AS. blāc, E. bleak pallid.

•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  "O night, with hue so black!"  [1913 Webster]
•  In a less literal sense: Enveloped or shrouded in darkness; very dark or gloomy; as, a black night; the heavens black with clouds.  [1913 Webster]

  "I spy a black, suspicious, threatening cloud."  [1913 Webster]
•  Fig.: Dismal, gloomy, or forbidding, like darkness; destitute of moral light or goodness; atrociously wicked; cruel; mournful; calamitous; horrible.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]
•  Expressing menace, or discontent; threatening; sullen; foreboding; as, to regard one with black looks.  [1913 Webster]

  " Black is often used in self-explaining compound words; as, black-eyed, black-faced, black-haired, black-visaged."  [1913 Webster]

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 (Zoöl.), a fish of the West Indies and Florida (Holacanthus tricolor), with the head and tail yellow, and the middle of the body black. -- Black antimony (Chem.), the black sulphide of antimony, Sb2S3, used in pyrotechnics, etc. -- Black bear (Zoöl.), the common American bear (Ursus Americanus). -- Black beast. See Bête noire. -- Black beetle (Zoöl.), the common large cockroach (Blatta orientalis). -- Black bonnet (Zoöl.), the black-headed bunting (Embriza Schœniclus) of Europe. -- Black canker, a disease in turnips and other crops, produced by a species of caterpillar. -- Black cat (Zoöl.), the fisher, a quadruped of North America allied to the sable, but larger. See Fisher. -- Black cattle, any bovine cattle reared for slaughter, in distinction from dairy cattle. [Eng.] -- Black cherry. See under Cherry. -- Black cockatoo (Zoöl.), the palm cockatoo. See Cockatoo. -- Black copper. Same as Melaconite. -- Black currant. (Bot.) See Currant. -- Black diamond. (Min.) See Carbonado. -- Black draught (Med.), a cathartic medicine, composed of senna and magnesia. -- Black drop (Med.), vinegar of opium; a narcotic preparation consisting essentially of a solution of opium in vinegar. -- Black earth, mold; earth of a dark color. Woodward. -- Black flag, the flag of a pirate, often bearing in white a skull and crossbones; a signal of defiance. -- Black flea (Zoöl.), a flea beetle (Haltica nemorum) injurious to turnips. -- Black flux, a mixture of carbonate of potash and charcoal, obtained by deflagrating tartar with half its weight of niter. Brande & C. -- Black Forest [a translation of G. Schwarzwald], a forest in Baden and WÜrtemburg, in Germany; a part of the ancient Hercynian forest. -- Black game, or Black grouse. (Zoöl.) See Blackcock, Grouse, and Heath grouse. -- Black grass (Bot.), a grasslike rush of the species Juncus Gerardi, growing on salt marshes, and making good hay. -- Black gum (Bot.), an American tree, the tupelo or pepperidge. See Tupelo. -- Black Hamburg (grape) (Bot.), a sweet and juicy variety of dark purple or “black” grape. -- Black horse (Zoöl.), a fish of the Mississippi valley (Cycleptus elongatus), of the sucker family; the Missouri sucker. -- Black lemur (Zoöl.), the Lemurniger of Madagascar; the acoumbo of the natives. -- Black list, a list of persons who are for some reason thought deserving of censure or punishment; -- esp. a list of persons stigmatized as insolvent or untrustworthy, made for the protection of tradesmen or employers. See Blacklist, v. t. -- Black manganese (Chem.), the black oxide of manganese, MnO2. -- Black Maria, the close wagon in which prisoners are carried to or from jail. -- Black martin (Zoöl.), the chimney swift. See Swift. -- Black moss (Bot.), the common so-called long moss of the southern United States. See Tillandsia. -- Black oak. See under Oak. -- Black ocher. See Wad. -- Black pigment, a very fine, light carbonaceous substance, or lampblack, prepared chiefly for the manufacture of printers' ink. It is obtained by burning common coal tar. -- Black plate, sheet iron before it is tinned. Knight. -- Black quarter, malignant anthrax with engorgement of a shoulder or quarter, etc., as of an ox. -- Black rat (Zoöl.), one of the species of rats (Mus rattus), commonly infesting houses. -- Black rent. See Blackmail, n., 3. -- Black rust, a disease of wheat, in which a black, moist matter is deposited in the fissures of the grain. -- Black sheep, one in a family or company who is unlike the rest, and makes trouble. -- Black silver. (Min.) See under Silver. -- Black and tan, black mixed or spotted with tan color or reddish brown; -- used in describing certain breeds of dogs. -- Black tea. See under Tea. -- Black tin (Mining), tin ore (cassiterite), when dressed, stamped and washed, ready for smelting. It is in the form of a black powder, like fine sand. Knight. -- Black walnut. See under Walnut. -- Black warrior (Zoöl.), an American hawk (Buteo Harlani).

