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APG.American
Pronunciation Guide
HOW TO PRONOUNCE

black

/blæk/

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What does black mean?

adjective

  1. Absorbing all light and reflecting none; dark and hueless.
  2. Without light.
  3. 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.)
More meanings (48)

adjective

  1. Belonging to or descended from any of various sub-Saharan African ethnic groups which typically have dark pigmentation of the skin.
  2. Of the spades or clubs suits.
  3. Bad; evil; ill-omened.
  4. Expressing menace or discontent; threatening; sullen.
  5. Illegitimate, illegal, or disgraced.
  6. Foul; dirty, soiled.
  7. (informal) Overcrowded.
  8. Without any cream, milk, or creamer.
  9. 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).
  10. Said of a symbol or character that is solid, filled with color.
  11. Of or pertaining to anarchism; anarchist.
  12. Related to the Christian Democratic Union of Germany.
  13. Clandestine; relating to a political, military, or espionage operation or site, the existence or details of which is withheld from the general public.
  14. Occult; relating to something (such as mystical or magical knowledge) which is unknown to or kept secret from the general public.
  15. Having one or more features (hair, fur, armour, clothes, bark, etc.) that is dark (or black).
  16. Dark in comparison to another species with the same base name.
  17. Sullen and solemn; bad-tempered and unhappy.
  18. Alternative letter-case form of black (“of or relating to any of various ethnic groups having dark pigmentation of the skin”).
  19. (historical) Designated for use by those ethnic groups (as described above).
  20. (derogatory) Protestant, often with the implication of being militantly pro-British or anti-Catholic. (Compare blackmouth ("Presbyterian").)

noun

  1. The colour/color perceived in the absence of light, but also when no light is reflected, but rather absorbed.
  2. A black dye or pigment.
  3. A pen, pencil, crayon, etc., made of black pigment.
  4. Black cloth hung up at funerals.
  5. (informal) Blackness, the condition of belonging to or being descended from one of these ethnic groups.
  6. The black ball.
  7. The edge of home plate.
  8. A type of firecracker that is really more dark brown in colour.
  9. (informal) Blackcurrant syrup or crème de cassis used for cocktails.
  10. The person playing with the black set of pieces.
  11. Something, or a part of a thing, which is black.
  12. A dark smut fungus, harmful to wheat.
  13. (slang) Marijuana.
  14. The blackened, burned-out area at the centre of a fire.
  15. Alternative letter-case form of black (“person having dark pigmentation of the skin”).
  16. The player moving the black pieces.
  17. (offensive) A member or descendant of any of various (African, Aboriginal, etc) ethnic groups which typically have dark pigmentation of the skin.
  18. (obsolete) A stain; a spot.

verb

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

proper noun

  1. A surname transferred from the nickname.
  2. A town in Geneva County, Alabama.
  3. An unincorporated community in Edwards County, Illinois.
  4. A township in Posey County, Indiana; from the surname.
  5. An unincorporated community in Reynolds County, Missouri.
  6. A township in Somerset County, Pennsylvania; from the surname.
  7. An unincorporated community in Mercer County and Wyoming County, West Virginia.
Wiktionary contributors Wiktionary contributors

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/blæk/

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

I now understood what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty—to wit, the white man’s power to enslave the black man.
Frederick DouglassNarrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American SlaveProject Gutenberg ebook #23
The soft and continual shimmer of the dying lightning showed a marble face high against the black sky of the opposite quarter.
Thomas HardyFar from the Madding CrowdProject Gutenberg ebook #27
More book examples (3)
Terry, at his worst, in a black fury for which, as a man, I must have some sympathy, preferred the ant simile.
Charlotte Perkins GilmanHerlandProject Gutenberg ebook #32
And then, with a renewed horror, I saw a round, black object bobbing up and down on the edge of the pit.
H. G. (Herbert George) WellsThe war of the worldsProject Gutenberg ebook #36
She always wore a black crocheted “fascinator” over her thin white hair, and she made long, tremulous prayers, full of railroad terminology.
Willa CatherThe Song of the LarkProject Gutenberg ebook #44