blackblack1 /blæk/ ●●● S1 W1 adjective (comparative blacker, superlative blackest) 
a black evening dressjet/inky black (=very dark) jet black hair2no light very dark because there is no light: It was still pitch black (=very dark) out.3people (also Black) a)belonging to the race of people who originally came from Africa and who have dark brown skin: Over half the students are black. b)[only before noun] relating to black people: politics from a black perspective Black and Asian music4drink [only before noun] black coffee or tea does not have milk in it OPP white: Black coffee, no sugar, please.5dirty informal very dirtybe black with soot/dirt/age etc6without 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.7humour making jokes about serious subjects, especially death: a very black joke8angry [only before noun] full of feelings of anger or hate: Denise gave me a black look.9a black mark (against somebody) if there is a black mark against you, someone has a bad opinion of you because of something you have done10not be as black as you are painted not to be as bad as people say you are11bad literary very bad: black deeds—blackness noun
WORD ORIGINblack1
Origin:
Old English blæcEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- a black-hearted villain
- a shiny black car
- contemporary Black music
- Denise gave me a black look.
- Do you take your coffee black?
- Most of the people in my neighborhood are black.
- My hands were black from working on the car.
- The letters were white on a black background.
- Tony was in a black mood.
- Bonnie Raitt in illusion lace with black beading.
- Books portraying black men in a positive light are simply not part of the growth industry.
- How can we support black individuals who feel powerless and isolated?
- If I remember, he was a dark young fellow, black hair and a squint in his right eye.
- Mary's uncle had black hair with some white in it, and high, crooked shoulders.
- Singed shrubbery rose from pastures that appeared like black velvet.
Longman Language Activatordark and with little or no light
if a place is dark , there is little or no light: · Thick curtains covered the windows and the room was very dark.· I shrank back into the darkest corner of the room, and prayed that the soldiers would not see me.· No, you can't play outside, it's too dark.· It was a dark night and he was afraid they might get lost if they went across the fields.· Anyone who disobeyed him ran the risk of getting beaten up in a dark alley, or even killed.
completely dark, so that nothing can be seen: · It's pitch dark in there. I can't see a thing.· Inside the cellar it was pitch black.
a gloomy place or room is not at all bright or cheerful - use this especially in stories or written descriptions: · The bar was gloomy and smelled of stale cigar smoke.· I never liked visiting Dr Allen in his gloomy old study.
a room, street, or place that is dingy is fairly dark and usually dirty and in bad condition: · He ate lunch in a dingy little cafe next to the station.· The room was damp and dingy.
a darkened room or building is darker than usual, especially because its lights have been turned off or there are no lights: · The prisoner lay in a darkened room.· The production opens with a darkened stage, and the sound of a woman singing softly.
an area or building that is dimly- lit is fairly dark because the lights there are not very bright: · a long, dimly-lit corridor· Madame Gloriana led the way into a dimly lit back room.
an area, building, or room that is unlit is dark because there are no lights on there: · The path was unlit, and she needed a torch to find her way.· Behind the gasoline pumps the unlit garage stood like a huge black shadow.
WORD SETSamber, nounamethyst, nounapricot, nounaquamarine, nounashen, adjectiveauburn, adjectiveazure, adjectivebar, nounbarred, adjectivebeige, nounblack, adjectiveblack, nounblack, verbblack and white, adjectiveblacken, verbbleed, verbblood-red, adjectiveblue, adjectiveblue, nounbluish, adjectivebold, adjectivebottle green, nounbrassy, adjectivebrindled, adjectivebronze, nounbronze, adjectivebrown, adjectivebrown, nounbuff, nounburgundy, nouncarmine, nouncarroty, adjectivecerise, nouncerulean, nounchartreuse, nouncherry, nounchestnut, nounchestnut, adjectivechromatic, adjectivechrome yellow, nounclaret, nounclear, adjectivecoffee, nouncool, adjectivecopper, nouncoral, adjectivecream, adjectivecreamy, adjectivecrimson, adjectivecyan, adjectivedappled, adjectivedapple-grey, nounDay-Glo, adjectivediscoloration, noundiscolour, verbdrab, adjectivedull, adjectivedun, noundusky, adjectivedye, verbebony, adjectivefawn, adjectiveflaxen, adjectiveflesh-coloured, adjectiveflorid, adjectivefluorescent, adjectiveflush, nounfuchsia, noungarish, adjectivegarnet, noungaudy, adjectivegay, adjectiveginger, adjectivegold, noungold, adjectivegolden, adjectivegray, green, adjectivegreen, noungreenish, adjectivegrey, adjectivegrey, noungreyish, adjectivehazel, adjectiveindigo, nouniridescent, adjectiveivory, nounjade, nounjet-black, adjectivekhaki, nounlavender, nounleaden, adjectivelemon, nounlilac, nounlily-white, adjectivelime