black
The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English
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2009
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© The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English 2009, originally published by Oxford University Press 2009. (Hide copyright information)
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black
/ blak/
•
adj.
1.
of the very darkest color; the opposite of white; colored like coal, due to the absence of or complete absorption of light:
black smoke.
∎
(of the sky or night) completely dark due to nonvisibility of the sun, moon, or stars, normally because of dense cloud cover:
the sky was moonless and black.
∎
deeply stained with dirt:
his clothes were absolutely black.
∎
(of a plant or animal) dark in color as distinguished from a lighter variety:
Japanese black pine.
∎
(of coffee or tea) served without milk or cream.
∎
of or denoting the suits spades and clubs in a deck of cards.
∎
(of a ski run) of the highest level of difficulty, as indicated by black markers positioned along it.
2.
(also Black)
of any human group having dark-colored skin, esp. of African or Australian Aboriginal ancestry:
black adolescents of Jamaican descent.
∎
of or relating to black people:
black culture.
3. fig.
(of a period of time or situation) characterized by tragic or disastrous events; causing despair or pessimism:
five thousand men were killed on the blackest day of the war.
∎
(of a person's state of mind) full of gloom or misery; very depressed:
Jean had disappeared and Mary was in a black mood.
∎
(of humor) presenting tragic or harrowing situations in comic terms:
“Good place to bury the bodies,” she joked with black humor.
∎
full of anger or hatred:
Roger shot her a black look.
•
n.
1.
black color or pigment:
a tray decorated in black and green.
∎
black clothes or material, often worn as a sign of mourning:
dressed in the black of widowhood.
∎
darkness, esp. of night or an overcast sky:
the only thing visible in the black was the light of the lantern.
2.
(also Black)
a member of a dark-skinned people, esp. one of African or Australian Aboriginal ancestry:
a coalition of blacks and whites against violence.
3.
(in a game or sport) a black piece or ball, in particular:
∎
(often Black)
the player of the black pieces in chess or checkers.
∎ the black pieces in chess.
•
v. [tr.]
make black, esp. by the application of black polish:
blacking the prize bull's hooves.
PHRASES:
in the black
(of a person or organization) not owing any money; solvent.PHRASAL VERBS:
black out
(of a person) undergo a sudden and temporary loss of consciousness:
they knocked me around and I blacked out.
black something out
1. (usu. be blacked out)
extinguish all lights or completely cover windows, esp. for protection against an air attack or in order to provide darkness in which to show a movie:
the bombers began to come nightly and the city was blacked out.
∎
subject a place to an electricity failure:
Chicago was blacked out yesterday after a freak flood.
2.
obscure something completely so that it cannot be read or seen:
the license plate had been blacked out with masking tape.
∎
(of a television company) suppress the broadcast of a program:
they blacked out the women's finals on local television.
DERIVATIVES:
black·ish
adj.
black·ly
adv.
black·ness
n.
Cite this article
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Black's Law.(Review)
Magazine article from: Trial; 5/1/1999; ; 700+ words
; Roy Black Simon & Schuster 1230 Avenue of the Americas...fatally flawed by rampant self-adulation. Black's Law falls into this high-risk category...not. Florida criminal defense lawyer Roy Black's book is the history of four of his cases...
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Risky business: at-risk behavior dropping among black teens.(FACTS & FIGURES)
Magazine article from: Black Enterprise; 3/1/2007; ; 503 words
; FEWER BLACK U.S. HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ARE ENGAGing in...polled. Compared with whites and Hispanics, black high school students were least likely to...most promising is the usage of condoms by black young males. According to the survey, 42...
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Who's Black and who's not: new ethnicity raises provocative questions about racial identity. (includes quiz)
Magazine article from: Ebony; 3/1/1990; ; 700+ words
; Who's Black And Who's Not? THE rising young starlet had long been identified with Black and Black-oriented things. She made the Black scene, dated Black men, read Jet and sang in the backup group of a major Black star. But when a lucky break lifted...
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Joe Black, baseball pioneer and retired Greyhound Corp. executive, dies. (Census).(Obituary)
Magazine article from: Jet; 6/3/2002; 383 words
; Joe Black, the first Black pitcher to win a World Series game, recently died of cancer in Phoenix. He was 78. Black, who was in failing health for months, died at the Life Care Center...
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Timuel D. Black, Jr. Bridges of Memory: Chicago's First Wave of Black Migration, an Oral History.(Book Review)
Magazine article from: Michigan Historical Review; 9/22/2004; ; 508 words
; Timuel D. Black, Jr. Bridges of Memory: Chicago's First Wave of Black Migration, an Oral History. Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern...volumes, historian and civil rights activist Timuel D. Black, Jr., introduces us to Chicago's first wave of black...
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In memoriam: Black Photo Corp. cofounder Robert F. Black remembered as being a leader in the Canadian photo industry.(Connections)(Obituary)
Magazine article from: PMA Magazine - Connecting the Imaging Communities; 6/1/2009; ; 687 words
; Robert Frederick Black, 80, cofounder of the Black Photo Corp., Markham, Ontario, Canada, died April 17. Black was president of PMA from 1980-1981; and in 1988, he received the PMA Distinguished Service Award. He was inducted into the PMA Hall of...
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Maroon, Over Black on Red.(Poem)
Magazine article from: Poetry; 4/1/2002; ; 173 words
; MAROON, OVER BLACK ON RED THRESHOLD In the fall of '58 at the Whitney, trying...both hands through the plate glass: an afterimage of the black grave, forecast in red. MAROON This is the light through...slammed door; turbulence playing in the face of it all-- the black ingots made from absence, the red drawn ...
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Journey moments: veteran African American photographers hope to replace old beliefs about black life with new images.(New Voices)
Magazine article from: The Chicago Reporter; 9/1/2006; ; 700+ words
; For Bob Black, the image is one to remember. In 2000, Black was visiting the Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church on...She just had to turn around, jump up and take over, said Black, 67, the first African American photographer at the Chicago...
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Blacks, Jews, liberals, and crime: is the black-crime problem a crime problem, or is it a poverty problem, or an education problem? (various political leaders and analysts offer contrasting opinions)
Magazine article from: National Review; 5/16/1994; ; 700+ words
; Is the black-crime problem a crime problem, or is it a poverty problem, or...and elsewhere in the South to assist in the program initiated by black organizations to register black voters. The group was mostly white and preponderantly Jewish...
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What is your black history IQ?(test on black history)
Magazine article from: Ebony; 2/1/1997; 686 words
; Our second Black History Quiz is designed to test your knowledge...score less than 70, you are, according to Black history partisans, culturally deprived...nearest library and check out a book on Black history. Share your copy with a White friend...
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