Syn. -- Dark; murky; pitchy; inky; somber; dusky; gloomy; swart; Cimmerian; ebon; atrocious.

Black, adv. 

 Sullenly; threateningly; maliciously; so as to produce blackness.  [1913 Webster]

Black, 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.  [1913 Webster]

  "Black is the badge of hell,
  The hue of dungeons, and the suit of night."  [1913 Webster]
•  A black pigment or dye.  [1913 Webster]
•  A negro; a person whose skin is of a black color, or shaded with black; esp. a member or descendant of certain African races.  [1913 Webster]
•  A black garment or dress; as, she wears black  [1913 Webster]

  "Friends weeping, and blacks, and obsequies, and the like show death terrible."  [1913 Webster]

  "That was the full time they used to wear blacks for the death of their fathers."  [1913 Webster]
•  The part of a thing which is distinguished from the rest by being black.  [1913 Webster]

  "The black or sight of the eye."  [1913 Webster]
•  A stain; a spot; a smooch.  [1913 Webster]

  "Defiling her white lawn of chastity with ugly blacks of lust."  [1913 Webster]

Black and white, writing or print; as, I must have that statement in black and white. -- Blue black, a pigment of a blue black color. -- 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 under Berlin.

Black, v. t. [See Black, a., and cf. Blacken.].

•  To make black; to blacken; to soil; to sully.  [1913 Webster]

  "They have their teeth blacked, both men and women, for they say a dog hath his teeth white, therefore they will black theirs."  [1913 Webster]

  "Sins which black thy soul."  [1913 Webster]
•  To make black and shining, as boots or a stove, by applying blacking and then polishing with a brush.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Black, adj., n., & v.
--adj.
1 very dark, having no colour from the absorption of all or nearly all incident light (like coal or soot).
2 completely dark from the absence of a source of light (black night).
3 (Black) a of the human group having dark-coloured skin, esp. of African or Aboriginal descent. b of or relating to Black people (Black rights).
4 (of the sky, a cloud, etc.) dusky; heavily overcast.
5 angry, threatening (a black look).
6 implying disgrace or condemnation (in his black books).
7 wicked, sinister, deadly (black-hearted).
8 gloomy, depressed, sullen (a black mood).
9 portending trouble or difficulty (things looked black).
10 (of hands, clothes, etc.) dirty, soiled.
11 (of humour or its representation) with sinister or macabre, as well as comic, import (black comedy).
12 (of tea or coffee) without milk.
13 Brit. a (of industrial labour or its products) boycotted, esp. by a trade union, in an industrial dispute. b (of a person) doing work or handling goods that have been boycotted.
14 dark in colour as distinguished from a lighter variety (black bear; black pine).
--n.
1 a black colour or pigment.
2 black clothes or material (dressed in black).
3 a (in a game or sport) a black piece, ball, etc. b the player using such pieces.
4 the credit side of an account (in the black).
5 (Black) a member of a dark-skinned race, esp. a Negro or Aboriginal.
--v.tr.
1 make black (blacked his face).
2 polish with blacking.
3 Brit. declare (goods etc.) 'black'.