green, nounlivid, adjectiveloud, adjectiveluminous, adjectivelurid, adjectivemagenta, nounmagnolia, nounmahogany, nounmaroon, nounmatch, nounmauve, nounmellow, adjectivemellow, verbmonochrome, adjectivemousy, adjectivemuddy, adjectivemulticoloured, adjectivemustard, nounmuted, adjectivenavy blue, adjectiveneutral, adjectiveochre, nounoff-white, nounolive, nounopalescent, adjectiveorange, nounpale, adjectivepastel, nounpastel, adjectivepeach, nounpea green, nounpearly, adjectivepepper-and-salt, adjectivepink, adjectivepink, nounpinkish, adjectiveplum, nounplum, adjectivepowder blue, nounprimary colour, nounprimrose, nounprismatic, adjectivepuce, adjectivepure, adjectivepurple, nounpurplish, adjectivered, adjectivered, nounredden, verbreddish, adjectiveredhead, nounrestrained, adjectiverich, adjectiverose, nounrose, adjectiveroseate, adjectiverose-coloured, adjectiverosy, adjectiveroyal blue, nounruby, nounruddy, adjectiverusset, nounsable, adjectivesaffron, nounscarlet, adjectivesepia, nounshade, nounshocking pink, nounsienna, nounsilver, nounsilver, adjectivesilvery, adjectivesky-blue, adjectivesnow-white, adjectivesnowy, adjectivesoft, adjectivesombre, adjectivesteely, adjectivetaupe, nountawny, adjectiveteal, nountint, nountint, verbtone, nounturquoise, nountwo-tone, adjectiveultramarine, nounumber, nounvermilion, nounvibrant, adjectiveviolet, nounwarm, adjectivewaxen, adjectiveweak, adjectivewhite, adjectivewhite, nounwhiten, verbwhitish, adjectiveyellow, adjectiveyellow, nounyellow, verbyellowy, adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY It was still pitch black (=very dark) out. It’s been another black day for the car industry, with more job losses announced. a very black joke Denise gave me a black look.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES Jack looked like someone had given him a black eye. Many foods were only available on the black market. Amy’s always been the black sheep of the family. Priscilla’s hair was dyed jet black. The night was as black as pitch (=very dark). Usually I wear black, grey, or brown.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN
(=very dark) jet black hair
jet black hair It was still pitch black (=very dark) out. It’s been another black day for the car industry, with more job losses announced. a very black joke Denise gave me a black look. Jack looked like someone had given him a black eye. Many foods were only available on the black market. Amy’s always been the black sheep of the family.· Black clouds usually mean rain.
(=without milk)· He went up to the counter and ordered a black coffee.
(=about subjects that are usually sad or serious, especially death)· The plot contains plenty of black comedy.
(=about serious subjects, especially death)· There are several murders in this black comedy set in Florida.
· The city has a large Asian community.
· a little boy with a tangle of blond curls
(=where people wear special formal clothes)· He was invited to a black-tie dinner at one of the Oxford colleges.
(=be very dirty)· Jack came in from the garden, his hands black with dirt.
Priscilla’s hair was dyed jet black. especially British English (=business activity in which people buy and sell goods illegally, without paying tax)· Illegal immigrants have to seek work in the black economy.
· his long black hair
literary (=completely black)· She had shiny jet black hair, and skin as white as snow.
(=jokes, funny stories etc about the unpleasant parts of life)· The tone of the film is light but there are moments of black humour.
(=a layer of thin ice on a road that is very difficult to see)· Black ice on the roads is making driving conditions very dangerous.
(=intended to harm people)· The candles had been used for black magic.
· There were black marks all over the floor.
British English (=very angry or sad)· His earlier black mood seemed to have gone.
· The bird has a large black patch on each side of its neck.
· There is a black and white photo of Sly Stone on the wall of their flat.
The night was as black as pitch (=very dark). (=black or white people who live in a place)· Unemployment is greater among the black population.
· There is still a lot of prejudice against women in positions of authority.
· She saw the dark shadow of a man in the doorway.
· Her shoes and handbag were brown.
· a girl with beautiful dark skin
· Fireworks burst up into the dark sky.
· Black smoke poured out of the engine.
(=without milk)· I ordered black tea and toast.
