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black - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'black' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Black [ 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.
- In a less literal sense: Enveloped or shrouded in darkness; very dark or gloomy; as, a black night; the heavens black with clouds.
- Fig.: Dismal, gloomy, or forbidding, like darkness; destitute of moral light or goodness; atrociously wicked; cruel; mournful; calamitous; horrible.
- Expressing menace, or discontent; threatening; sullen; foreboding; as, to regard one with black looks.
- To make black; to blacken; to soil; to sully.
- To make black and shining, as boots or a stove, by applying blacking and then polishing with a brush.
2 . Black [ adv.]
- Sullenly; threateningly; maliciously; so as to produce blackness.
3 . 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.
- A black pigment or dye.
- A negro; a person whose skin is of a black color, or shaded with black; esp. a member or descendant of certain African races.
- A black garment or dress; as, she wears black
- Mourning garments of a black color; funereal drapery.
- The part of a thing which is distinguished from the rest by being black.
- A stain; a spot; a smooch.

Meaning of 'black' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . black [ n]
Meaning (1):
- total absence of light
Example in sentence:
  • in the black of night;
  • they fumbled around in total darkness
Meaning (2):
- a person with African ancestry,
Example in sentence:
  • Negro;
  • Negroid
Meaning (3):
- black clothing (worn as a sign of mourning)
Example in sentence:
  • the widow wore black
4 . black [ v]
Meaning (4):
- make or become black
Example in sentence:
  • The ceiling blackened;
  • The smoke blackened the ceiling
5 . black [ a]
Meaning (5):
- of or belonging to a racial group especially of sub-Saharan African origin
Example in sentence:
  • a great people--a black people--...injected new meaning and dignity into the veins of civilization
Meaning (6):
- being of the achromatic color of maximum darkness; having little or no hue owing to absorption of almost all incident light
Example in sentence:
  • as black as coal;
  • black leather jackets;
  • rich black soil
7 . black [ s]
Meaning (7):
- stemming from evil characteristics or forces; wicked or dishonorable
Example in sentence:
  • a black lie;
  • a dark purpose;
  • black deeds;
  • dark undercurrents of ethnic hostility;
  • Darth Vader of the dark side;
  • his black heart has concocted yet another black deed;
  • the scheme of some sinister intelligence bent on punishing him
Meaning (8):
- extremely dark
Example in sentence:
  • a black moonless night;
  • it was pitch-dark in the cellar;
  • through the pitch-black woods
Meaning (9):
- (of events) having extremely unfortunate or dire consequences; bringing ruin
Example in sentence:
  • a calamitous defeat;
  • a fateful error;
  • it is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it;
  • such doctrines, if true, would be absolutely fatal to my theory;
  • the battle was a disastrous end to a disastrous campaign;
  • the stock market crashed on Black Friday
Meaning (10):
- (of the face) made black especially as with suffused blood
Example in sentence:
  • a face black with fury
Meaning (11):
- harshly ironic or sinister
Example in sentence:
  • a grim joke;
  • black humor;
  • fun ranging from slapstick clowning ... to savage mordant wit;
  • grim laughter
Meaning (12):
- (used of conduct or character) deserving or bringing disgrace or shame
Example in sentence:
  • a shameful display of cowardice;
  • an ignominious retreat;
  • an opprobrious monument to human greed;
  • inglorious defeat;
  • Man...has written one of his blackest records as a destroyer on the oceanic islands
Meaning (13):
- marked by anger or resentment or hostility
Example in sentence:
  • black looks;
  • black words
Meaning (14):
- (of intelligence operations) deliberately misleading
Example in sentence:
  • black propaganda
Meaning (15):
- soiled with dirt or soot
Example in sentence:
  • his shirt was black within an hour;
  • with feet black from playing outdoors
Meaning (16):
- offering little or no hope
Example in sentence:
  • Life in the Aran Islands has always been bleak and difficult;
  • prospects were bleak;
  • the future looked black;
  • took a dim view of things
Meaning (17):
- distributed or sold illicitly
Example in sentence:
  • the black economy pays no taxes

Nearby Words:

blab blabbed blabber blabbing black art black bass black book black death black friar black hole

See 'black' also in:

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