a comedy that treats of morbid, tragic, gloomy, or grotesque situations as a major element of the plot.
Loading earlier words…
any electronic instrument or part of an instrument whose function is defined, but which is treated as a unit without consideration of the internal mechanisms; broadly, any device whose internal workings are considered as incomprehensible or mysterious by the user; as, to treat the meter as a black box and take its readings on faith.
a comedy that treats of morbid, tragic, gloomy, or grotesque situations as a major element of the plot.
the popular name for a form of the chronic lung disease pneumoconiosis which is observed among coal miners, and is caused by the inhalation of coal dust. It is thus named because of the black appearance of the lungs (pneumomelanosis) of those affected with the disease. See also the related condition anthracosis.
the illicit buying and selling of goods, in violation of price controls, rationing, tax laws, prohibition of sale, etc.
to cause to become black, such as a stage, a computer screen, or a city.
Dark-visaged; swart.
discolored by or as if by bruising; -- of skin.
Having black eyebrows. Hence: Gloomy; dismal; threatening; forbidding.
Having black eyes.
Having a black, dark, or gloomy face or aspect.
a weasellike mammal (Mustela nigripes) inhabiting the western North American prairie, having dark feet, a dark-tipped tail, and a dark face on a yellowish-brown coat. It is an endangered species.
having black head hair; -- of people.
Having a wicked, malignant disposition; morally bad.
A name given by English miners to sphalerite, or zinc blende; -- called also false galena. See Blende.
To coat or to polish with black lead (graphite).
Written or printed in black letter; as, a black-letter manuscript or book.
distributed or sold illicitly.
Using foul or scurrilous language; slanderous.
requiring semiformal evening clothes, e. g. a black bowtie and a tuxedo or dinner jacket for men, and a formal dress for women; contrasted with white-tie, for a fully formal occasion, and with informal, and casual.
A negro or negress.
To vote against, by putting a black ball into a ballot box; to reject or exclude, as by voting against with black balls; to ostracize.
An earthy carbonate of iron containing considerable carbonaceous matter; -- valuable as an iron ore.
The fruit of several species of bramble (Rubus); also, the plant itself. Rubus fruticosus is the blackberry of England; Rubus villosus and Rubus Canadensis are the high blackberry and low blackberry of the United States. There are also other kinds.
garden plant whose capsule discloses when ripe a mass of seeds resembling a blackberry.
to engage in the slave trade.
A slave ship; a slaver.
The kidnaping of negroes or Polynesians to be sold as slaves.
A broad board painted black, or any black surface on which writing, drawing, or the working of mathematical problems can be done with chalk or crayons. It is much used in schools. In late 20th century similar boards of a green slate as well as some colored white became common; wrioting on the slate bioards may be done with chalk, but writing on the white boards is done with colored pens, such as grease pens, which leaves a trace that can be easily erased. The newer boards, usualy called chalkboards are nevertheless still sometimes referred to as blackboards.
A small European song bird (Sylvia atricapilla), with a black crown; the mock nightingale. An American titmouse (Parus atricapillus); the chickadee. Also called the black-cap chickadee.
A clergyman; -- familiarly so called, as a soldier is sometimes called a redcoat or a bluecoat.
The male of the European black grouse (Tetrao tetrix, Linn.); -- so called by sportsmen. The female is called gray hen. See Heath grouse.
To grow black or dark.
One who blackens.
A tribe of North American Indians formerly inhabiting the country from the upper Missouri River to the Saskatchewan, but now much reduced in numbers.
See Bluefin.
A small kind of whale, of the genus Globicephalus, of several species. The most common is Globicephalus melas. Also sometimes applied to other whales of larger size.
Of or pertaining to the Blackfeet; as, a Blackfoot Indian. A Blackfoot Indian.
Scurrilous; abusive; low; worthless; vicious; as, blackguard language.
The conduct or language of a blackguard; ruffianism.
In the manner of or resembling a blackguard; abusive; scurrilous; ruffianly.
The scaup duck.
A heart-shaped cherry with a very dark-colored skin.
Any preparation for making things black; esp. one for giving a black luster to boots and shoes, or to stoves.
Somewhat black.
A notorious gambler.
To put in a black list as deserving of suspicion, censure, or punishment; esp. to put in a list of persons stigmatized as insolvent or untrustworthy, -- as tradesmen and employers do for mutual protection; as, to blacklist a workman who has been discharged. See Black list, under Black, a.
In a black manner; darkly, in color; gloomily; threateningly; atrociously.
