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blackadj.n. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Cognate with Middle Dutch blac ink, Old Saxon blac ink (Middle Low German blak ink, black dye, black colour), Old High German blah- (only in blah-faro of the colour of ink, blah-māl niello decoration (Middle High German blach-māl ), blah-mālōn to decorate with niello); further etymology uncertain; on formal grounds the word could be from a base related to the Germanic bases of blank adj. and the various forms discussed at blik v., but since this would give an expected meaning ‘shining, white’ there is an obvious semantic difficulty; many have sought to resolve this by hypothesizing that the word meaning ‘black’ originated as a past participle (with the meaning ‘burnt, blackened’) of a verb meaning ‘to burn (brightly)’ derived from this base; this verb may perhaps be reflected by Middle Dutch blaken (Dutch blaken) to flame, to burn.Forms in North Germanic languages. Old Icelandic blakkr and related words in other North Germanic languages probably show a development from the Germanic base of blank adj., and hence, although perhaps ultimately related, do not show close morphological parallels. It is likely that the various different meanings documented in Old Icelandic (probably ‘pale’, ‘yellowy brown’, ‘dark brown’, and ‘grey’, chiefly in describing the colour of animals) show semantic developments unrelated to that shown by the English word. Old Icelandic blek ink and related words in other North Germanic languages probably show a borrowing from Old English: see further bleck n. (which may show a reborrowing from early Scandinavian). With use as noun compare also blatch n. Form history. The β. forms reflect early Middle English lengthening in open syllables (although some instances of β. spellings may correspond to pronunciations with a short vowel, and likewise some instances of α. spellings may correspond to pronunciations with a long vowel). From an early date the orthographical forms of this word and of blake adj. show some overlap, and consequently the two words can sometimes be difficult to distinguish where the context does not make clear which word is intended. In addition to identity in certain spellings, occasional overlap of pronunciation perhaps also occurred already in Old English due to the shortening of long vowels before consonant clusters (i.e. in compounds and some inflected forms of blake adj.); in Middle English, after lengthening in open syllables in inflected forms of black adj. (compare β. forms), the two words would potentially have had the same pronunciation in northern dialects. In some instances it is unclear which word is shown by a particular example (compare also note at sense A. 4a); a selection of ambiguous examples is given below. (The two Old English verse examples (quots. OE1, OE2) appear to show respectively a metrically short form, i.e. black adj., in a context where one might expect blake adj., and a metrically long form, i.e. blake adj., in a context where one might expect black adj.) Compare:eOE Let. to Edward the Elder (Sawyer 1445) in F. E. Harmer Sel. Eng. Hist. Docs. 9th & 10th Cent. (1914) 30 Ða wæs ic ðara monna sum ðe ðærto genemned wæran, & Wihtbord & Ælfric..& Byrhthelm & Wulfhun ðes blaca æt Sumortune.OE Phoenix 296 Þonne is se finta fægre gedæled, sum brun, sum basu, sum blacum splottum searolice beseted [L. fulvo distincta metallo].OE Christ & Satan 195 Læte him to bysne hu þa blacan feond for oferhygdum ealle forwurdon.c1225 (?c1200) Sawles Warde (Bodl.) (1938) 8 His leor deaðlich & blac & elheowet.c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 9924 Ænne stunde he wes blac and on heuwe swiðe wak. ane while he wes reod.c1330 Roland & Vernagu (Auch.) (1882) l. 434 [Charlemagne was] of a stern sight, Blac of here & rede of face.a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 179 If þou wolt make hem [sc. hairs] blac [L. albos].c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness l. 747 I am bot erþe ful evel and usle so blake.c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) v. l. 2525 Þe riȝt weye he toke To ship ageyn, pale & blak of hewe.?a1475 Ludus Coventriae (1922) 2 Ther were flourys bothe blewe and blake.c1475 (a1400) Awntyrs Arthure (Taylor) in J. Robson Three Early Eng. Metrical Romances (1842) 5 Alle bare was the body, and blak by the bone.a1500 Life St. Alexius (Titus) (1878) l. 236 No man..hym knwe, So was he lene and blake of hewe. The δ. forms apparently show the influence of forms of bleck n. (although the form blaik could alternatively be interpreted as showing a survival of blaik at β. forms). Sc. National Dict. (at cited word) records a pronunciation /blɔk/, indicative of the γ. forms, from Fife and Lothian. Semantic history. Comparative evidence indicates that swart adj. shows the reflex of the more usual colour term for ‘black’ in early Germanic (as still in Old English), which has gradually been replaced by black in this basic meaning in English. Compare the following Old English quotation, in which the basic Latin colour term niger is glossed as swart adj., while two other semantically similar words are rendered by black adj.: OE Ælfric Gram. (Durh.) 27 Niger sweart, ater blac, teter blac.Compare also the earlier attestation of swart adj. as a second element of compounds in sense A. 1c (see quot. OE at sense A. 1c). Metaphorical and figurative uses of words meaning ‘black’ with negative connotations similar to those found in English are widespread in other European languages, frequently in an antonymic relationship with senses of words meanings ‘white’. Similar uses are culturally widespread, but became particularly strong in the medieval Christian tradition. Uses with negative connotations proliferate in the early modern period (compare uses at branch A. II.), probably connected in part with negative cultural attitudes towards black people prevalent in the context of the Atlantic slave trade (compare use in senses A. 3 and B. 10). Use in names. The word occurs early as byname and surname, probably often in sense A. 2a. In early instances, it is frequently impossible to distinguish this from onomastic use of blake adj. (compare quot. eOE above), unless there is a disambiguating context or source as in quots. eOE, 1334-5 at sense A. 2a. In Old English the word also occasionally occurs by itself as a male personal name or as an element in personal names (compare discussion at black man n.). Similarly, the word occurs frequently in boundary markers in Anglo-Saxon charters and in place names, but, as it usually occurs in inflected forms and compounds, is especially difficult to distinguish