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Definition black

Etymology

From Middle English blak, black, blake, from Old English blæc (“black, dark", also "ink”), from Proto-Germanic *blakaz (“burnt”) (compare Dutch blaken (“to burn”), Low German blak, black (“blackness, black paint, (black) ink”), Old High German blah (“black”), Old Norse blakra (“to blink”)), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *b?leg- (“to burn, shine”) (compare Latin flagr?re (“to burn”), Ancient Greek ???? (phlóx, “flame”), Sanskrit ???? (bharga, “radiance”)). More at bleach.

Adjective

black (comparative blacker, superlative blackest)

1. (of an object) Absorbing all light and reflecting none; dark and hueless.
2. (of a place, etc) Without light.
3. (sometimes capitalized) Of or relating to any of various ethnic groups having dark pigmentation of the skin.
4. (chiefly historical) Designated for use by those ethnic groups which have dark pigmentation of the skin.
5. (card games, of a card) Of the spades or clubs suits. Compare red (“of the hearts or diamonds suit”)
6. Bad; evil; ill-omened.
7. Expressing menace, or discontent; threatening; sullen.
8. Illegitimate, illegal or disgraced. (objects, not people, for example, black market)
9. (Ireland, informal) Overcrowded.
10. (of coffee or tea) Without any cream, milk, or creamer.
11. (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 colour).
12. (typography) Said of a symbol or character that is solid, filled with color. Compare white (“said of a character or symbol outline, not filled with color”).
13. (politics) Related to the Christian Democratic Union of Germany.
14. Relating to an initiative whose existence or exact nature must remain withheld from the general public.
15. (Ireland, now derogatory) Protestant, often with the implication of being militantly pro-British or anti-Catholic
16. Used in the vernacular name of a species to indicate that it has one or more features that is black or dark, especially in comparison to another species with the same base name.
17. Obscure.
18. Foul; dirty.
19. Having dark hair, armour or clothes.

Noun

black (countable and uncountable, plural blacks)

1. (countable and uncountable) The colour/color perceived in the absence of light, but also when no light is reflected, but rather absorbed.
2. (countable and uncountable) A black dye or pigment.
3. (countable) A pen, pencil, crayon, etc., made of black pigment.
4. (in the plural) Black cloth hung up at funerals.
5. (sometimes capitalised, countable) A person of African, Aborigine, or Maori descent; a dark-skinned person.
6. (billiards, snooker, pool, countable) The black ball.
7. (baseball, countable) The edge of home plate.
8. (Britain, countable) A type of firecracker that is really more dark brown in colour.
9. (informal, countable) Blackcurrant syrup (in mixed drinks, e.g. snakebite and black, cider and black).
10. (in chess and similar games, countable) The person playing with the black set of pieces.
11. (countable) Part of a thing which is distinguished from the rest by being black.
12. (obsolete, countable) A stain; a spot.
13. A dark smut fungus, harmful to wheat.

Verb

black (third-person singular simple present blacks, present participle blacking, simple past and past participle blacked)

1. (transitive) To make black; to blacken.
2. (transitive) To apply blacking to (something).
3. (Britain, transitive) To boycott, usually as part of an industrial dispute.

Results 332 Words with the letters BLACK

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