English Dictionary

black

/blæk/

adj

(of an object) Absorbing all light and reflecting none; dark and hueless. / (of a place, etc) Without light.

The black cat crossed the road.

意味（1）

(of an object) Absorbing all light and reflecting none; dark and hueless.

意味（2）

(of a place, etc) Without light.

意味（3）

(sometimes capitalized) Belonging to or descended from any of various (African, Aboriginal, etc) ethnic groups which typically have dark pigmentation of the skin. (See usage notes below.)

Somebody tell me, what can I do / Something is holding me back / Is it because I'm black?

意味（4）

(chiefly historical) Designated for use by those ethnic groups (as described above).

black drinking fountain; black hospital

意味（5）

(card games, of a card) Of the spades or clubs suits. Compare red (“of the hearts or diamonds suit”)

I was dealt two red queens, and he got one of the black queens.

意味（6）

Bad; evil; ill-omened.

[…] what a black day would that be, when the Ordinances of Jesus Christ should as it were be excommunicated, and cast out of the Church of Christ.

意味（7）

Expressing menace, or discontent; threatening; sullen.

He shot her a black look.

意味（8）

(of objects, markets, etc) Illegitimate, illegal or disgraced.

Foodstuffs were rationed and, as in other countries in a similar situation, the black market was flourishing.

意味（9）

Foul; dirty, soiled.

Then trip him, that his heeles may kicke at Heauen,

And that his Soule may be as damn'd aud blacke

Then trip him, that his heeles may kicke at Heauen, And that his Soule may be as damn'd aud blacke As Hell, whereto it goes.

意味（10）

(Ireland, informal) Overcrowded.

意味（11）

(of coffee or tea) Without any cream, milk, or creamer.

Jim drinks his coffee black, but Ellen prefers it with creamer.

意味（12）

(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).

The black pieces in this chess set are made of dark blue glass.

意味（13）

(politics) Anarchist; of or pertaining to anarchism.

意味（14）

(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”).

Compare two Unicode symbols: ☞ = WHITE RIGHT POINTING INDEX; ☛ = BLACK RIGHT POINTING INDEX

意味（15）

(politics) Related to the Christian Democratic Union of Germany.

After the election, the parties united in a black-yellow alliance.

意味（16）

Clandestine; relating to a political, military, or espionage operation or site, the existence or details of which is withheld from the general public.

5 percent of the Defense Department funding will go to black projects.

意味（17）

Occult; relating to something (such as mystical or magical knowledge) which is unknown to or kept secret from the general public.

Pope Joan, who once occupied the throne of the Vatican, was reputed to be the blackest sorcerer of them all.

意味（18）

(Ireland, now derogatory) Protestant, often with the implication of being militantly pro-British or anti-Catholic. (Compare blackmouth ("Presbyterian").)

the Black North

the Black North (Ulster)

意味（19）

Having one or more features (hair, fur, armour, clothes, bark, etc) that is dark (or black); in taxonomy, especially: dark in comparison to another species with the same base name.

black birch, black locust, black rhino