formally from blake adj., if the geography of the location does not supply sufficient clues. Compare: OE Bounds (Sawyer 786) in D. Hooke Worcs. Anglo-Saxon Charter-bounds (1990) 215 Of hagan geate to þære blacan æc.OE Bounds (Sawyer 1248) in W. de G. Birch Cartularium Saxonicum (1885) I. 117 Of gibbe felde in þa blaca dic, andlang blaca dic into beferiþi.OE Bounds (Sawyer 360) in S. Miller Charters of New Minster, Winchester (2001) 19 Andlang streames on ðone blacan pol, of ðam blacan pole on hwelpes dell.Occasionally, interchange with another place-name element within the transmission suggests which of the two words is involved, as Blacbec (river name), Westmorland (1170–84; now Black Beck), also attested as Blabec (1200–14; compare blae adj.). Use with reference to the Benedictines. Earlier currency in sense A. 2b is perhaps implied by the following example (if Robertson's interpretation is accepted of the opaque blake had boc as meaning ‘book of the Black Order’, i.e. a copy of the Benedictine Rule):OE List of Service Bks., Bury St. Edmunds in A. J. Robertson Anglo-Saxon Charters (1956) 250 Þas bocas haueð Salomon preost, þæt is þe codspel traht & þe martyrliua..& Sigar preost þe leceboc & blake had boc, & Æilmer ðe grete sater & ðe litle tropere forbeande & ðe Donatum. xv bocas.However, reference to Benedictines as ‘Black Monks’ is not attested until considerably later (see Black Monk n. and its parallels in other languages), and several other solutions to this crux have been proposed; see further M. Lapidge & H. Gneuss Learning & Lit. in Anglo-Saxon Eng. (1985) 74–6. A. adj. I. literal. 1. the world > matter > colour > named colours > black or blackness > [adjective] the world > matter > colour > state or mode of having colour > absence of colour > [adjective] > pale eOE tr. Bede (Tanner) ii. xiii. 144 He..hæfde blæc feax [L. nigro capillo] & blacne ondwlitan. OE (2008) 1801 Hrefn blaca heofones wynne bliðheort bodode. OE Ælfric (St. John's Oxf.) 12 Niger coruus blac hrem. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon (Calig.) (1978) l. 8832 Ane blake claðe. c1380 (1879) l. 2461 (MED) Þan lai he þar so blac so pych. c1400 (?a1300) (Laud) (1952) l. 6111 (MED) Þe selue men of þe londe Weren blake so colowȝy bronde. a1450 (1885) 501 In helle to dwelle with feendes blake. ?1480 E. Bedyngfeld Let. 24 Sept. in (1975) 90 I pray you bie me on, but I had leuest haue chammelet, so it be blak, tawne or violet, but non other coler. 1542 in J. B. Paul (1908) VIII. 74 Thre elnis blak sating. 1551 W. Turner sig. H vjv The wood hath a black color and is myche desyred of men for to make pypes. 1598 W. Shakespeare iv. iii. 264 To looke like her are Chimnie-sweepers blake . View more context for this quotation 1611 Matt. v. 36 Thou canst not make one haire white or blacke . View more context for this quotation 1646 Sir T. Browne 88 From Small-coal ensueth the black colour and quick accension. View more context for this quotation 1670 F. Sandford sig. A/2 A Bed of State of Black Velvet..with Black Plumes at the Four corners of the Tester. 1770 G. Washington 15 Oct. (1925) I. 409 The Soil..being as black as Coal. 1785 J. Imison (1790) I. 194 Its back part is black, to stifle the rays that are reflected upon it. 1807 J. Robinson v. v. 425 They put on mourning garments, which were always black. 1842 Ld. Tennyson Gardener's Daughter in (new ed.) II. 20 That hair More black than ashbuds in the front of March. 1866 Mar. 370/2 In order to make the letters more visible they painted the stone of a black colour. a1933 J. A. Thomson (1934) II. 1449 Printer's ink has no vegetable basis, though its black colour is due to the element carbon. 1968 J. Turner i. 5 The vicar..had never thought it part of his duty to dress in a black suit and dog-collar all the time. 2001 N. Weinstock 32 The third passenger..was a thin woman in a witchy black dress. the world > matter > colour > named colours > black or blackness > [adjective] > blackish OE (1955) 129 Flaui uel mori, blace berian. c1225 (?c1200) (Royal) l. 364 (MED) Hare ahne blake blod to spitten ant te speowen. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xix. xxxiii. 1295 Drastes of blak wyne. a1475 (Sloane) (1862) 7 (MED) Take black sugur for mener menne. 1582 S. Batman iv. vii. f. 30/2 Other Beasts haue blacker bloud & thicker then mans bloud, and namelye Bulls and Asses. 1671 J. Archer i. xii. 88 All black wines, or deep Red are of thicker substance, and for the most part sweet, and nourish very much. 1715 A. Pope tr. Homer I. i. 608 The Priest himself..Pours the black Wine. 1853 C. Knight (1859) 417 On every road-side was what was familiarly termed ‘the black ditch’. In every alley was a lesser black ditch. 1859 J. M. Jephson & L. Reeve i. 3 The blackest of port-wine. 1932 ‘L. G. Gibbon’ ii. 125 She..saw father lying still in his blood, black blood it looked on his face where he'd fallen and mischieved himself against a stone. 2000 H. Stevenson (2002) 155 The soil in the vineyards on the terraced cliffs is brick red, and the vines produce a grape which is made into a thick, black glutinous wine. OE (1992) iv. 102 Oðre hwile he bið blæc & æhiwe; hwilum he bið collsweart.] c1275 (?c1250) (Calig.) (1935) l. 75 (MED) Þin eȝene boþ colblake & brode. a1477 (Oriel 79(2)) (1882) l. 44 Youre nayles loke they be not geet blake. 1598 J. Marston ii. v. sig. E4v Tuscus..Hath drawne false lights from pitch-black loueries. 1648 N. Ward 36 Like a soot-black Chimney-sweepers fist sheathed in a pure-white Glove. 1664 H. Power i. 6 In the sloe-black eye of the Dragon-fly or Adderbolt. 1710 No. 4782/4 Stolen or stray'd..a cole black Horse. 1771 P. Parsons II. 89 On his head, observe the jett-black glossy velvet cap. 1859 E. D. E. N. Southworth 74 His noble, coal-black steed. 1896 A. Cahan iv. 71 Her hair was concealed under a voluminous wig of a pitch-black hue. 1932 9 Jan. 25/4 The sun seemed to stream through a sudden rift in pit-black skies. 1989 B. Robinson (1998) 25 (stage direct.) A jade streak in his hair and night-black shades. 2010 Jan. 44/1 Lung-cauterizing hikes up ancient, slippery slopes, followed by torturous crawls over peat-black burns. 2. Characterized in some way by this quality or colour. the world > life > the body > skin > complexion > darkness > [adjective] the world > life > the body > hair > colour of hair > [adjective] > having dark hair eOE tr. Bede (Tanner) v. xi. 414 Wæs ðis tosceaden hweðre, þætte for hiora missenlice feaxes hiwe oðer wæs cueden se blaca Heawald, oðer se hwita Heawald [L. unus Niger Heuuald, alter Albus Heuuald diceretur]. ?c1190 Reginald of Durham (1847) cxlii. 417 In domo Herveii de Dunelmo cognomento Blache, id est Nigri. 