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[blak] /blæk/

noun
1.
Hugo Lafayette, 1886–1971, U.S. political official: associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court 1937–71.
2.
(Sir) James Whyte [hwahyt,, wahyt] /ʰwaɪt,, waɪt/ (Show IPA), 1924–2010, English pharmacologist: Nobel prize 1988.
3.
Joseph, 1728–99, Scottish physician and chemist.
4.
Shirley Temple, .
/blæk/
adjective
1.
of the colour of jet or carbon black, having no hue due to the absorption of all or nearly all incident light Compare white (sense 1)
2.
without light; completely dark
3.
without hope or alleviation; gloomy: the future looked black
4.
very dirty or soiled: black factory chimneys
5.
angry or resentful: she gave him black looks
6.
(of a play or other work) dealing with the unpleasant realities of life, esp in a pessimistic or macabre manner: black comedy
7.
(of coffee or tea) without milk or cream
8.
causing, resulting from, or showing great misfortune: black areas of unemployment
9.

10.
causing or deserving dishonour or censure: a black crime
11.
(of the face) purple, as from suffocation
12.
(Brit) (of goods, jobs, works, etc) being subject to boycott by trade unionists, esp in support of industrial action elsewhere
noun
13.
a black colour
14.
a dye or pigment of or producing this colour
15.
black clothing, worn esp as a sign of mourning
16.
(chess, draughts)

17.
complete darkness: the black of the night
18.
a black ball in snooker, etc
19.
(in roulette and other gambling games) one of two colours on which players may place even bets, the other being red
20.
in the black, in credit or without debt
21.
(archery) a black ring on a target, between the outer and the blue, scoring three points
verb
22.
another word for blacken
23.
(transitive) to polish (shoes, etc) with blacking
24.
(transitive) to bruise so as to make black: he blacked her eye
25.
(transitive) (Brit & Austral, NZ) (of trade unionists) to organize a boycott of (specified goods, jobs, work, etc), esp in support of industrial action elsewhere
/blæk/
noun
1.
a member of a human population having dark pigmentation of the skin
adjective
2.
of or relating to a Black person or Black people: a Black neighbourhood
/blæk/
noun
1.
Sir James (Whyte). 1924–2010, British biochemist. He discovered beta-blockers and drugs for peptic ulcers: Nobel prize for physiology or medicine 1988
2.
Joseph. 1728–99, Scottish physician and chemist, noted for his pioneering work on carbon dioxide and heat
adj.

Old English blæc “dark,” from Proto-Germanic *blakaz “burned” (cf. Old Norse blakkr “dark,” Old High German blah “black,” Swedish bläck “ink,” Dutch blaken “to burn”), from PIE *bhleg- “to burn, gleam, shine, flash” (cf. Greek phlegein “to burn, scorch,” Latin flagrare “to blaze, glow, burn”), from root *bhel- (1) “to shine, flash, burn;” see bleach (v.).

The same root produced Old English blac “bright, shining, glittering, pale;” the connecting notions being, perhaps, “fire” (bright) and “burned” (dark). The usual Old English word for “black” was sweart (see swart). According to OED: “In ME. it is often doubtful whether blac, blak, blake, means ‘black, dark,’ or ‘pale, colourless, wan, livid.’ ” Used of dark-skinned people in Old English.

Of coffee, first attested 1796. Meaning “fierce, terrible, wicked” is late 14c. The color of sin and sorrow since at least c.1300; sense of “with dark purposes, malignant” emerged 1580s (e.g. black magic). Black face in reference to a performance style originated in U.S., is from 1868. Black flag, flown (especially by pirates) as a signal of “no mercy,” from 1590s. Black dog “melancholy” attested from 1826. Black belt is from 1875 in reference to districts of the U.S. South with heaviest African population; 1870 with reference to fertility of soil; 1913 in judo sense. Black power is from 1966, associated with Stokely Carmichael.
v.

c.1200, “to become black;” early 14c., “to make black, darken;” from black (adj.). Related: Blacked; blacking.
n.

Old English blæc “the color black,” also “ink,” from noun use of black (adj.). From late 14c. as “dark spot in the pupil of the eye.” The meaning “black person, African” is from 1620s (perhaps late 13c., and blackamoor is from 1540s). To be in the black (1922) is from the accounting practice of recording credits and balances in black ink.

For years it has been a common practice to use red ink instead of black in showing a loss or deficit on corporate books, but not until the heavy losses of 1921 did the contrast in colors come to have a widely understood meaning. [“Saturday Evening Post,” July 22, 1922]

Black (blāk), Sir James Whyte. Born 1924.

British pharmacologist. He shared a 1988 Nobel Prize for developing drugs to treat heart disease and stomach and duodenal ulcers.
Black, Joseph 1728-1799.
British chemist who in 1756 discovered carbon dioxide, which he called “fixed air.” In addition to further studies of carbon dioxide, Black formulated the concepts of latent heat and heat capacity.
Black
(blāk)
British pharmacologist who discovered the first beta-blocker, which led to the development of safer and more effective drugs to treat high blood pressure and heart disease. Black also developed a blocker for gastric acid production that revolutionized the treatment of stomach ulcers. He shared with Gertrude Elion and George Hitchings the 1988 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine.

adjective

Related Terms

in the black

properly the absence of all colour. In Prov. 7:9 the Hebrew word means, as in the margin of the Revised Version, “the pupil of the eye.” It is translated “apple” of the eye in Deut. 32:10; Ps. 17:8; Prov. 7:2. It is a different word which is rendered “black” in Lev. 13:31,37; Cant. 1:5; 5:11; and Zech. 6:2, 6. It is uncertain what the “black marble” of Esther 1:6 was which formed a part of the mosaic pavement.