*lack*

interj. [ Prob. from ah! lack! OE. lak loss, failure, misfortune. See Lack. ] An exclamation expressive of sorrow. [ Archaic. or Poet. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

interj. [ For alack the day. Cf. Lackaday. ] An exclamation expressing sorrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Shakespeare has “alack the day” and “alack the heavy day.” Compare “woe worth the day.” [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. discriminatory against black people; opposed to black people
Syn. -- racist [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ OE. blak, AS. blæc; akin to Icel. blakkr dark, swarthy, Sw. bläck ink, Dan. blæk, OHG. blach, LG. & D. blaken to burn with a black smoke. Not akin to AS. blāc, E. bleak pallid. √98. ] 1. Destitute of light, or incapable of reflecting it; of the color of soot or coal; of the darkest or a very dark color, the opposite of white; characterized by such a color; as, black cloth; black hair or eyes. [ 1913 Webster ]

O night, with hue so black! Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. In a less literal sense: Enveloped or shrouded in darkness; very dark or gloomy; as, a black night; the heavens black with clouds. [ 1913 Webster ]

I spy a black, suspicious, threatening cloud. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Fig.: Dismal, gloomy, or forbidding, like darkness; destitute of moral light or goodness; atrociously wicked; cruel; mournful; calamitous; horrible. “This day's black fate.” “Black villainy.” “Arise, black vengeance.” “Black day.” “Black despair.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Expressing menace, or discontent; threatening; sullen; foreboding; as, to regard one with black looks. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Black is often used in self-explaining compound words; as, black-eyed, black-faced, black-haired, black-visaged. [ 1913 Webster ]

Black act, the English statute 9 George I, which makes it a felony to appear armed in any park or warren, etc., or to hunt or steal deer, etc., with the face blackened or disguised. Subsequent acts inflicting heavy penalties for malicious injuries to cattle and machinery have been called black acts. --
Black angel (Zool.), a fish of the West Indies and Florida (Holacanthus tricolor), with the head and tail yellow, and the middle of the body black. --
Black antimony (Chem.), the black sulphide of antimony, Sb2S3, used in pyrotechnics, etc. --
Black bear (Zool.), the common American bear (Ursus Americanus). --
Black beast. See Bête noire. --
Black beetle (Zool.), the common large cockroach (Blatta orientalis). --
Black bonnet (Zool.), the black-headed bunting (Embriza Schœniclus) of Europe. --
Black canker, a disease in turnips and other crops, produced by a species of caterpillar. --
Black cat (Zool.), the fisher, a quadruped of North America allied to the sable, but larger. See Fisher. --
Black cattle, any bovine cattle reared for slaughter, in distinction from dairy cattle. [ Eng. ] --
Black cherry. See under Cherry. --
Black cockatoo (Zool.), the palm cockatoo. See Cockatoo. --
Black copper. Same as Melaconite. --
Black currant. (Bot.) See Currant. --
Black diamond. (Min.) See Carbonado. --
Black draught (Med.), a cathartic medicine, composed of senna and magnesia. --
Black drop (Med.), vinegar of opium; a narcotic preparation consisting essentially of a solution of opium in vinegar. --
Black earth, mold; earth of a dark color. Woodward. --
Black flag, the flag of a pirate, often bearing in white a skull and crossbones; a signal of defiance. --
Black flea (Zool.), a flea beetle (Haltica nemorum) injurious to turnips. --
Black flux, a mixture of carbonate of potash and charcoal, obtained by deflagrating tartar with half its weight of niter. Brande & C. --
Black Forest [ a translation of G. Schwarzwald ], a forest in Baden and Würtemburg, in Germany; a part of the ancient Hercynian forest. --
Black game, or
Black grouse. (Zool.) See Blackcock, Grouse, and Heath grouse. --
Black grass (Bot.), a grasslike rush of the species Juncus Gerardi, growing on salt marshes, and making good hay. --
Black gum (Bot.), an American tree, the tupelo or pepperidge. See Tupelo. --
Black Hamburg (grape) (Bot.), a sweet and juicy variety of dark purple or “black” grape. --
Black horse (Zool.), a fish of the Mississippi valley (Cycleptus elongatus), of the sucker family; the Missouri sucker. --
Black lemur (Zool.), the Lemurniger of Madagascar; the acoumbo of the natives. --
Black list, a list of persons who are for some reason thought deserving of censure or punishment; -- esp. a list of persons stigmatized as insolvent or untrustworthy, made for the protection of tradesmen or employers. See Blacklist, v. t. --
Black manganese (Chem.), the black oxide of manganese, MnO2. --
Black Maria, the close wagon in which prisoners are carried to or from jail. --
Black martin (Zool.), the chimney swift. See Swift. --
Black moss (Bot.), the common so-called long moss of the southern United States. See Tillandsia. --
Black oak. See under Oak. --
Black ocher. See Wad. --
Black pigment, a very fine, light carbonaceous substance, or lampblack, prepared chiefly for the manufacture of printers' ink. It is obtained by burning common coal tar. --
Black plate, sheet iron before it is tinned. Knight. --
Black quarter, malignant anthrax with engorgement of a shoulder or quarter, etc., as of an ox. --
Black rat (Zool.), one of the species of rats (Mus rattus), commonly infesting houses. --
Black rent. See Blackmail, n., 3. --
Black rust, a disease of wheat, in which a black, moist matter is deposited in the fissures of the grain. --
Black sheep, one in a family or company who is unlike the rest, and makes trouble. --
Black silver. (Min.) See under Silver. --
Black and tan, black mixed or spotted with tan color or reddish brown; -- used in describing certain breeds of dogs. --
Black tea. See under Tea. --
Black tin (Mining), tin ore (cassiterite), when dressed, stamped and washed, ready for smelting. It is in the form of a black powder, like fine sand. Knight. --
Black walnut. See under Walnut. --
Black warrior (Zool.), an American hawk (Buteo Harlani). [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Dark; murky; pitchy; inky; somber; dusky; gloomy; swart; Cimmerian; ebon; atrocious. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Sullenly; threateningly; maliciously; so as to produce blackness. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. That which is destitute of light or whiteness; the darkest color, or rather a destitution of all color; as, a cloth has a good black. [ 1913 Webster ]