To extort money from by exciting fears of injury other than bodily harm, as injury to reputation, distress of mind, etc.; as, to blackmail a merchant by threatening to expose an alleged fraud.
One who extorts, or endeavors to extort, money, by black mailing.
The act or practice of extorting money by exciting fears of injury other than bodily harm, as injury to reputation.
See Blackamoor.
The quality or state of being black; black color; atrociousness or enormity in wickedness.
a suspension of radio or tv broadcasting.
A warbler of the United States (Dendroica striata).
See Colicroot.
The name of a kind of in used in copperplate printing, prepared from the charred husks of the grape, and residue of the wine press.
One who makes crude potash, or black salts.
A smith who works in iron with a forge, and makes iron utensils, horseshoes, etc.
A snake of a black color, of which two species are common in the United States, the Bascanium constrictor, or racer, sometimes six feet long, and the Scotophis Alleghaniensis, seven or eight feet long.
A mixture of spirituous liquor (usually rum) and molasses.
A fish; the ruff or pope.
A spreading thorny shrub or small tree (Prunus spinosa), with blackish bark, and bearing little black plums, which are called sloes; the sloe. A species of Crat/gus or hawthorn (Crat/gus tomentosa). Both are used for hedges.
a bituminous material used for providing a smooth paving to a road.
paved with a bituminous material; -- of roads or paths; as, a blacktopped driveway.
same as defame.
A lotion made by mixing calomel and lime water.
any of several human or animal diseases characterized by dark urine resulting from rapid breakdown of red blood cells; -- used especially of blackwater fever, a severe form of malaria caused by the blood parasite Plasmodium falciparum.
A name given to several dark-colored timbers. The East Indian black wood is from the tree Dalbergia latifolia.
Work wrought by blacksmiths; -- so called in distinction from that wrought by whitesmiths.
To swell out like a bladder with air; to inflate.
similar to a bladder.
a medium-sized blackish-gray seal (Cystophora cristata) with a large inflatable sac on the head; of Arctic-Atlantic waters.
a North American wild lobelia (Lobelia inflata) having small blue flowers and inflated capsules formerly used as an antispasmodic.
A genus (Utricularia) of aquatic or marshy plants, which usually bear numerous vesicles in the divisions of the leaves. These serve as traps for minute animals. See Ascidium.
similar to and found with black rockweed.
Having bladders; also, resembling a bladder.
To put forth or have a blade.
The scapula. See Blade, 4.
Having a blade or blades; as, a two-bladed knife.
A long, thin, marine fish of Europe (Trichiurus lepturus); the ribbon fish.
A sword cutler.
Consisting of blades.
Dark blue or bluish gray; lead-colored.
The bilberry.
Mendacious boasting; falsehood; humbug.
An inflammatory swelling or sore; a bulla, pustule, or blister.
Deserving of censure; faulty; culpable; reprehensible; censurable; blameworthy.
An expression of disapprobation fir something deemed to be wrong; imputation of fault; censure.
same as blameworthy.
Faulty; meriting blame.
Free from blame; without fault; innocent; guiltless; -- sometimes followed by of.
In a blameless manner.
The quality or state of being blameless; innocence.
One who blames.
Deserving blame; culpable; reprehensible.
A white cosmetic.
A kind of linen cloth made in Normandy, the thread of which is partly blanched before it is woven.
Ore, not in masses, but mixed with other minerals.
One who, or that which, frightens away or turns aside.
An instrument for measuring the bleaching power of chloride of lime and potash; a chlorometer.
A preparation for desserts, etc., made from isinglass, sea moss, cornstarch, or other gelatinous or starchy substance, with milk, usually sweetened and flavored, and shaped in a mold.
A sort of fricassee with white sauce, variously made of capon, fish, etc.
Flattery.
Mild, flattering speech.
Fair-spoken; flattering.
To blandish any one.
To flatter with kind words or affectionate actions; to caress; to cajole.
One who uses blandishments.
The act of blandishing; a word or act expressive of affection or kindness, and tending to win the heart; soft words and artful caresses; cajolery; allurement.
In a bland manner; mildly; suavely.
The state or quality of being bland.
To make void; to annul.
To cover with a blanket.
Cloth for blankets.
In a blank manner; without expression; vacuously; as, to stare blankly.
The state of being blank.
A white fricassee.
A large fish of Florida and the W. Indies (Caulolatilus chrysops). It is red, marked with yellow.
The harsh noise of a trumpet; a loud and somewhat harsh noise, like the blast of a trumpet; a roar or bellowing.
a genus of mammals consisting of the shrews.
Loading more words…