1334–5 ( Writ of Edward the Confessor, Ramsey (Sawyer 1110) in F. E. Harmer (1952) 262 Brandes gerde, & Leofgares gerde & Ælfwines gerde þe Blace [L. virgatam Alfwini Nigri]. 1487 (a1380) J. Barbour (St. John's Cambr.) xix. 556 I dred me sair for the blak dowglass. a1500 (Marchm.) (1877) I. 284 Comitissa Marchiæ, dicta vulgariter Blac Annes of Dunbar. c1525 J. Rastell sig. C.iv I am content wyth blak maud my wyfe. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1622) ii. i. 134 How if she be blacke and witty? View more context for this quotation 1661 S. Pepys 30 Apr. (1970) II. 91 Took up Mr. Hater and his wife..I find her to be a very pretty modest black woman. 1715 tr. Thomas à Kempis i. vii. 13 The Fair, the Black, the Learned, the Unlearned, do all pass away. 1749 J. Cleland I. 150 He might pass for what is commonly called a comely black man, with an air of distinction natural to his birth and condition. 1788 A. Falconbridge (ed. 2) 41 Observing with what..eagerness a black woman seized some dirt from off an African yam. 1815 I. 144 The portrait in the Master's lodge represents him as a handsome black man. 1894 J. Jacobs xxxix. 152 You black, swarthy villain of a smith. 1917 A. Cahan (1993) i. ii. 8 The bookbinder had a red-haired little girl whom I hated like poison. Red Esther we called her, to distinguish her from a Black Esther, whose home was on the same yard. 2001 G. Ryman (2003) 74 He was not at all bad-looking, what Michael called a black Celt: slightly sallow skin, a heavy beard and black eyes. the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > [adjective] > wearing specific coloured clothing c1300 St. Dunstan (Laud) l. 42 in C. Horstmann (1887) 20 (MED) A fair Abbeye he let þare a-rere..Of blake Monekes. c1325 (c1300) (Calig.) l. 8921 (MED) Þe priorye of seint Iames..He rerde of blake monekes. a1400 (c1300) Northern Homily: Monk returns from Death (Coll. Phys.) in at Monk A Blak munk of an abbaye Was enfermer of all. c1440 (?a1400) (1930) l. 50 (MED) Wolde he none forsake, The Rede Knyghte ne the Blake. a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun (Nero) viii. l. 679 Þe blak ordour Iacobitis, And þe qwhit Carmelitis. 1563 T. Becon (rev. ed.) f. 68v Pope Honorius the thyrd by his bull honourably admitted the blacke order of the blacke fryers, In the yeare of oure Lorde. 1220. c1626 H. Bisset (1922) II. 118 The ordoure of blak monkis called Sanct Benedictis ordoure. a1676 S. Gunton (1686) 321 All the Monks of the black Order held a General Chapter at Northampton. 1750 T. Carte II. 73 Clement..retained only 200 horse and 2000 foot of the black bands so called from their being clad in mourning. 1817 W. Pitt i. 233 The nuns themselves may be termed the Black Ladies. Their dress is entirely sable, with long thick black veils thrown over the right shoulder. 1877 L. P. Brockett 154 The black, or monastic clergy. 1919 H. F. Day xxvi. 411 Along the narrow street two Black Sisters were passing on their way to the convent. 2000 C. E. Harline (rev. ed.) ii. xii. 153 The Black Sisters of Leuven..didn't even read aloud, but each sister read quietly to herself. 1474 W. Caxton tr. (1883) iv. ii. 163 Whan he [sc. the king] is black, he standeth in the white. a1475 in H. J. R. Murray (1913) 603 (MED) At ij drawghtis, the black King shalbe mated. 1597 G. B. tr. M. H. Vida Scacchia Ludus in tr. Damiano da Odemira 5 Blacke Queene the blacke field doth containe, the white Queene stands in white. 1688 R. Holme iii. v. 263/2 (Chess) House is every one of the squares, whether they be white or black. 1735 J. Bertin 68 And the white loses the game, the black king being Patt. 1750 ‘A. D. Philidor’ 11 The Knight at the black Queen's Square discovering check. 1875 116 The Black Pawn on the K R file is here omitted as superfluous. 1890 R. F. Green v. 17 A frequent and fatal fork. The White Knight..attacks both the Black King and Queen. 1926 G. Hume & A. C. White 39 In both problems there is mutual interference of the black Rook and Bishop. 1964 26 Nov. 859/2 White is now able to gain space and pressurize the black squares on the king's side. 1997 J. Schaeffer 1 Two friends playing a game of checkers... A computer terminal perched beside the Black player. 2006 Dec. 44/2 In helpmates, both sides cooperate to bring about the mate of the black king. society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > card or cards > [adjective] > card of specific suit 1615 J. Swetnam iii. 61 She will make Clubs trumpe, when thou hast neuer a blacke card in thy hand. 1676 G. Etherege ii. i. 20 She loves nothing So well as a black Ace. 1714 A. Pope (new ed.) iii. 23 The Club's black Tyrant first her Victim dy'd. 1770 Borella 208 The two black aces are always trumps in any suit. 1836 H. Smith II. 16 Fortune always made clubs or spades trumps, when he had not a single black card in his hand. 1860 ‘Perseverance’ 9 Remembering to place a black 3 upon a red 3, a red 6 upon a black 6. 1953 A. Christie viii. 52 Miss Ramsbottom continued with her patience... ‘Red seven on black eight. Now I can move up the King.’ 2004 M. Clark (2005) 103 Edmund had a black ace and a ten of diamonds in front of him. 1643 R. Williams xxiv. 144 Their owne [money] is of two sorts: one white... The second is black, inclining to blew, which is made of the shell of a fish.] 1643 R. Williams xxiv. 144 Suckáuhock, nausakésachick, The blacke money. 1727 C. Colden i. 47 We give you this Belt of Black Wampum (thirteen deep) to wipe away your Tears. 1868 B. J. Lossing 13 Wampum..are about half an inch long, generally disposed in alternate layer of white and bluish black, and valued..at about two cents for three of the black beads, or six of the white. 1928 June 40/3 The black wampum corresponded with our gold money; it was twice as valuable as the white wampum. 2000 S. M. Gustafson 84 Beads made from the shells of the whelk and the quahog clam—respectively, white and black (actually purple) wampum. the world > food and drink > drink > coffee > [adjective] > without milk 1796 J. Owen II. 529 Black coffee, as it is called, or coffee without milk, is the general drink. 1870 A. L. Wister tr. W. von Hillern xi. 326 Ernestine, it is not good for you to drink your coffee black. It excites your nerves. 1914 H. Kinne & A. M. Cooley v. 85 Coffee is served ‘black’, or with cream, milk, or evaporated milk and sugar. 1985 L. Lochhead 19 Back in my bedsit, I spooned bitter instant into my..mug..and sighed. I guessed I'd just have to swallow it strong and hot and black and bitter, I'd run clean out of Marvel. 1992 R. MacNeil i. 79 They drank their tea black and took a thermos of it in the car. 2005 L. Bagshawe xv. 331 We go into the coffee shop and I order two black grandes. 