Idiom

Black Africa the area of Africa, generally south of the Sahara, where Blacks predominate. black and blue discoloured by bruises. Black and Tans an armed force recruited to fight Sinn Fein in Ireland in 1921, wearing a mixture of military and constabulary uniforms. black and white
1 recorded in writing or print (down in black and white).
2 (of film etc.) not in colour.
3 consisting of extremes only, oversimplified (interpreted the problem in black and white terms). the black art = black magic. black beetle the common cockroach, Blatta orientalis.
black belt
1 a black belt worn by an expert in judo, karate, etc.
2 a person qualified to wear this. black body Physics a hypothetical perfect absorber and radiator of energy, with no reflecting power.
black box
1 a flight-recorder in an aircraft.
2 any complex piece of equipment, usu. a unit in an electronic system, with contents which are mysterious to the user. black bread a coarse dark-coloured type of rye bread. black bryony a rooted climber, Tamus communis, with clusters of red berries. Black Country (usu. prec. by the) a district of the Midlands with heavy industry. black damp = choke-damp. Black Death (usu. prec. by the) a widespread epidemic of bubonic plague in Europe in the 14th c. black diamond (in pl.) coal. black disc a long-playing gramophone record, as distinct from a compact disc. black earth = CHERNOZEM. black economy unofficial economic activity. Black English the form of English spoken by many Blacks, esp. as an urban dialect of the US. black eye bruised skin around the eye resulting from a blow. black-eyed (or black-eye) bean a variety of bean, Vigna sinensis, with seeds often dried and stored prior to eating (so called from its black hilum). black-eyed Susan any of several flowers, esp. of the genus Rudbeckia, with yellow-coloured petals and a dark centre.
black-face
1 a variety of sheep with a black face.
2 the make-up used by a non-Black performer playing a Negro role. black flag see FLAG(1). black forest gateau a chocolate sponge with layers of morello cherries or cherry jam and whipped cream and topped with chocolate icing, orig. from S. Germany. Black Friar a Dominican friar. black frost see FROST. black game (or grouse) a European grouse, Lyrurus tetrix.
black hole
1 a region of space possessing a strong gravitational field from which matter and radiation cannot escape: also called COLLAPSAR.
2 a place of confinement for punishment, esp. in the armed services. black ice thin hard transparent ice, esp. on a road surface. black in the face livid with strangulation, exertion, or passion. black lead graphite. black leopard = PANTHER. black letter an old heavy style of type. black light Physics the invisible ultraviolet or infrared radiations of the electromagnetic spectrum. black magic magic involving supposed invocation of evil spirits. Black Maria sl. a police vehicle for transporting prisoners. black mark a mark of discredit. black market an illicit traffic in officially controlled or scarce commodities. black marketeer a person who engages in a black market. Black Mass a travesty of the Roman Catholic Mass in worship of Satan. Black Monk a Benedictine monk. Black Muslim US a member of an exclusively Black Islamic sect proposing a separate Black community. Black Nationalism advocacy of the national civil rights of US (and occas. other) Blacks. black nightshade see NIGHTSHADE.
black out
1 a effect a blackout on. b undergo a blackout.
2 obscure windows etc. or extinguish all lights for protection esp. against an air attack. Black Panther US one of a group of extremist fighters for Blacks' rights. black pepper pepper made by grinding the whole dried berry, including the husk, of the pepper plant. Black Power a movement in support of rights and political power for Blacks. black pudding a black sausage containing pork, dried pig's blood, suet, etc. Black Rod Brit. the principal usher of the Lord Chamberlain's department, House of Lords, etc. black sheep colloq. an unsatisfactory member of a family, group, etc.; a scoundrel. black spot a place of danger or difficulty, esp. on a road (an accident black spot).
black swan
1 something extremely rare.
2 an Australian swan, Cygnus atratus, with black plumage. black tea tea that is fully fermented before drying.
black tie
1 a black bow-tie worn with a dinner jacket.
2 colloq. formal evening dress. black tracker Austral. an Aboriginal employed to help find persons lost or hiding in the bush. black velvet a drink of stout and champagne. Black Watch (usu. prec. by the) the Royal Highland Regiment (so called from its dark tartan uniform). black-water fever a complication of malaria, in which blood cells are rapidly destroyed, resulting in dark urine. black widow a venomous spider, Latrodectus mactans, of which the female devours the male.

Derivative

blackish adj. blackly adv. blackness n.

