Word of the Day 2/20/13
Black (adjective, noun, verb, adverb)
black [blak]
adjective
1. lacking hue and brightness; absorbing light without reflecting any of the rays composing it.
2. characterized by absence of light; enveloped in darkness: a black night.
3. (sometimes initial capital letter)
a. pertaining or belonging to any of the various populations characterized by dark skin pigmentation, specifically the dark-skinned peoples of Africa, Oceania, and Australia.
b. African American.
4. soiled or stained with dirt: That shirt was black within an hour.
5. gloomy; pessimistic; dismal: a black outlook.
6. deliberately; harmful; inexcusable: a black lie.
7. boding ill; sullen or hostile; threatening: black words; black looks.
8. (of coffee or tea) without milk or cream.
9. without any moral quality or goodness; evil; wicked: His black heart has concocted yet another black deed.
10. indicating censure, disgrace, or liability to punishment: a black mark on one's record.
11. marked by disaster or misfortune: black areas of drought; Black Friday.
12. wearing black or dark clothing or armor: the black prince.
13. based on the grotesque, morbid, or unpleasant aspects of life: black comedy; black humor.
14. (of a check mark, flag, etc.) done or written in black to indicate, as on a list, that which is undesirable, sub-standard, potentially dangerous, etc.: Pilots put a black flag next to the ten most dangerous airports.
15. illegal or underground: The black economy pays no taxes.
16. showing a profit; not showing any losses: the first black quarter in two years.
17. deliberately false or intentionally misleading: black propaganda.
18. British. boycotted, as certain goods or products by a trade union.
19. (of steel) in the form in which it comes from the rolling mill or forge; unfinished.
noun
20. the color at one extreme end of the scale of grays, opposite to white, absorbing all light incident upon it. Compare white (def 19).
21. (sometimes initial capital letter)
a. a member of any of various dark-skinned peoples, especially those of Africa, Oceania, and Australia.
b. African American.
22. black clothing, especially as a sign of mourning: He wore black at the funeral.
23. Chess, Checkers. the dark-colored men or pieces or squares.
24. black pigment: lamp black.
25. Slang. black beauty.
26. a horse or other animal that is entirely black.
verb (used with object)
27. to make black; put black on; blacken.
28. British. to boycott or ban.
29. to polish (shoes, boots, etc.) with blacking.
verb (used without object)
30. to become black; take on a black color; blacken.
adverb
31. (of coffee or tea) served without milk or cream.
Verb phrases
32. black out,
a. to lose consciousness: He blacked out at the sight of blood.
b. to erase, obliterate, or suppress: News reports were blacked out.
c. to forget everything relating to a particular event, person, etc.: When it came to his war experiences he blacked out completely.
d. Theater . to extinguish all of the stage lights.
e. to make or become inoperable: to black out the radio broadcasts from the U.S.
f. Military . to obscure by concealing all light in defense against air raids.
g. Radio and Television. to impose a broadcast blackout on (an area).
h. to withdraw or cancel (a special fare, sale, discount, etc.) for a designated period: The special air fare discount will be blacked out by the airlines over the holiday weekend.
Idioms
33. black and white,
a. print or writing: I want that agreement in black and white.
b. a monochromatic picture done with black and white only.
c. a chocolate soda containing vanilla ice cream.
34. black or white, completely either one way or another, without any intermediate state.
35. in the black, operating at a profit or being out of debt ( opposed to in the red ): New production methods put the company in the black.
Synonyms
1. dark, dusky; sooty, inky; swart, swarthy; sable, ebony.
4. dirty, dingy. 5. sad, depressing, somber, doleful, mournful, funereal.
7. disastrous, calamitous.
9. sinful, inhuman, fiendish, devilish, infernal, monstrous; atrocious, horrible; nefarious, treacherous, traitorous, villainous.
Antonyms
1. white.
4. clean.
5. hopeful, cheerful.
Usage note
3, 21. Black, colored, and Negro have all been used to describe or name the dark-skinned African peoples or their descendants. Colored, now somewhat old-fashioned, is often offensive, although describing someone as “a person of color” is not. In the late 1950s and early 1960s black began to replace Negro and today is a widely used term. Common as an adjective ( black woman, man, American, people, etc.), black is also used as a noun, especially in the plural. Like other terms referring to skin color ( white, yellow ), black is usually not capitalized, except in proper names or titles ( Black Muslim; Black English ). In the appropriate meanings African American is increasingly used instead of black.
Note from me: I refer to myself as African American. Rarely do I use Black. That's a color to me. My skin is not black. I find it interesting that where I work, so many of the people who come in and fill out the forms put their race as Black and when I put their information into the computer, I put it as African American. The, when I talk to these same people, to ask them to describe the person who attacked them (I work in a domestic violence center helping people fill out restraining orders) 90% of the time, they say African American. Never really thoughts to ask why they refer to themselves as Black but when talking to me, it's African American...
Origin: before 900; Middle English blak, Old English blæc; cognate with Old High German blah-; akin to Old Norse blakkr black, blek ink
Now YOU come up with a sentence (or fic? or graphic?) that best illustrates the word.
black [blak]
adjective
1. lacking hue and brightness; absorbing light without reflecting any of the rays composing it.