1973 25 Feb. iv. 18/5 Slopes marked red correspond to expert runs in the United States, and the black runs, well..good luck! 1986 Winter 57/2 Many resorts have to invent black runs to appeal to good skiers. 2001 C. Gill & D. Watts 108 There are plenty of red trails that would be black in many other resorts. 3. Also with capital initial. the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > non-white person > [adjective] the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > black person > [adjective] OE Ælfric (Cambr. Gg.3.28) xxxiii. 286 Iudas se apostol cwæð ealswa to þæs monan anlicnysse and ðærrihte eodon ut on ealles ðæs folces gesihðe twegen blace silhearwan [L. ethiopes nigri] of ðam anlicnyssum. ?c1225 (?a1200) (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 173 Blac as an blamon. c1300 (Laud) (1868) l. 1008 (MED) With hem com mani chanbioun Mani with ladde, blac and brown. c1380 (1879) l. 2785 Among þe Sarsynz blake. c1450 in R. H. Robbins (1952) 30 (MED) Summe men sayon þat y am blac. a1513 W. Dunbar (1998) I. 113 Of ane blak [lady] I will indytt. 1553 R. Eden tr. S. Münster sig. Biiij The bodyes of men begin to waxe blacke and to be scorched. 1667 S. Pepys 27 Jan. (1974) VIII. 33 Her little black boy came by him. 1782 30 Mar. The black officers..were drummed out of the cantonments. 1842 J. C. Prichard 24 Forrest says the Pappua Caffres are as black as the Caffres of Africa. 1856 F. L. Olmsted 141 The ‘old Ab’ was manned by one black boy, sixty years old. 1889 July 226/1 State laws forbidding the education of the black people had just been repealed, and the white people paid nearly all the taxes that supported schools open to both races. 1921 K. S. Prichard 105 He had worked half a million..acres..in the days before runs were fenced, with only a few black shepherds and one white man. 1938 Z. N. Hurston i. 18 When I used the word black I mean in the American sense where anyone who has any colored blood at all, no matter how white the appearance, speaks of himself as black. 1982 M. Mzamane 6 In our street dialect, called tsotsi-taal, the lingua franca of black youth in South Africa..we violated every known grammatical construction. 1990 (Nexis) 14 July 5 A private high school..staffed by black teachers and offering Aboriginal children the chance to gain a secondary education focused predominantly on Aboriginal studies. 2001 24 Apr. (Law section) 7/6 The case of the black teenager who was stabbed to death in South London by a racist gang. the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > black person > [adjective] > relating to a1652 R. Brome Eng. Moor iv. v. 65 in (1659) Tis no better then a Prodegy To have white children in a black countrey. 1726 T. Salmon (new ed.) III. 9 Adjoining to the White Town, stands a much larger, called the Black Town, where the Portuguese, Indians, Armenians, and a great variety of other People inhabit. 1852 T. Hughes in 342 The ‘black law’, by which coloured people were excluded from the territory. 1885 R. L. Stevenson & F. Stevenson 152 The black blood that I now knew to circulate in my veins. 1941 W. J. Cash iii. ii. 318 There were those segregated black slums which honeycombed every Southern town. 1969 46 609/1 The speech studied was primarily that of Negro students; the list which follows is composed solely of deviations appearing in black speech. 1979 21 Mar. 10 The black coaches need to be recoupled so that they can arrive at the black sections of the stations at the journey's respective ends. 1986 23 May 10 The detention of people involved in the arena of black education is becoming the order of the day. 1989 (Nexis) 25 Feb. 121 I like to drink in a black pub... In a white pub, you get looks and stares. 1992 2 Nov. Why are more and more White stars embracing Black music? 2007 25 Apr. 3/2 Rap music..was a powerful, even revolutionary new medium of expression born of the frustrations and deprivations of the black urban experience. 1876 25 Oct. 3/1 This white South has not the slightest wish to see the black South enslaved again. 1906 1 Mar. 523/1 White Georgia may well listen to the appeal of black Georgia. 1965 28 Oct. 1/2 The first phase of Mr Wilson's onslaught on the entrenched positions so far adopted by white and black Rhodesia was completed at Government House. 1992 M. Clough iv. 20 The groups engaged in community development are much more representative of black South Africa than the groups engaged in the fighting. 2001 Dec. 50/3 Most of the music vibes that have come out of England have been white-associated, so this is one of the first things Black England has created. 4. Dark, sombre, dusky, gloomy. the world > matter > colour > state or mode of having colour > [adjective] > dark-coloured eOE Bounds (Sawyer 528) in W. de G. Birch (1887) II. 585 Of þam broce andlang streames on þone blæcpol. OE (1932) 1262 Land wæron freorig cealdum cylegicelum, clang wæteres þrym ofer eastreamas, is brycgade blæce brimrade. a1325 (c1280) (Pepys 2344) (1927) l. 1547 (MED) Þe sonne was blak; hit was eclyps. ?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius (BL Add. 10340) (1868) v. met. ii. l. 4432 Þe nyȝt ne wiþstondeþ nat to hym [sc. God] by þe blake cloudes. a1425 (?c1350) (1964) l. 369 Þe weder wex þan wonder blak. a1450 (Longleat) (1985) l. 304 Þay drew hyr in-to a grete blake watyr, and þat semed as cold as eny yse. a1500 (?a1400) (1903) l. 3181 (MED) A blake water ther vndyr hym he see. a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil (1957) iii. iii. l. 86 A watry clowd, blak and dyrk. 1626 F. Bacon §874 Water of the Sea..looketh Blacker when it is moved, and Whiter when it resteth. 1646 G. Buck iii. 84 The young Princes were imbarqued in a Ship at Tower wharfe, and conveyed..to Sea, so cast into the Blacke deeps. 1781 T. Pasley Jrnl. 16 Nov. in (1931) 199 In place of the fine Weather..it..looked dreadfully Black. 1819 Ld. Byron lxxiii. 39 The blackest sky Foretells the heaviest tempest. 1840 R. H. Dana x. 79 The rain fell fast, and it grew very black. 1853 Oct. 437/1 Here comes the fish, shooting up from the black depths of the river, like a meteor in a winter's night. 1949 E. Goudge iii. iv. 367 The clouds were black and heavy, edged here and there with livid light. 1998 B. Bainbridge (1999) ii. 59 Above the fields, black clouds tumbled through a sky white and glittery as ice. the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > darkness or gloom > [adjective] > dark, dusky, or dim OE Ælfric (Royal) (1997) xxxix. 