· They had an old black and white television in the garage.
Usually I wear black, grey, or brown.· Heat a wok or heavy-based pan, add the black bean sauce and heat gently.· Combine salsa with spices and black beans.· Specialities include black bean soup, seafood crepes, chicken enchilada and filet mignon.· Enchiladas verdes con pollo with black beans and rice.· Hardly surprising then, that there's rather more to our Chicken in Blackbean Sauce than just chicken and black beans.· The chicken version is filled with corn, black beans, peppers, onions, melted cheese and of course, chicken.· Huge tubs hold bubbling black beans -- no lard, no lie.· Place chicken on top of pasta, then ladle black beans on top.
· They're still looking for his black box.· This plant also builds complex black boxes.· It was a small black box, rather like the Thing, mounted on little treads.· New investigative techniques have opened up the black box of the brain and have begun to shed light on its inner workings.· Claire jams the black box into her shoulder bag.· Just about everybody else I know of who watched it owns one of those black boxes.· A long black box passed at their feet.
· I no longer drank black coffee nor smoked, so I could only chew my almonds and sip my herb tea.· That morning he stretched his back and sipped black coffee and enjoyed the sudden, urgent peristalsis of a much younger man.· Amy leaned forward and put her mug on the black coffee table. ` She's right, you know.· She served us each a small cup of thick black coffee and poured one for herself.· Whereas traditional politicians offer visitors green tea, the Reform of Heisei serves black coffee.· Crusty white bread, aromatic black coffee with thick sweet cream and buttery cheese had accompanied them.· I hollered for fortified wines and drank quarts of tongue-frazzling black coffee.
· And then there is black comedy.· Even black comedies should be taken seriously by their makers.· I thought it was a campy black comedy.· This haunting black comedy touches and menaces in equal parts.· Alternatively the violation can be inverted; like a black comedy, or the assertion of a stark revenge or retribution.· This was on-the-edge black comedy that dispelled any vestige of condescension that might have been felt towards the performers.
· It seems that reasonable cars and the black community, at least in the eyes of the police, do not go together.· They are trying to slight the black community.· It is said that there is now a comic for everyone and indeed the gay and black communities have thriving titles.· But we knew there was a market in the black community for Richard.· The case has again focused attention on tension between Miami's police force and the city's black community.· And prophylactic drug use soared, particularly in the black community.· The first step was to research the needs and attitudes of the black community by contacting community groups that represent them.· Such patterns have helped fuel questions in the black community about whether the vote was fair on Election Day.
· I settled on one of my favourites-a simple black dress.· She was singing on a stage in back of the bar and was wearing a black dress.· Biddy, in her neat little black dress, was busy serving food.· She is wearing a black dress and pearls, and a stole is strewn on the front seat.· Rose was wearing a dull black cardigan over a black dress.· The women wore severe black dresses or full-length black kimono.· The streets flowed with rivers of women dressed in their plain black dresses, all on their way to work.
· Several congressmen went home with black eyes and serious neck injuries.· I saw the whites of his black eyes as he rolled them up at me.· A pair of sharp black eyes looked her up and down out of the most wasted features Miss Kyte had ever seen.· He came home one day with a black eye.· Fernando Serra's black eyes narrowed angrily at her and then settled on the waiter.· She cringed from the stare of those wide, black eyes that demanded nothing of her except that she not see him.· It also has a black eye stripe and one at the rear.· Her somnolent black eyes and tenderly pursed pink lips intrude upon the eggshell delicacy of her face with the most delicate affection.
· The former Shah's advocacy of a collective security pact was a further black mark against the Gulf scheme.· Still, you could almost see the black mark being registered against the name of the man who had asked the question.· A mini-breakdown was less of a black mark than a criminal record if he should ever choose to emigrate.· They reduced his manuscript to a patchwork of black marks.· Irina had put a black mark against him with Rakovsky.· But there is one black mark.· Why is not immediately obvious but sufficiently worrying to put a black mark against the program.· You get a black mark next to your name that may show up in your next evaluation.
· For the first time the black market has been upstaged-and, ironically, brought into the official fold.· They have blamed high taxes for the growth of a black market in cigarettes.· Apart from drugs, detectives believe money is laundered from a variety of black market deals involving arms and high technology.· In doing so it creates a black market, which radically inflates profits for producers and traffickers.· Another consequence of the artificially stimulated excess demand for food was the creation of black markets.· Take the black market for foreign luxury cars, Chan said.· Here items in short supply are sold at inflated prices - but still generally lower than on the black market.· The black market for hot art now ranks third behind drug smuggling and the trade in illicit guns.