Etymology

OE bl{aelig}c

THESAURUS

Black

American Indian, Amerind, Australian aborigine, Brunswick black, Bushman, Caucasian, Indian, Malayan, Mister Charley, Mongolian, Negrillo, Negrito, Negro, Oriental, Red Indian, Stygian, WASP, abominable, absolute, angry, aniline black, apocalyptic, arrant, asperse, atramentous, atrocious, awful, bad, bad-tempered, baleful, ban, baneful, base, beamless, beetle-browed, black as coal, black as ebony, black as ink, black as midnight, black as night, black man, black race, black-browed, black-skinned, blacken, blackfellow, blackguardly, blackish, blacklist, blackness, blamable, blameworthy, bleak, blue black, bodeful, boding, bone black, boy, boycott, brown man, brunet, burrhead, calamitous, caliginous, calumniate, carbon black, cataclysmal, cataclysmic, catastrophic, charcoal, chrome black, clouded, coal, coal-black, coaly, colored, colored person, complete, contuse, coon, corbeau, crape, criminal, crow, cypress, cypress lawn, damnable, dark, dark as night, dark as pitch, dark-complexioned, dark-skinned, darkling, darkness, darksome, darky, dastardly, deadly, deathly, deep black, deep mourning, defame, dejected, depressing, depressive, destructive, diabolical, dire, disastrous, disgraceful, dismal, dispiriting, doomful, dour, downright, drear, drearisome, dreary, drop black, dumpish, dusky, ebon, ebony, eclipsed, embargo, evil, evil-starred, execrable, fatal, fateful, felonious, filthy, flagitious, flagrant, foreboding, foul, frowning, funebrial, funereal, furious, gloomy, glowering, glum, gook, grave, gray, grievous, grim, grubby, grum, hateful, heinous, hellish, honky, hyacinthine, ill, ill-boding, ill-fated, ill-omened, ill-starred, improper, impure, inaccurate, inauspicious, inexpedient, infamous, inferior, infernal, iniquitous, ink, ink-black, inkiness, inky, insidious, interdict, invalid, ivory black, japan, jet, jetty, jigaboo, jungle bunny, knavish, lampblack, libel, low, lowering, malevolent, malicious, malignant, melancholy, melanian, melanic, melanism, melanistic, melano, melanotic, melanous, menacing, midnight, monstrous, moodish, moody, mopey, moping, mopish, morose, mourning, mourning band, mumpish, nasty, naughty, nefarious, nigger, niggra, night, night-black, night-clad, night-cloaked, night-dark, night-enshrouded, night-filled, night-mantled, night-veiled, nigrescence, nigritude, nigrous, obfuscated, obscure, obscured, occulted, of evil portent, ofay, ominous, onyx, oppressive, out-and-out, outrageous, outright, paleface, peccant, perfect, perfidious, pitch, pitch-black, pitch-dark, pitchy, portending, portentous, positive, pygmy, rank, raven, raven-black, rayless, red man, redskin, regular, reprehensible, reprobate, resentful, ruinous, sable, sackcloth, sackcloth and ashes, saturnine, scandalous, scowling, scurvy, shameful, sinful, sinister, slander, slant-eye, slate, sloe, sloe-black, sloe-colored, slur, smear, smoke, smut, soily, solemn, somber, sombrous, soot, sooty, spade, squalid, starless, sulky, sullen, sunless, surly, swart, swarthy, tar, tar-black, tarry, tenebrious, tenebrose, tenebrous, the Man, thoroughgoing, threatening, throw mud at, traduce, tragic, treacherous, triste, unclean, uncleanly, unconscionable, unfavorable, unforgivable, unfortunate, unhealthy, unilluminated, unkind, unlighted, unlit, unlucky, unpardonable, unpleasant, unprincipled, unpromising, unpropitious, unscrupulous, unskillful, unspeakable, untoward, unworthy, vicious, vile, vilify, villainous, weariful, wearisome, weary, weeds, white, white man, whitey, wicked, wrathful, wreckful, wrong, yellow man, yew