522 Swa swa se beorhta dæig todræfð þa dymlican þeostru þære sweartan nihte.] a1393 J. Gower (Fairf.) i. l. 1167 The blake wynter nyht. a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer (Hunterian) (1891) l. 5356 The blak shadowes. a1450 (?1420) J. Lydgate (Tanner) (1891) l. 330 (MED) O ladi Venus, modir of Cupide..O blisful sterre..Cheif recounford after þe blak nyȝt. 1567 J. Maplet iii. f. 69 Lurking or liuing in darke places and black shadowes. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) v. vi. 18 Heere walke I, in the black brow of night. View more context for this quotation 1637 J. Milton 3 In thick shelter of black shades imbowr'd. 1790 R. Burns Tam o' Shanter in (1968) II. 559 That hour, o' night's black arch the key-stane. 1883 J. Parker II. 168 Storms howling down the black chimney in the blacker night. 1906 E. B. Holden (1977) 1 The blackest month of all the year Is the month of Janiveer. 1926 Feb. 16/3 A single electric bulb burned over the white-washed entrance of a cavern that soon lost itself in black subterranean shadows. 2008 S. Armitage (2009) 147 In upstate Huddersfield it was a black, blustery night, slashing with rain. the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > [adjective] c1300 (Laud) (1868) l. 555 (MED) In a poke ful and blac, Sone he caste him on his bac. c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer (Fairf. 16) (1878) l. 1637 But he [sc. Eolus] Toke out hys blake trumpe of bras That fouler than the deuel was. a1533 Ld. Berners tr. (?1560) ci. sig. D.ivv/1 Brysebar whan he sawe his owne handes soo foule and black it abhorred him. 1595 A. Fletcher 84 Some one..taketh vp a blacke cole, which he turneth and tumbleth in his hands, till it foule and make blacke his fingers. 1602 R. Marbecke viii. sig. H4v Foule blacke, quarrie, scorched hands. 1615 E. Grimeston tr. P. d'Avity 58 Their houses are all blacke with the smoak of this rosen. 1726 A. Pope tr. Homer V. xxii. 439 On heaps of death the stern Ulysses stood, All black with dust and cover'd thick with blood. 1789 I. Munro iii. 20 The officers' rooms, the walls of which were black with dirt, had been for some time used as a granary. 1801 M. Nugent 31 July (1839) I. 25 I wish Lord B. would wash his hands, and use a nail-brush, for the black edges of his hands really make me sick. 1873 H. Cullwick (1984) 75 My hands was quite black & my face & arms grimed. 1958 M. R. B. Shaw tr. Stendhal vi. 124 The doors of her drawing-room were black with dirt from her footmen's fingers. 1999 C. Thubron (2000) i. 14 I gaped at his features, then at his scarred hands, their nails black and worn to the quick. 1496 Treat. Fysshynge wyth Angle in (rev. ed.) sig. i.iiiv The blacke louper, the body of blacke wull & lappyd abowte wyth the herle of ye pecok tayle. a1589 L. Mascall (1590) 17 The blacke Fly or lowper, (in May) the body is made of blacke wooll. 1655 I. Walton (ed. 2) v. 145 There are twelve Kinds of Artificial made Flies to Angle with upon the top of the water... The sixth is, the black-fly.., the body made of black-wool and lapt about with the herle of a Peacocks tail. 1766 R. Bowlker 73 The Bleak..may be taken with a very small, fine, artificial black gnat. 1799 tr. (ed. 6) II. x. 311 Black-midge, or gnat. Dubbing, of the down of a mole. 1837 J. Kirkbride 57 The Black Spinner..has acquired a high reputation, both as a lake and a river-fly. 1861 H. Wade vii. 96 Large fish have been taken, especially with the black midge, the smallest of our artificial flies. 1923 11 Aug. 7 The Lea should yield some good specimens of these fish to the black gnat. 1990 D. Hughes ii. vii. 156 Any fly from a Black Woolly Worm to a Bitch Creek Nymph will turn a trout's head when salmon fly nymphs are on the march across the bottom. 7. Music. a. In musical notation. 1504 W. Cornysh Tretyse bytwene Enformacione & Musyke in (1908) 120 424 In musyke I haue lernyde iiij colours, as thys: blake, fulle blake, voyde, & in lyke wyse, rede.] a1540 J. Tucke in R. Woodley (1993) 68 The blake long contenyȝth as much as þe rede and halfe as much more. 1597 T. Morley Annot. sig. ¶4 If a white note (which they called black voide) happened amongste blacke full, it was diminished of halfe the value. 1776 J. Hawkins II. ii. v. 180 This kind of alteration in the value by a change in the colour of notes..is mentioned by most authors, who when they speak of the diversity of colours mention black full and black void, and red full and red void. 1880 W. S. Rockstro in G. Grove II. 471/1 About the year 1370 both the black and red forms gradually fell into disuse. 1989 A. E. Planchart in H. M. Brown & S. Sadie vii. 139 The most sophisticated use of coloration was that of English composers of the late 14th and early 15th centuries, who used simultaneously black full, black void, red full and red void notation. 1614 T. Ravenscroft 13 The Externall Signes are those which are set, at the beginning of Songs, and are the Characters of the Degrees, for the Diminishing of the White and Blacke Notes. 1658 J. Playford (new ed.) i. 29 This swift Triple Time is many times prick'd in Black Notes, which Black Note..is of one and the same Measure with the Minim. 1782 C. Burney II. 303 Notes in a lozenge form..whether the heads were full or open, were at first called Minims; but when a still quicker note was thought necessary, the white or open notes only had that title, and the black were..by the English [called] Crotchets. 1841 J. F. Warner Universal Dict. Musical Terms p. iii/2 in tr. G. Weber The abbreviations..consist for the most part in the use of..strokes which are drawn through the stems of the filled or black notes. 1923 J. Pulver 131 It was first written as a black note, and later as an open one with a tail on the right side. 1974 G. Read v. 63 The note-head..is somewhat oval in shape, and is either open (or ‘white’..) or closed (‘black’..). 1999 (Nexis) 14 Jan. The link between the eye and ear starts with the very notation of music, its patterns of symbols and staves, black notes, white notes, rectangles, hairpins, half-circles with dots. 1664 J. Birchensha tr. J. H. Alsted iv. 22 So the black Keyes proceed with the white in the chromatic. 1811 July 47 In the profile, or longitudinal section of this instrument,..the following parts are the same as instruments now in use: A the finger-keys, B the raised black keys for flats or sharps, [etc.]. 1828 W. L. Bowles v. 75 Hence the well known idea that the black notes of a piano of themselves produce a kind of Scotch tune. 1920 P. Grainger Let. 1 Sept. in (1994) 50 To make it interesting I'm going to feature my sustaining pedal action.., fist on black note chords, & glissando action. 1970 23 148 A small anonymous English seventeenth-century spinet, with white naturals, black sharps. 