black hole

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black hole • n. Astron. a region of space having a gravitational field so intense that no matter or radiation can escape. ∎ inf. a figurative place of emptiness or aloneness: they think he's sitting in a black hole with no interaction with his people. ∎ inf., chiefly humorous a place where money, lost items, etc., are supposed to go, never to be seen again: the moribund economy has been a black hole for federal funds. ∎ inf. (of a system, practice, or institution) a state of inadequacy or excessive bureaucracy in which hopes, progress, etc., become futile: juveniles lost for good in the black hole of the criminal justice system.

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