black

black¹ W1S1 [blæk] adj comparative blacker superlative blackest

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1¦(colour)¦

2¦(no light)¦

3¦(people)¦

4¦(drink)¦

5¦(dirty)¦

6¦(without hope)¦

7¦(humour)¦

8¦(angry)¦

9 a black mark (against somebody)

10 not be as black as you are painted

11¦(bad)¦

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[: Old English; Origin: blAc]

1.) ¦(COLOUR)¦

having the darkest colour, like coal or night

▪ a black evening dress

jet/inky black

(=very dark)

▪ jet black hair

2.) ¦(NO LIGHT)¦

very dark because there is no light

▪ It was still pitch black (=very dark) at that time of the morning.

3.) ¦(PEOPLE)¦ also Black

a) belonging to the race of people who originally came from Africa and who have dark brown skin

→↑white

▪ Over half the students are black.

b) [only before noun]

relating to black people

▪ politics from a black perspective

▪ Black and Asian music

4.) ¦(DRINK)¦ [only before noun]

black coffee or tea does not have milk in it

≠ ↑white

▪ Black coffee, no sugar, please.

5.) ¦(DIRTY)¦ informal

very dirty

be black with soot/dirt/age etc

6.) ¦(WITHOUT HOPE)¦

sad and without hope for the future

▪ the blackest period of European history

▪ a mood of black despair

▪ It's been another black day for the car industry with more job losses announced.

7.) ¦(HUMOUR)¦

making jokes about serious subjects, especially death

▪ a very black joke

8.) ¦(ANGRY)¦ [only before noun]

full of feelings of anger or hate

→↑blackly

▪ Denise gave me a black look .

9.) a black mark (against sb)

if there is a black mark against you, someone has a bad opinion of you because of something you have done

10.) not be as black as you are painted

not to be as bad as people say you are

11.) ¦(BAD)¦

literary very bad

▪ black deeds

>blackness n

black ²

black² n

1.) [U and C]

the dark colour of coal or night

▪ You look good wearing black.

▪ thick fur patterned in blacks and browns

→↑coal-black

2.) also Black

someone who belongs to the race of people who originally came from Africa and who have dark brown skin

→↑white

▪ laws that discriminated against blacks

3.) be in the black

to have money in your bank account

≠ be in the red

black ³

black³ v [T]

1.) BrE if a ↑trade union blacks goods or a company, it refuses to work with them

▪ The union has blacked all non-urgent work.

2.) old-fashioned to make something black

black out phr v

1.) to become ↑unconscious

= ↑faint, pass out ↑pass out

▪ For a few seconds, he thought he was going to black out.

2.) black sth<=>out

to put a dark mark over something so that it cannot be seen

▪ The censors had blacked out several words.

3.) black sth<=>out

to hide or turn off all the lights in a town or city, especially during war

→↑blackout