2008 (National ed.) 30 Nov. (Arts & Leisure section) 6/1 Irving Berlin..favored the ebonies over the ivories when he first started playing. His melodies found their home among the black keys. 1736 R. Brookes tr. J.-B. Du Halde et al. II. 333 Black China-ware has..its Value and Beauty. 1763 B. Martin II. 185 Hard Fire-Clay, of a duller whiter Colour, which they use for their black Wares. 1787 Wedgwood in L. Jewitt (1865) 332 The black basaltes having the appearance of antique bronze..is excellently adapted for busts, sphynxes, small statues, etc. 1832 G. R. Porter 17 Basaltes, or black ware..was a black porcelainous biscuit, having nearly the same properties as the natural stone. 1875 E. Meteyard 391 Black Marble. A crystalline terra-cotta body. The colour is black shaded. Black painted. Single stems and flowers painted on black glazed ware... Black printed. Cream-ware printed over or under the glaze with patterns in black. 1885 XIX. 618/2 Black Pottery is usually made from a very silicious or sandy clay. 1936 Sept. 289/1 This ‘black burnished’ pottery is identical with the black ware found in Mohenjodaro and not dissimilar to the black ware..of the earlier Chalcolithic periods of Baluchistan and Persia. 1993 (Nexis) 10 July Ben Richardson's deep-lustred black wares certainly held one's attention, the onyx-like surfaces absolutely fascinating. 1800 2 Apr. 24/1 All sad is my Soul, when I view yon black Ruins Where once stood the cabin of Mary la More. 1820 J. Lawson i. 100 Patient brethren view the black remains Of their once peaceful settlement. 1863 A. Keary vii. 132 I had the audacity to find fault with the black toast and cold eggs Mrs. Morgan provided for us. 1944 F. E. Lewis vii. 68 Once a fire had passed, black stumps, black logs, and black ground was all that was left. 1998 J. M. Norris 111 A photographic representation of the particular offending food item(s) (clumped pasta, black steak, etc.). 2009 (Nexis) 16 Jan. b6 The fire..reduced the two-storey home to black timbers. II. In figurative senses, chiefly with negative connotations. [Compare note in etymology section on the origin and development of these senses.] the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > foulness or filth > [adjective] society > morality > moral evil > wickedness > [adjective] > extremely wicked OE Byrhtferð (Ashm.) (1995) iii. i. 124 Hig [sc. the faithless] ne þicgeað þæs lambes flæsc þe soð Crist ys, ac þæs dracan þe wæs geseald þam blacan folce to mete, þæt ys þam synfullum. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden (St. John's Cambr.) (1874) V. 229 Blake flokkes of Scottes [tetri Scotorum greges]. a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng (Harl.) l. 11540 (MED) Whan þou synnest, þou..makest þy soule black as pyk. a1450 ( in J. Kail (1904) 34 (MED) This holy tyme..Burnysche bryȝt ȝoure soules blake. 1539 R. Taverner tr. Erasmus sig. G.vv Medle not wt naughtye felowes & such as haue blacke and diffamed maners. 1581 W. Lambarde (1588) App. You wil haue a blacke soule..if you doe not the sooner forsake the Queene..and her heresies. 1609 J. Davies sig. G4 Red Seas, to drowne our blacke Egyptian sinnes. 1692 R. Bentley i. 25 The portion of the blackest Criminals. 1713 S. Pycroft 25 He has vented the blackest Calumnies. 1738 A. M'Aulay in clix I shall never be guilty of such black ingratitude. 1749 H. Fielding VI. xvii. vii. 138 Concealing Facts of the blackest Die. View more context for this quotation 1839 P. J. Bailey 71 Die with the black lie flapping on your lips. 1865 H. Kingsley III. xv. 156 The man..could still feel terrified and abashed at the contrast between his own black soul and the sacred purity of the child before him. 1920 5 Feb. 4/2 To sneer at and belittle America's vastly important part in the winning of it [sc. the war] is proof either of a weirdly short memory or a heart full of black ingratitude. 1999 J. Butler ii. 55 Deliberately to put the life of a patient at risk because of a lust for his wife is among the blackest crimes in the professional book. 11. the world > action or operation > adversity > calamity or misfortune > [adjective] > calamitous or disastrous a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 245 Þe feste of þilke dayes is i-cleped Quinquatria, þat is, þe fyue bl [a] k dayes, for þe sorwe and þe bitternesse þat þe Romayns mysspedde whan þe Frensche men and Hannibal byseged hem all aboute. 1568 J. Rowll Cursing l. 12 in W. T. Ritchie (1928) II. 277 Blak be þair hour. 1651 J. F. tr. H. C. Agrippa iii. lxiii. 548 The ninth of July is a black day with them, because on that day the destructions of both the Temples happened. 1713 L. Milbourne 22 Great..was the Wickedness of these ungrateful Nations, in those Black Days of the great Rebellion. 1759 W. Mason 16 That black hour, (May memory ever raze it from her records). 1829 G. Griffin I. vii. 153 O, wirra, Eily! this is the black day to your ould father. 1871 C. H. Spurgeon XVI. 282 Ah, there were brave days in those black periods, brave days when great hearts told out by dying how dear Christ was to them. 1906 Oct. 5 Even the revolutionists and anarchists of this country have added nothing that would serve to silhouette the personality and act of the man upon the background of those black days. 1956 S. H. Bell iii. 39 I remember listening to a journeyman fitter recalling that black time in the history of the Belfast working-class. 2003 17 Nov. i. 15/1 It's more than a black day for this town, it's a stab in its heart. 1576 in R. Pitcairn (1833) II. ii. 56 Quhen he and he went togidder to the blak Settirday..he drew him be the Kirk of Dalrye. 1644 D. Harcourt 11 The battell of Ballemony, which the English in regard of the fatability of the day, call Blacke Friday. 1757 T. Smollett III. v. vii. 49 This treachery the Scots ascribed to the instigation of Drury. It was denominated Drury's peace, or the black Saturday. 1851 July 26 The 6th of February last, which received..the ominous designation of ‘Black Thursday’, will be long remembered in Victoria for its intense heat and burning winds, and the extensive conflagrations that occurred over all the country. 1872 16 May 3/4 (heading) Black Wednesday. Extraordinary fall in the stock market. Hundreds ruined. 1930 16 Feb. 6/4 The shooting of British Intelligence Officers on Black Sunday. 1943 G. D. H. Cole 13 The events of Black Monday, as the day of the riots came to be called. 1988 14 Oct. 19/7 On Black Tuesday, October 20, when the Tokyo market fell by a record 3,836 points, the ministry acted swiftly, calling traders of the four brokers together. 