2. characterized by absence of light; enveloped in darkness: a black night.
3. (sometimes initial capital letter)
a. pertaining or belonging to any of the various populations characterized by dark skin pigmentation, specifically the dark-skinned peoples of Africa, Oceania, and Australia.
b. African American.
4. soiled or stained with dirt: That shirt was black within an hour.
5. gloomy; pessimistic; dismal: a black outlook.
6. deliberately; harmful; inexcusable: a black lie.
7. boding ill; sullen or hostile; threatening: black words; black looks.
8. (of coffee or tea) without milk or cream.
9. without any moral quality or goodness; evil; wicked: His black heart has concocted yet another black deed.
10. indicating censure, disgrace, or liability to punishment: a black mark on one's record.
11. marked by disaster or misfortune: black areas of drought; Black Friday.
12. wearing black or dark clothing or armor: the black prince.
13. based on the grotesque, morbid, or unpleasant aspects of life: black comedy; black humor.
14. (of a check mark, flag, etc.) done or written in black to indicate, as on a list, that which is undesirable, sub-standard, potentially dangerous, etc.: Pilots put a black flag next to the ten most dangerous airports.
15. illegal or underground: The black economy pays no taxes.
16. showing a profit; not showing any losses: the first black quarter in two years.
17. deliberately false or intentionally misleading: black propaganda.
18. British. boycotted, as certain goods or products by a trade union.
19. (of steel) in the form in which it comes from the rolling mill or forge; unfinished.
noun
20. the color at one extreme end of the scale of grays, opposite to white, absorbing all light incident upon it. Compare white (def 19).
21. (sometimes initial capital letter)
a. a member of any of various dark-skinned peoples, especially those of Africa, Oceania, and Australia.
b. African American.
22. black clothing, especially as a sign of mourning: He wore black at the funeral.
23. Chess, Checkers. the dark-colored men or pieces or squares.
24. black pigment: lamp black.
25. Slang. black beauty.
26. a horse or other animal that is entirely black.
verb (used with object)
27. to make black; put black on; blacken.
28. British. to boycott or ban.
29. to polish (shoes, boots, etc.) with blacking.
verb (used without object)
30. to become black; take on a black color; blacken.
adverb
31. (of coffee or tea) served without milk or cream.
Verb phrases
32. black out,
a. to lose consciousness: He blacked out at the sight of blood.
b. to erase, obliterate, or suppress: News reports were blacked out.
c. to forget everything relating to a particular event, person, etc.: When it came to his war experiences he blacked out completely.
d. Theater . to extinguish all of the stage lights.
e. to make or become inoperable: to black out the radio broadcasts from the U.S.
f. Military . to obscure by concealing all light in defense against air raids.
g. Radio and Television. to impose a broadcast blackout on (an area).
h. to withdraw or cancel (a special fare, sale, discount, etc.) for a designated period: The special air fare discount will be blacked out by the airlines over the holiday weekend.
Idioms
33. black and white,
a. print or writing: I want that agreement in black and white.
b. a monochromatic picture done with black and white only.
c. a chocolate soda containing vanilla ice cream.
34. black or white, completely either one way or another, without any intermediate state.
35. in the black, operating at a profit or being out of debt ( opposed to in the red ): New production methods put the company in the black.
Synonyms
1. dark, dusky; sooty, inky; swart, swarthy; sable, ebony.
4. dirty, dingy. 5. sad, depressing, somber, doleful, mournful, funereal.
7. disastrous, calamitous.
9. sinful, inhuman, fiendish, devilish, infernal, monstrous; atrocious, horrible; nefarious, treacherous, traitorous, villainous.
Antonyms
1. white.
4. clean.
5. hopeful, cheerful.
Usage note
3, 21. Black, colored, and Negro have all been used to describe or name the dark-skinned African peoples or their descendants. Colored, now somewhat old-fashioned, is often offensive, although describing someone as “a person of color” is not. In the late 1950s and early 1960s black began to replace Negro and today is a widely used term. Common as an adjective ( black woman, man, American, people, etc.), black is also used as a noun, especially in the plural. Like other terms referring to skin color ( white, yellow ), black is usually not capitalized, except in proper names or titles ( Black Muslim; Black English ). In the appropriate meanings African American is increasingly used instead of black.
Note from me: I refer to myself as African American. Rarely do I use Black. That's a color to me. My skin is not black. I find it interesting that where I work, so many of the people who come in and fill out the forms put their race as Black and when I put their information into the computer, I put it as African American. The, when I talk to these same people, to ask them to describe the person who attacked them (I work in a domestic violence center helping people fill out restraining orders) 90% of the time, they say African American. Never really thoughts to ask why they refer to themselves as Black but when talking to me, it's African American...
Origin: before 900; Middle English blak, Old English blæc; cognate with Old High German blah-; akin to Old Norse blakkr black, blek ink
Now YOU come up with a sentence (or fic? or graphic?) that best illustrates the word.