Black is the badge of hell,
The hue of dungeons, and the suit of night. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A black pigment or dye. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A negro; a person whose skin is of a black color, or shaded with black; esp. a member or descendant of certain African races. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A black garment or dress; as, she wears black; pl. (Obs.) Mourning garments of a black color; funereal drapery. [ 1913 Webster ]

Friends weeping, and blacks, and obsequies, and the like show death terrible. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

That was the full time they used to wear blacks for the death of their fathers. Sir T. North. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The part of a thing which is distinguished from the rest by being black. [ 1913 Webster ]

The black or sight of the eye. Sir K. Digby. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A stain; a spot; a smooch. [ 1913 Webster ]

Defiling her white lawn of chastity with ugly blacks of lust. Rowley. [ 1913 Webster ]

Black and white, writing or print; as, I must have that statement in black and white. --
Blue black, a pigment of a blue black color. --
Ivory black, a fine kind of animal charcoal prepared by calcining ivory or bones. When ground it is the chief ingredient of the ink used in copperplate printing. --
Berlin black. See under Berlin. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blacked; p. pr. & vb. n. Blacking. ] [ See Black, a., and cf. Blacken. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To make black; to blacken; to soil; to sully. [ 1913 Webster ]

They have their teeth blacked, both men and women, for they say a dog hath his teeth white, therefore they will black theirs. Hakluyt. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sins which black thy soul. J. Fletcher. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make black and shining, as boots or a stove, by applying blacking and then polishing with a brush. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Black + Moor. ] A negro or negress. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. the dark color of a bruise in the flesh, which is accompanied with a mixture of blue. “To pinch the slatterns black and blue.” Hudibras. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. discolored by or as if by bruising; -- of skin. livid bruises
Syn. -- livid. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. print or writing, especially the result of the printing process.
Syn. -- print. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. (Photography, Imaging; Printing) depicted only in black and white colors, or in shades of gray; also called monochromatic and monochrome; -- of images. Opposite of color or in color, and contrasting with polychrome technicolor three-color; as, a black-and-white TV; black-and-white film; the movie “Schindler's List” was shot in black and white.
Syn. -- black and white, monochromatic, monochrome. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

The art practiced by conjurers and witches; necromancy; conjuration; magic. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This name was given in the Middle Ages to necromancy, under the idea that the latter term was derived from niger black, instead of nekro`s, a dead person, and mantei`a, divination. Wright. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Dark-visaged; swart. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A composition for blacking shoes, boots, etc.; also, one for taking impressions of engraved work. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A ball of black color, esp. one used as a negative in voting; -- in this sense usually two words. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blackballed p. pr. & vb. n. Blackballing. ] 1. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

He was blackballed at two clubs in succession. Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To blacken (leather, shoes, etc.) with blacking. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Min.) An earthy carbonate of iron containing considerable carbonaceous matter; -- valuable as an iron ore. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Zool.) 1. An edible, fresh-water fish of the United States, of the genus Micropterus. The small-mouthed kind is Micropterus dolomieī; the large-mouthed is Micropterus salmoides. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The sea bass. See Blackfish, 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Martial arts) a comedy that treats of morbid, tragic, gloomy, or grotesque situations as a major element of the plot. [ PJC ]

