black

1. (countable and uncountable) The colour/color perceived in the absence of light, but also when no light is reflected, but rather absorbed.Examples: "Black is the badge of hell, / The hue of dungeons, and the suit of night."Synonyms: blacknessAntonyms: whitenesscountableuncountable

2. (countable and uncountable) A black dye or pigment.Antonyms: whitecountableuncountable

3. (countable) A pen, pencil, crayon, etc., made of black pigment.countable

4. (in the plural) Black cloth hung up at funerals.Examples: "Groans, and convulsions, and a discolored face, and friends weeping, and blacks, and obsequies, and the like, show death terrible."countablein-pluraluncountable

5. (countable, sometimes capitalised, often offensive) A member or descendant of any of various (African, Aboriginal, etc) ethnic groups which typically have dark pigmentation of the skin.Examples: ""How! They surely cannot pretend that the black is an Englishman?" "There are all kinds of Englishmen, black and white, when seamen grow scarce. […]""; "But presently the negro seized the Hindoo by the throat; the Hindoo just pricked him in the arm with his knife, and the next moment his own head was driven against the side of the cabin with a stunning crack[…]The cabin was now full, and Sharpe was for putting both the blacks in irons."; "Numa was about to charge—there was little time in which to compare various methods or weigh the probable results of any. And then a number of things happened, almost simultaneously—the lion sprang from his ambush toward the retreating black—Tarzan cried out in warning—and the black turned just in time to see Numa halted in mid-flight by a slender strand of grass rope, the noosed end of which had fallen cleanly about his neck."capitalizedcountableoffensiveoftensometimes

6. (uncountable, informal) Blackness, the condition of belonging to or being descended from one of these ethnic groups.Examples: "black don't crack"informaluncountable

1. (transitive) To make black; to blacken.Examples: ""I don't want to fight; but you are a mean, dirty blackguard, or you wouldn't have treated a girl like that," replied Tommy, standing as stiff as a stake before the bully. "Say that again, and I'll black your eye for you.""; "Ted, you can black your face, and dye your hair, and squint, and some fine day, sooner or later, somebody'll come along and blab the whole thing."; "I saw red, and instead of a cab I fetched that policeman. Of course father did black his eye."Synonyms: blacken, darken, swartentransitive

2. (transitive) To apply blacking to (something).Examples: "[…] he must catch, curry, and saddle his own horse; he must black his own brogans (for he will not be able to buy boots)."; "But in a moment he went to Greenidge's bedside, and said, shyly, in a low voice, "Shall I black your boots for you?""; "Loving you, I could conceive no life sweeter than hers — to be always near you; to black your boots, carry up your coals, scrub your doorstep; always to be working for you, hard and humbly and without thanks."transitive

3. (British, transitive) To boycott, usually as part of an industrial dispute.Examples: "The plants were blacked by the Transport and General Workers' Union and a consumer boycott was organised; both activities contributed to what the union saw as a victory."Synonyms: blackball, blacklist, black, blackball, blacklist, boycott, cancelBritishtransitive

1. (chess) The player moving the black pieces.Examples: "Unless the arbiter decides otherwise, ranks from White to Black shall be given the German numbers."