Black

blak, adj. of the darkest colour: without colour: obscure: dismal: sullen: horrible: dusky: foul, dirty: malignant: dark-haired, wearing dark armour or clothes.— n. black colour: absence of colour: a negro: mourning: the dark smut which attacks wheat: a speck of black on the face, a sooty particle in the air: black clothes, esp. dre trousers.— v.t. to make black: to soil or stain: to draw in black.— n. Black′amoor , a black Moor: a negro.— adjs. Black′-and-tan , having black hair on the back, and tan or yellowish-brown elsewhere, esp. of a terrier; Black′-a-vised , of dark complexion (probably originally black-à-vis ).— v.t. Black′ball , to reject in voting by putting a black ball into a ballot-box.— ns. Black′balling , the act of so rejecting a candidate; Black′-band , iron ore containing enough of coal to calcine it; Black′-bee′tle , a cockroach; Black′berry , the berry of the bramble; Black′bird , a species of thrush of a black colour: a current name for a negro or Polynesian kidnapped for labour; Black′birding , the kidnapping of such; Black′board , a board painted black, used in schools for writing, forming figures, .— adjs. Black′-bod′ing , of evil omen; Black′-browed , having black eyebrows: sullen.— ns. Black′-cap , a bird, a species of warbler, so called from its black crown: ( cook. ) an apple roasted until it is black, and served up in a custard: the full-dre cap put on by English judges when about to pronounce sentence of death; Black′-catt′le , oxen, bulls, and cows; Black′-chalk , a variety of clay-slate of a bluish-black colour, used for drawing, and also for making black paint; Black′cock , a species of grouse, common in the north of England and in Scotland; Black′-curr′ant , a garden shrub with black fruit used in making preserves; Black′-death , a name given to the plague of the 14th century from the black spots which appeared on the skin; Black′-draught , the popular name for a purgative medicine consisting chiefly of senna and Epsom salts; Black′-drop , a liquid preparation of opium, vinegar, and sugar.— v.t. Black′en , to make black: to defame.— adj. Black′faced , having a black face: dismal.— ns. Black′-flag , the flag of a pirate, or that hoisted at the execution of a criminal—from its colour; Black′-friar , a friar of the Dominican order, so called from his black mantle (over a white woollen habit): ( pl. ) the region in a city, as London, where their convent stood; Blackguard (blag′ärd), originally applied to the lowest menials about a court, who took charge of the pots, kettles, .: a low, ill-conducted fellow.— adj. low: scurrilous.— v.t. to treat as a blackguard; v.i. to play the blackguard.— n. Black′guardism .— adv. Black′guardly .— ns. Black′-heart′edne ; Black′-hole , formerly the name for the punishment-cell in a barrack: the memorable black-hole in the Fort-William barracks at Calcutta, into which, in in 1756, as many as 146 Europe ans were thrust over night, of whom only 23 were found surviving in the morning; Black′ing , a substance used for blacking leather, .— adj. Black′ish .— ns. Black′-jack , a ve el for holding drink, originally made of leather: ( naut. ) the flag of a pirate; Black′-lead , a black mineral (plumbago, not lead) used in making pencils, blacking grates, .; Black′leg , a low, gambling fellow: a turf-swindler: a term applied by strikers to men willing to work for the wages against which themselves have struck—also Black′-neb ; Black′-let′ter , the old English (also called Gothic) letter ( IMG:c174_Chambers_1908_Black letter.png_utm_source_en.wiki source.org_utm_campaign_parser_utm_content_thumbnail:Chambers_1908_Black letter.png-120px-Chambers_1908_Black letter.png?utm_source=en.wiki source.org _campaign=parser _content=thumbnail ); Black′-list , a list of defaulters; Black′-Marī′a , the closely covered, usually black-painted van in which prisoners are conveyed between the court and the prison; Black′-Mon′day , Easter Monday, so called on account of the sufferings experienced by the army of Edward III. from the severity of the weather on that day in 1360; Black′-monk , a monk of the order of St Benedict, from his garments; Black′ne ; Black′-pudd′ing , a blood-pudding (q.v.).; Black′-rod , the usher of the chapter of the Garter and of the House of Lords, so called from the black wand tipped with a golden lion which he carries; Black′-sheep , a disreputable member of a family or group; Black′smith , a smith who works in iron, as opposed to a Whitesmith , or one who works in tin; Black′thorn , a species of dark-coloured thorn: the sloe: a stick made from its stem.— adjs. Black′-tre ed , having black tre es; Black-visaged (blak′-viz′ājd), having a black visage or appearance.— n. Black′-wash , a lotion of calomel and lime-water: anything that blackens.— Black and blue , with the livid colour of a bruise in the flesh; Black book , an official book bound in black, a book recording the names of persons deserving punishment; Black eye , an eye of which the iris is dark—a point of beauty: a discoloration around the eye due to a blow or fall; Black fellow , a native in Australia.— In black and white , in writing or in print: in art, in no colours but black and white.— To be black in the face , to have the face purple through strangulation, pa ion, or effort; To be in any one's black books , to have incurred any one's displeasure; To black out , to obliterate with black. [A.S. blac , blæc , black.]