1995 1 May ii. 10/4 On Black Saturday, when it was not clear whether the Soviet Union would accept the naval quarantine of Cuba.., Dean Acheson told President Kennedy that the missiles would have to be knocked out. 12. the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > evil and dark > [adjective] society > morality > moral evil > [adjective] > evil or dark 1547 J. Bale Pref. f. 9v Their sowles they can not harme with all their popes blacke curses. 1565 T. Norton & T. Sackville iv. ii. sig. D.i The Lawe of kind and trothe thus rent in twaine His hart on mischiefe set, and in his brest Blacke treason hid then. 1583 P. Stubbes sig. D6 Many a blacke curse haue they of the poore commons for their doing. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) ii. iv. 56 That black Name, Edward, black Prince of Wales. View more context for this quotation 1634 W. Habington ii. 74 The blacke edict of a tyrant grave. 1713 R. Steele in 1 Apr. 1/1 Think it Madness to be unprepared against that black Moment. 1758 H. Walpole (1759) I. 142 The throne..usurped by the Queen's black enemy, Philip. 1821 Ld. Byron v. i. 149 That's a black augury! 1855 Dec. 507/2 Her enemies shall have sated their black desire for her blood. 1920 H. Titus xxi. 196 I beg of you, ma'am, to..dissuade him from his black purpose, if not by an appeal to honor, then by an appeal to his shame. 1954 I. Berlin vi. 63 [They] paint individuals or classes or societies as heroes and villains, wholly white or unimaginably black. 2005 S. Russe i. 14 We are offering you the chance to leave behind the darkness, the black desires, the blood urges that torment you. the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > quality of being horrible > [adjective] > (of theatrical productions) gruesome 1961 14 Oct. 12/6 Another festival choice is the Spanish Placido, a new film by Berlanga, described as ‘another excursion into black comedy’. 1965 11 Mar. 379/3 The whole form of ‘Berck-Plage’, a poem about a seaside funeral, is a most remarkable piece of black cinema. 1984 10 Dec. 84 (caption) A Scrooge at once sad and wicked, with a smile of black irony. 2004 25 Aug. 138/1 A raucous, high voltage black comedy following the journalists ‘embedded’ with the US military in Iraq as they embarked on the Pentagon's prime time war. 13. the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrepute > disgrace or dishonour > [adjective] > indicating disgrace ?1550 J. Bale f. cxvi He feared the blacke blotte of treason for maynteynynge monkery, whych hys prince had condempned afore. 1595 B. Barnes iii. sig. A4v Let mercie mittigate the large blacke bill Of my dead sinnes. 1612 J. Brinsley xxix. 286 To punish by a note, which may be called, the black Bill. 1714 M. Hole I. xiv. 113 Shortly a black Bill of our most hidden Iniquities shall be publickly read before us. 1832 A. Picken Changeable Charlie in July 431/1 When mounted thus on the top of the black stool, he seemed so delighted. 1841 C. Dickens viii. 281 Write Curzon down, Denounced..Put a black cross against the name of Curzon. 1870 Dec. 584 A ‘black page’ is reserved for towns with an unsatisfactory bill of health or an excessive death-rate. 1920 Feb. 183/1 I said I would be glad to play for them if it would n't be held against me and put down as a large black blot on my efficiency record. 2007 J. S. Corum iii. 84 Although there are some black spots on the American record of fighting insurgencies..U.S. policy has historically eschewed extreme measures such as those applied by the Germans or Soviets. society > occupation and work > working > labour relations > [adjective] > relating to strike > relating to strike-breaking 1911 L. St. C. Grondola 100 None of these gentlemen here is blacklegs... Anyone wantin' to prove who's black let him step out here. 1917 20 Oct. 120/2 The strikers notified the merchants that if they refused credit to any of their present customers they would be declared ‘black’. 1927 22 Nov. 12/2 The Waterside Workers' Federation to-day declared as ‘black’ the steamer Kakakiri. 1935 8 June 1302/2 [Work books] will facilitate the control of the labour market and the prevention of ‘double-earning’ and ‘black labour’. 1959 11 July 34/1 Meanwhile, as magazines and provincial papers progressively close down, tension is increasing in those offices where arrangements have been made to produce ‘black’ editions. 1963 28 May 5/1 When supervisory staff took over maintenance and transport driving duties, all the firm's production men quickly classified their work as ‘black’ and walked out. 2005 N. Harding iv. 81 At Canary Wharf..a fruit ship had been declared black so the owners had sent the ship to Oslo, but no docker would handle it there either. 1973 18 Aug. 18/2 Records of successful transactions are termed ‘white’ information, and adverse entries ‘black’ information. 1989 26 Feb. 72/8 They [sc. banks] are releasing ‘black information’ to credit agencies about clients who have defaulted. 1993 10 Nov. ii. 12/4 Some of this is ‘black’ data on credit requests and fraudsters, with the high-street banks refusing to provide the ‘white’ data of customers' everyday transactions, citing a duty of confidentiality. 1995 P. van Cayseele et al. in A. van Witteloostuijn viii. 130 Other countries have opted for a negative or ‘black’ credit register: all borrowers who defaulted in the past are recorded in the register. 2009 S. O'Connell iii. 112 Like other credit reference bureaux, it faced criticism for stockpiling black information rather than white data. 14. the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > [adjective] > gloomy or depressing 1562 A. Brooke tr. M. Bandello f. 57v His wordes haue chased straight out of her hart despayre, Her blacke and ougly dredfull thoughts by hope are waxen fayre. 1567 W. Painter II. xi. f. 67v He..that is ambicious in climbing vp the turning wheele, throwen downe beneth the brinke of aduerse lucke, whelmed in the ditche & pit of blacke despaire. a1625 King James VI & I (1901) 46 This claiey dregg..is blake melankolie. 1659 H. Hammond (xlii. 9 Paraphr.) 222 What a black gloomy condition am I now in? a1715 Bp. G. Burnet (1724) I. 570 He had also very black fits of the spleen. 1807 J. Barlow i. 22 The slow still march of black despair. 1856 H. Worsley II. v. 98 If a fit of spiritual despondency came over him Kate charmed away the black mood by the solace of reading. 1921 Jan. 8/4 The pounding of the wheels wove into his brain a sort of rhythm, and with the rhythm was born a great idea, the product of his mood of black wrath, and a twisted sense of humor. 1939 11 Sept. 56/3 The future seemed hopeless and Göring was in black despair. 2007 S. Sartarelli tr. A. Camilleri 206 He didn't feel like eating any more. A wave of black melancholy had come over him. the world > action or operation > adversity > calamity or misfortune > [adjective] > inauspicious the mind > emotion > anger > irascibility > ill humour > expression of ill humour > [adjective] > frowning or scowling 1604 B. Jonson sig. B3v Now heauen auert an ill Of that blacke looke. 