| / English Dictionary |
BLACK
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Black clothing (worn as a sign of mourning)
Example:
the widow wore black
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("black" is a kind of...):
article of clothing; clothing; habiliment; vesture; wear; wearable (a covering designed to be worn on a person's body)
Sense 2
Meaning:
(board games) the darker pieces
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("black" is a kind of...):
man; piece (game equipment consisting of an object used in playing certain board games)
Domain category:
checkers; draughts (a checkerboard game for two players who each have 12 pieces; the object is to jump over and so capture the opponent's pieces)
chess; chess game (a board game for two players who move their 16 pieces according to specific rules; the object is to checkmate the opponent's king)
Antonym:
white ((board games) the lighter pieces)
Sense 3
Meaning:
The quality or state of the achromatic color of least lightness (bearing the least resemblance to white)
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("black" is a kind of...):
achromatic color; achromatic colour (a color lacking hue; white or grey or black)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "black"):
coal black; ebony; jet black; pitch black; sable; soot black (a very dark black)
Antonym:
white (the quality or state of the achromatic color of greatest lightness (bearing the least resemblance to black))
Derivation:
black (make or become black)
Sense 4
Meaning:
A person with African ancestry,
Example:
Negroid
Synonyms:
African-American; Black; Negro; Negroid
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("Black" is a kind of...):
individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Black"):
soul brother (a fellow Black man)
picaninny; piccaninny; pickaninny ((ethnic slur) offensive term for a Black child)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Popular child actress of the 1930's (born in 1928)
Synonyms:
Black; Shirley Temple; Shirley Temple Black
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Instance hypernyms:
actress (a female actor)
Sense 6
Meaning:
British chemist who identified carbon dioxide and who formulated the concepts of specific heat and latent heat (1728-1799)
Synonyms:
Black; Joseph Black
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Instance hypernyms:
chemist (a scientist who specializes in chemistry)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Total absence of light
Example:
in the black of night
Synonyms:
black; blackness; lightlessness; pitch blackness; total darkness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("black" is a kind of...):
dark; darkness (absence of light or illumination)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Marked by anger or resentment or hostility
Example:
black words
Classified under:
Similar:
angry (feeling or showing anger)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Of or belonging to a racial group especially of sub-Saharan African origin
Example:
a great people--a black people--...injected new meaning and dignity into the veins of civilization
Classified under:
Similar:
colored; coloured; negro (having skin rich in melanin pigments)
African-American; Afro-American (pertaining to or characteristic of Americans of African ancestry)
Antonym:
white (of or belonging to a racial group having light skin coloration)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Extremely dark
Example:
it was pitch-dark in the cellar
Synonyms:
black; pitch-black; pitch-dark
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
dark (devoid of or deficient in light or brightness; shadowed or black)
Derivation:
blackness (total absence of light)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
Example:
rich black soil
Classified under:
Adjectives
Also:
dark ((used of color) having a dark hue)
Attribute:
value (relative darkness or lightness of a color)
Antonym:
white (being of the achromatic color of maximum lightness; having little or no hue owing to reflection of almost all incident light)
Derivation:
blackness (the quality or state of the achromatic color of least lightness (bearing the least resemblance to white))
Sense 5
Meaning:
(of the face) made black especially as with suffused blood
Example:
a face black with fury
Synonyms:
black; blackened
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
colored; colorful; coloured (having color or a certain color; sometimes used in combination)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Soiled with dirt or soot
Example:
his shirt was black within an hour
Synonyms:
black; smutty
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
dirty; soiled; unclean (soiled or likely to soil with dirt or grime)
Derivation:
blackness (the quality or state of the achromatic color of least lightness (bearing the least resemblance to white))
Sense 7
Meaning:
(of coffee) without cream or sugar
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
undiluted (not diluted)
Derivation:
blackness (the quality or state of the achromatic color of least lightness (bearing the least resemblance to white))
Sense 8
Meaning:
(of events) having extremely unfortunate or dire consequences; bringing ruin
Example:
a fateful error
Synonyms:
black; calamitous; disastrous; fatal; fateful
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
unfortunate (not favored by fortune; marked or accompanied by or resulting in ill fortune)
Sense 9
Meaning:
Stemming from evil characteristics or forces; wicked or dishonorable
Example:
the scheme of some sinister intelligence bent on punishing him
Synonyms:
black; dark; sinister
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
evil (morally bad or wrong)
Sense 10
Meaning:
(used of conduct or character) deserving or bringing disgrace or shame
Example:
a shameful display of cowardice
Synonyms:
black; disgraceful; ignominious; inglorious; opprobrious; shameful
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
dishonorable; dishonourable (lacking honor or integrity; deserving dishonor)
Sense 11
Meaning:
Offering little or no hope
Example:
took a dim view of things
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
hopeless (without hope because there seems to be no possibility of comfort or success)
Sense 12
Meaning:
Distributed or sold illicitly
Example:
the black economy pays no taxes
Synonyms:
black; black-market; bootleg; contraband; smuggled
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
illegal (prohibited by law or by official or accepted rules)
Sense 13
Meaning:
(of intelligence operations) deliberately misleading
Example:
black propaganda
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
covert (secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed)
Sense 14
Meaning:
Harshly ironic or sinister
Example:
fun ranging from slapstick clowning ... to savage mordant wit
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
sarcastic (expressing or expressive of ridicule that wounds)
III. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they black ... he / she / it blacks
Past simple: blacked
Past participle: blacked
-ing form: blacking
Sense 1
Meaning:
Make or become black
Example:
The ceiling blackened
Synonyms:
black; blacken; melanise; melanize
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "black" is one way to...):
color; colour; discolor; discolour (change color, often in an undesired manner)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Derivation:
black (the quality or state of the achromatic color of least lightness (bearing the least resemblance to white))
Context examples:
Black cardamom oil is used for treatment of the digestive tract.
(Amomum villosum Leaf Oil, NCI Thesaurus)
The short or rough double coat is generally fawn with a black mask.
(Anatolian Shepherd Dog, NCI Thesaurus)
The shadow of a man who was seated in a chair within was thrown in hard, black outline upon the luminous screen of the window.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The new data could ultimately help determine more about the mysterious nature of black hole coronas.
(NuSTAR sees rare blurring of black hole light, NASA)
The blue speckled is with or without black, blue or tan markings on the head with tan points.
(Australian Cattle Dog, NCI Thesaurus)
I should not have been surprised if the wet black beard had frizzled and curled and flared up in smoke and flame.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Also called black snakeroot, bugbane, bugwort, and rattlesnake root.
(Black cohosh, NCI Dictionary)
That he scatter his money in making quick inquiry as to what ship sails for the Black Sea and for where.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
In America we have Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but I am not sure if these shopping days exist in your country, dear reader.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
The very large, bear-like feet are fully covered with hair and have tough, black, thick pads.
(Black Russian Terrier, NCI Thesaurus)
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