ROGET THESAURUS

Black

Vice

N vice, evil-doing, evil courses, wrongdoing, wickedness, viciousness, iniquity, peccability, demerit, sin, Adam, old Adam, offending Adam, immorality, impropriety, indecorum, scandal, laxity, looseness of morals, enphagy, dophagy, exophagy, want of principle, want of ballast, obliquity, backsliding, infamy, demoralization, pravity, depravity, pollution, hardness of heart, brutality, corruption, knavery, profligacy, flagrancy, atrocity, cannibalism, lesbianism, Sadism, infirmity, weakness, weakness of the flesh, frailty, imperfection, error, weak side, foible, failing, failure, crying sin, besetting sin, defect, deficiency, cloven foot, lowest dregs of vice, sink of iniquity, Alsatian den, gusto picaresco, fault, crime, criminality, sinner, brothel, gambling house, joint, opium den, shooting gallery, crack house, vicious, sinful, sinning, wicked, iniquitous, immoral, unrighteous, wrong, criminal, naughty, incorrect, unduteous, undutiful, unprincipled, lawless, disorderly, contra bonos mores, indecorous, unseemly, improper, dissolute, profligate, scampish, unworthy, worthless, desertless, disgraceful, recreant, reprehensible, blameworthy, uncommendable, discreditable, disreputable, Sadistic, base, sinister, scurvy, foul, gross, vile, black, grave, facinorous, felonious, nefarious, shameful, scandalous, infamous, villainous, of a deep dye, heinous, flagrant, flagitious, atrocious, incarnate, accursed, Mephistophelian, satanic, diabolic, hellish, infernal, stygian, fiendlike, hell-born, demoniacal, devilish, fiendish, miscreated, misbegotten, demoralized, corrupt, depraved, evil-minded, evil-disposed, ill-conditioned, malevolent, heartless, graceless, shameless, virtueless, abandoned, lost to virtue, unconscionable, sunk in iniquity, lost in iniquity, steeped in iniquity, incorrigible, irreclaimable, obdurate, reprobate, past praying for, culpable, reprehensible, unjustifiable, indefensible, inexcusable, inexpiable, unpardonable, irremissible, weak, frail, lax, infirm, imperfect, indiscrete, demoralizing, degrading, wrong, sinfully, without excuse, Int, O tempora!, O mores!, alitur vitium vivitque tegendo, genus est mortis male vivere, mala mens malus animus, nemo repente fuit turpissimus, the trail of the serpent is over them all, to sanction vice and hunt decorum down.

Darkness

N darkness, absence of light, blackness, obscurity, gloom, murk, dusk, Cimmerian darkness, Stygian darkness, Egyptian darkness, night, midnight, dead of night, witching hour of night, witching time of night, blind man's holiday, darkness visible, darkness that can be felt, palpable obscure, Erebus, the jaws of darkness, sablevested night, shade, shadow, umbra, penumbra, sciagraphy, obscuration, occultation, adumbration, obumbration, obtenebration, offuscation, caligation, extinction, eclipse, total eclipse, gathering of the clouds, shading, distribution of shade, chiaroscuro, noctivagation, black body, hohlraum, black hole, dark star, dark matter, cold dark matter, dark, darksome, darkling, obscure, tenebrious, sombrous, pitch dark, pitchy, pitch black, caliginous, black, sunless, lightless &c (sun) (light), somber, dusky, unilluminated &c (illuminate), nocturnal, dingy, lurid, gloomy, murky, murksome, shady, umbrageous, overcast, cloudy, darkened, dark as pitch, dark as a pit, dark as Erebus, benighted, noctivagant, noctivagous, in the dark, in the shade, brief as the lightning in the collied night, eldest Night and Chaos, ancestors of Nature, the blackness of the noonday night, the prayer of Ajax was for light.

Blackness

N blackness darkness, (want of light), swartliness, lividity, dark color, tone, color, chiaroscuro, nigrification, infuscation, jet, ink, ebony, coal pitch, soot, charcoal, sloe, smut, raven, crow, negro, blackamoor, man of color, nigger, darkie, Ethiop, black, buck, nigger, coon, sambo, lampblack, ivory black, blueblack, writing ink, printing ink, printer's ink, Indian ink, India ink, in mourning.

VB be black, render black, blacken, infuscate, denigrate, blot, blotch, smutch, smirch, darken, black, sable, swarthy, somber, dark, inky, ebony, ebon, atramentous, jetty, coal-black, jet-black, fuliginous, pitchy, sooty, swart, dusky, dingy, murky, Ethiopic, low-toned, low in tone, of the deepest dye, black as jet, black as my hat, black as a shoe, black as a tinker's pot, black as November, black as thunder, black as midnight, nocturnal, nigrescent, gray, obscure.

Gray

N gray, neutral tint, silver, pepper and salt, chiaroscuro, grisaille, Payne's gray, black, gray, grey, iron-gray, dun, drab, dingy, leaden, livid, somber, sad, pearly, russet, roan, calcareous, limy, favillous, silver, silvery, silvered, ashen, ashy, cinereous, cineritious, grizzly, grizzled, slate-colored, stone-colored, mouse-colored, ash-colored, cool.

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