black🔊

(of an object) Absorbing all light and reflecting none; dark and hueless. +

(of a location or setting) Without light. +

Belonging to or descended from any of various (African, Aboriginal, etc.) ethnic groups which typically have dark pigmentation of the skin. (See usage notes below.)

(US, UK, South Africa) Belonging to or descended from any of various sub-Saharan African ethnic groups which typically have dark pigmentation of the skin.

(chiefly historical) Designated for use by those ethnic groups.

(card games, of a card) Of the spades or clubs suits.

Bad; evil; ill-omened.

Expressing menace or discontent; threatening; sullen.

(of objects or markets) Illegitimate, illegal or disgraced.

Foul; dirty, soiled.

(Ireland, informal) Overcrowded.

(of coffee or tea) Without any cream, milk or creamer.

(board games, chess) Of or relating to the playing pieces of a board game deemed to belong to the "black" set (in chess, the set used by the player who moves second) (often regardless of the pieces' actual color).

(typography) Said of a symbol or character that is solid, filled with color.

(politics) Of or pertaining to anarchism; anarchist.

(German politics) Related to the Christian Democratic Union of Germany.

Clandestine; relating to a political, military, or espionage operation or site, the existence or details of which is withheld from the general public.

Occult; relating to something (such as mystical or magical knowledge) which is unknown to or kept secret from the general public.

(Ireland, now derogatory) Protestant, often with the implication of being militantly pro-British or anti-Catholic.

Having one or more features (hair, fur, armour, clothes, bark, etc.) that is dark (or black).

(taxonomy, especially) Dark in comparison to another species with the same base name.

(Singapore, Singlish, of someone's face) Sullen and solemn; bad-tempered and unhappy.

The color perceived in the absence of light, but also when no light is reflected, but rather absorbed. +

A black dye or pigment.

A pen, pencil, crayon, etc., made of black pigment.

Black cloth hung up at funerals.

(often offensive) A member or descendant of any of various (African, Aboriginal, etc) ethnic groups which typically have dark pigmentation of the skin.

(informal) Blackness, the condition of belonging to or being descended from one of these ethnic groups.

(billiards, snooker, pool) The black ball.

(baseball) The edge of home plate.

(UK) A type of firecracker that is really more dark brown in color.

(informal, chiefly UK, chiefly) Blackcurrant syrup or crème de cassis used for cocktails.

(chess) The person playing with the black set of pieces.

Something, or a part of a thing, which is black.

(obsolete) A stain; a spot.

A dark smut fungus, harmful to wheat.

(US, slang) Marijuana.

(firefighting) The blackened, burned-out area at the centre of a fire.

To make black; to blacken. +

To apply blacking to (something).

(UK) To boycott, usually as part of an industrial dispute. +