n. [ OE. blakberye, AS. blæcberie; blæc black + berie berry. ] 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. garden plant whose capsule discloses when ripe a mass of seeds resembling a blackberry.
Syn. -- leopard lily, Belamcanda chinensis. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Zool.) In England, a species of thrush (Turdus merula), a singing bird with a fin note; the merle. In America the name is given to several birds, as the Quiscalus versicolor, or crow blackbird; the Agelæus phœniceus, or red-winged blackbird; the cowbird; the rusty grackle, etc. See Redwing. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Among slavers and pirates, a negro or Polynesian. [ Cant, pejorative ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. A native of any of the islands near Queensland; -- called also Kanaka. [ Australia, pejorative ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. i. to engage in the slave trade. [ Colloq. ] [ PJC ]

n. A slave ship; a slaver. [ Colloq. ] F. T. Bullen. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. 1. The kidnaping of negroes or Polynesians to be sold as slaves. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. The act or practice of collecting natives of the islands near Queensland for service on the Queensland sugar plantations. [ Australia ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. One of several books of a political character, published at different times and for different purposes; -- so called either from the color of the binding, or from the character of the contents. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A book compiled in the twelfth century, containing a description of the court of exchequer of England, an official statement of the revenues of the crown, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A book containing details of the enormities practiced in the English monasteries and religious houses, compiled by order of their visitors under Henry VIII., to hasten their dissolution. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A book of admiralty law, of the highest authority, compiled in the reign of Edw. III. Bouvier. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A book kept for the purpose of registering the names of persons liable to censure or punishment, as in the English universities, or the English armies. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Any book which treats of necromancy. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. A book containing a black list. [ PJC ]

8. A book kept by a single man, containing a list of women whom he calls occasionally for a social date; -- usually used in the phrase little black book. [ jocose ] [ PJC ]

n. 1. 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. [ PJC ]

2. (aviation) a device which maintains a record of cockpit conversations and the readings of many of the instruments on board an aircraft, continuously or at frequent time intervals during a flight. It is of rugged design to withstand a violent crash, and is used to determine the causes of aircraft accidents. They are often brightly colored to assist recovery, not actually black. [ PJC ]

a. Having black eyebrows. Hence: Gloomy; dismal; threatening; forbidding. Shak. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Named from Mrs. Blackburn, an English lady. ] (Zool.) A beautiful warbler of the United States (Dendroica Blackburniæ). The male is strongly marked with orange, yellow, and black on the head and neck, and has an orange-yellow breast. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Zool.) (a) A small European song bird (Sylvia atricapilla), with a black crown; the mock nightingale. (b) An American titmouse (Parus atricapillus); the chickadee. Also called the black-cap chickadee. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Cookery) An apple roasted till black, to be served in a dish of boiled custard. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The black raspberry. [ 1913 Webster ]

Same as black cap{ 1b }. [ PJC ]

n. A clergyman; -- familiarly so called, as a soldier is sometimes called a redcoat or a bluecoat. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The male of the European black grouse (Tetrao tetrix, Linn.); -- so called by sportsmen. The female is called gray hen. See Heath grouse. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Drama) a comedy that treats of morbid, tragic, gloomy, or grotesque situations as a major element of the plot. [ PJC ]

A pestilence which ravaged Europe and Asia in the fourteenth century. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Blackened p. pr. & vb. n. Blackening. ] [ See Black, a., and cf. Black, v. t. ] 1. To make or render black. [ 1913 Webster ]

While the long funerals blacken all the way. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make dark; to darken; to cloud. “Blackened the whole heavens.” South. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To defame; to sully, as reputation; to make infamous; as, vice blackens the character. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To denigrate; defame; vilify; slander; calumniate; traduce; malign; asperse. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To grow black or dark. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who blackens. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having black eyes. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Bot.) (a) The coneflower, or yellow daisy (Rudbeckia hirta). (b) The bladder ketmie. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. Having a black, dark, or gloomy face or aspect. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. (Ethn.) A tribe of North American Indians formerly inhabiting the country from the upper Missouri River to the Saskatchewan, but now much reduced in numbers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) See Bluefin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Zool.) 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) The tautog of New England (Tautoga). [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) The black sea bass (Centropristis atrarius) of the Atlantic coast. It is excellent food fish; -- locally called also black Harry. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Zool.) A fish of southern Europe (Centrolophus pompilus) of the Mackerel family. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Zool.) The female salmon in the spawning season. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The name is locally applied to other fishes. [ 1913 Webster ]

. An organization composed originally of Chinese rebels that had been driven into Tonkin by the suppression of the Taiping rebellion, but later increased by bands of pirates and adventurers. It took a prominent part in fighting the French during their hostilities with Anam, 1873-85. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

, (Zool.) 1. In the United States, a small, venomous, two-winged fly of the genus Simulium of several species, exceedingly abundant and troublesome in the northern forests; -- called also buffalo gnat. The larvæ are aquatic. It sucks the blood of birds as well as humans and other mammals. [ WordNet 1.5 + WordNet 1.5 ]

2. A black plant louse, as the bean aphis (Aphis fabæ), which infests e. g. beans and sugar beets; -- called also bean aphid. [ WordNet 1.5 ]