· Scatter the freshly chopped herbs over the tomatoes and lightly season with salt and black pepper. 3.· Sprinkle with the cheese, black pepper and bread crumbs.· At the last moment, add the lemon juice and black pepper to the bacon.· Add coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper.· Tuck wings behind back and lightly season quail inside and out with salt and black pepper.· Season with salt and ground black pepper. 6 Spoon into large ovenproof dish.· Add mushrooms, onions, walnuts, salt, black pepper and thyme.
· Hal was thin, his long black tie didn't help him look any plumper but he didn't want to.· Mr Alsop generally wore a velvet smoking jacket to dinner; the young men wore black tie.· Dressed in a smart, grey suit and black tie, the former Beatle looked very happy.· If the invitation says black tie optional, take the option.· Connon, rather pale but perfectly composed, wearing a dark suit and a black tie, stood in the open doorway.· He wore a navy-blue suit, white shirt and black tie.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY► not be as black as you are paintedPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► black-bellied/fat-bellied/big-bellied etc► black/elegant etc (little) number
1colour having the darkest colour, like coal or night: - It is almost impossible to borrow money if you have any black marks against you.
- A mini-breakdown was less of a black mark than a criminal record if he should ever choose to emigrate.
- Incidentally, Willoughby, you've earned yourself a black mark for that little trouble.
- Irina had put a black mark against him with Rakovsky.
- It would be a good mark, not a black mark.
- The exam league tables have also been given a black mark by teaching unions.
- The outcome will be recorded but the finding does not constitute a black mark on the record of the officer involved.
- Why is not immediately obvious but sufficiently worrying to put a black mark against the program.
- You get a black mark next to your name that may show up in your next evaluation.
- "Is the film 'Casablanca' in colour?'' "No, it's in black and white.''
- Black and white TV sets are now very cheap to buy.
- an exhibition of black and white photos
- A small black and white quarter horse was nibbling grass among the trees.
- Co. are responding in stark black and white.
- More than 350 colour and black and white photos, and illustrations.
- Razor bills are black and white with deep, square bills.
- That perception of inferiority in turn means that some sort of caste barrier is erected between black and white.
- The black and white feeds in a narrow range of tree species and when none is fruiting it eats leaves.
- There are now genuine friendships among black and white leaders and there has been progress.
- This allows real-life 3-D objects to be digitised in both black and white and colour.
- The rules are there in black and white for everyone to see.
- It must recognize the validity of the black experience in a white-dominated world.
- The male experience is seen as a universal experience, while the female experience is put in a different pigeonhole.
- The powers that be were not interested in continuing that serious focus on the black experience.
- It was a bit like the pot calling the kettle black.
- We shouldn't accept the analysis of the token woman.
- You have to be both token woman and superwoman to come anywhere near a shortlist that disenfranchises most of the male population.
- Another astute electoral move helped to win 70% of the black vote for Kennedy.
- Ashcroft also addressed concerns raised about allegations of voter intimidation and other problems in Florida that may have depressed the black vote.
- Christie Whitman got 25 percent of the black vote in New Jersey.
- George Allen received 22 percent of the black vote.
- One of the keys to the Republican victory was the black vote.
- Q: Can the Democratic Party afford to take the black vote for granted?
- The drop in the black vote was estimated to be more than one hundred thousand.
a black evening dressjet/inky black (=very dark) jet black hair2no light very dark because there is no light: It was still pitch black (=very dark) out.3people (also Black) a)belonging to the race of people who originally came from Africa and who have dark brown skin: Over half the students are black. b)[only before noun] relating to black people: politics from a black perspective Black and Asian music4drink [only before noun] black coffee or tea does not have milk in it OPP white: Black coffee, no sugar, please.5dirty informal very dirtybe black with soot/dirt/age etc6without 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.7humour making jokes about serious subjects, especially death: a very black joke8angry [only before noun] full of feelings of anger or hate: Denise gave me a black look.9a black mark (against somebody) if there is a black mark against you, someone has a bad opinion of you because of something you have done10not be as black as you are painted not to be as bad as people say you are11bad literary very bad: black deeds—blackness noun- Churchill, Sir Winston
- churchman
- Church of England
- Church of Ireland
- Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Church of Scotland
- church school
- churchwarden
- churchwoman
- churchyard
- churlish
- churn
- chute
- Chutes and Ladders
- chutney
- chutzpah
- Chávez, Cesar
- CIA
- ciabatta
- ciao
- cicada
- Cicero, Marcus Tullius
- CID
- -cidal
- -cidally