- 1 having the very darkest colour, like coal or the sky at night a shiny black car black storm clouds Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbvery, all, completely, … adjectivedeep, jet, pitch, … See full entry with no light
- 2 without light; completely dark a black night Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbvery, all, completely, … adjectivedeep, jet, pitch, … See full entry people
- 3 (also Black) belonging to a race of people who have dark skin; connected with black people a black woman writer black culture Black is the word most widely used and generally accepted in Britain. In the US the currently accepted term is African American. See related entries: Race tea/coffee
- 4 without milk Two black coffees, please. compare white dirty
- 5 very dirty; covered with dirt chimneys black with smoke Go and wash your hands; they're absolutely black! angry
- 6full of anger or hatred She's been in a really black mood all day. Rory shot her a black look. depressing
- 7without hope; very depressing The future looks pretty black. It's been another black day for the north-east with the announcement of further job losses. evil
- 8(literary) evil or immoral black deeds/lies humour
- 9 dealing with unpleasant or terrible things, such as murder, in a humorous way ‘Good place to bury the bodies,’ she joked with black humour. The play is a black comedy. see also blackly Word OriginOld English blæc, of Germanic origin.Extra examples It was pitch black outside. She had beautiful jet-black hair. The sky looks very black. His hands were all black from messing with the car. He denounced these acts as ‘black deeds‘. It’s been another black day for the north-east with the announcement of further job losses. My head banged on a rock and everything went black. The future looks pretty black, I’m afraid. The wind and rain intensified the black darkness outside. Through the black night came the sound of thunder. a black girl a black man/woman equality for blacks and whitesIdioms
colour
(to hit somebody until they are) covered with bruises (= blue, brown or purple marks on the body) More Like ThisAlliteration in idioms belt and braces, (beat somebody) black and blue, born and bred, chalk and cheese, chop and change, done and dusted, down and dirty, in dribs and drabs, eat somebody out of house and home, facts and figures, fast and furious, first and foremost, forgive and forget, hale and hearty, hem and haw, kith and kin, mix and match, part and parcel of something, puff and pant, go to rack and ruin, rant and rave, risk life and limb, short and sweet, signed and sealed, spic and span, through thick and thin, this and that, top and tail something, tried and tested/trusted, wax and waneSee worksheet.
not as bad as people say he/she/it is He's not very friendly, but he's not as black as he's painted.
(saying, informal) used to say that you should not criticize somebody for a fault that you have yourself
Check pronunciation: black