1681 G. Burnet 18 What a black prospect have we of most terrible confusions to follow, on such a fatal blow. 1832 H. Martineau ii. 25 His countenance was black as night. 1863 128 233 I cannot but see A black future before me already. The competition of these machines Will certainly kill us poor horses. 1887 C. M. R. Reignolds-Winslow ix. 178 I doubt if many an older and stouter heart would not have quailed, as mine did, at the black prospect. 1916 Spectator in 25 Mar. 822/1 We give them [sc. tips] to avoid a black look, or to buy a grateful one. 1978 S. Graham xiv. 196 Charles was too angry to speak, giving her the blackest of looks, which Lily noticed only vaguely. 2007 (Nexis) 24 June 31 Nor are his prospects as black as many Labour people had been fearing and many Tories had been hoping. 15. society > trade and finance > illegal or immoral trading > [adjective] > bought or sold by illicit means 1922 July 66 Stock dealing in Russia has never ceased; before 1921 detection involved a violent death; but in the summer of that year ‘green’ and ‘black’ bourses flourished in every big city. 1937 S. Webb & B. Webb (ed. 2) II. 1199 There was always in Moscow and Leningrad, Kharkov and Kiev, the so-called ‘Black Exchange’, where native speculators illegally offered to the tourist, for American dollars or British pound notes, five, ten or twenty times as many roubles as the State Bank would give. 1938 18 Mar. 3/1 We're expected to buy ‘black’ rubles or bootleg rubles which are available..at a fraction of the standard rate. We used to get them in what we call the Black Bourse... It's..a name applied to the ‘bootleg’ circles; to channels through which we bought black rubles. 1942 175 Contravention of war economic decrees, e.g. black slaughtering, were frequently punished with death. 1946 18 Apr. 5/6 There are some things—food bought ‘black’ and services—which are not to be had for Reichsmarks. 1977 15 Aug. 13/1 Black labor acts as a shock absorber enabling Italy to survive economic crisis. 2008 25 Mar. 9/4 The trade in ‘black landings’—where trawlers illicitly sold over-quota fish—has been eradicated. society > armed hostility > military operations > [adjective] > other types of operation ?1945 XIV. iv. vii. 206 Certain special demands were placed on the Intelligence Section in connection with the black operations carried out. 1967 J. H. Roberts II. i. 157 You are to consider the whole conversation black, the whole procedure black, you are to handle it all yourself. 1985 W. J. Boyne & S. L. Thompson 229 A black assignment is beyond Top Secret: it's done in complete secrecy with a budget that is not revealed to the public. 2004 17 May (Central ed.) a20/4 In the early Bush presidency there was a shortage of covert insertions into sovereign states..and insufficient funding for black operations. B. n. 1. A black ink, dye, or pigment. OE (1955) 184 Incaustum uel atramentum, blæc. OE Wulfstan (Corpus Cambr.) (1972) ii. 2 We lærað þæt hi to ælcon sinoðe habban ælce geare..blæc and bocfel to heora gerædnessum. c1330 (?a1300) (Auch.) (1973) l. 2702 An old hore man it was bitake So we finden in þe blake. a1400 (?c1300) (Royal) (1879) l. 282 (MED) Knele þou doun & say þen þis þat next in blak wryten is. 1447 Acct. in (1905) 11 56 The seconde folio begynnyng in blacke ‘Qui Venit’. the world > matter > colour > named colours > black or blackness > blackening agent > [noun] > pigment OE Aldhelm Glosses (Brussels 1650) in L. Goossens (1974) 411 [Ut] caccabatum furvę fuliginis atramentum exhorruit : befyled deorces, nigre, sotes blæc of scoc, wiþsoc. c1300 (?c1225) (Cambr.) (1901) l. 1203 (MED) He wipede þat blake [i.e. coal dust or soot] of his swere. ?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 123v (MED) Thynges blacking heres..þat blacke [L. illud nigrum] þat is in þe middes of papauer rubeum mixte with oleo mirtino. a1475 in J. O. Halliwell (1855) 75 (MED) To make a fyne blake, take a clene pece of brasse..and hold hit overe a brynynge candelle of roseyne, to the fyre have congeylyd blacke on the brase. 1477 Earl Rivers tr. (Caxton) (1877) lf. 63v One of his neyghbours made dye his here in blak. 1581 ix. §3 Clothes..dyed with a galled and mathered Black. 1670 W. Simpson 75 Dyers in the making of their Blacks, use not Alom but Vitriol. 1735 J. Barrow I. sig. E4v There is a colour call'd cold Black or Jesuits Black, prepar'd of the same ingredients as the former, but without being first dyed blue. 1798 26 May 114/2 The experiments succeeded more frequently and surely with the coarser, more unctuous, and heavier, like Russian painters' black. 1825 W. B. Stevenson I. v. 109 The black for dyeing is obtained from the expressed juice of the root. 1852 J. S. Bradley (1860) 126 Blacks require no preparation; but it is necessary to body them; that is, to fill up the pores of the wool, silk, or any other substance. 1903 F. H. Leeds & W. J. Atkinson x. 233 Acetylene black has also been tried in calico printing, and has given far better results in tone and strength than other blacks. 1985 E. Kerridge xii. 167 Common or Flanders blacks were really ultra-black blues and purples. True or Spanish black could only be made with copperas mixed with galls, and, optionally..steel flings or slip also. 2005 D. Markle & L. Vanover ii. 52 Lay a mound of Mars Black on your palette straight from the tube. the world > matter > colour > named colours > black or blackness > blackening agent > [noun] 1558 W. Ward tr. G. Ruscelli v. f. 100 Take of the blacke that Curriers or tanners doo black their skins with, for you may haue much for moneye. 1568 T. Hill (rev. ed.) iii. xxix. f. 104v The Seedes also myxed with shomakers blacke, doth take away wartes. 1635 J. Swan vi. 244 The seeds of Basil, put up into the nose, procure sneezing; and being mixed with shoemakers black, do take away warts, killing them to the very roots. 1661 R. Lovell 277 Shoomakers black with vineger. 1754 I. 311/1 Currier's Black, a black made with gall-nuts, sour beer, and old iron, termed the first black. The second black, which gives the gloss to the leather, is composed of gall-nuts, copperas, and gum arabic. 1787 W. Hutton 77 His shoes received their last tincture of black from the currier. 1897 C. T. Davis (ed. 2) 623 In the making of ‘sig’ stains, blacks and pastes for leather, borax is the currier's friend. 1905 June 97 The skins are now given a coat of good aniline black; chrome leather black, or tannin leather black, are suitable. 1998 J. W. Humphrey et al. tr. Pliny in ix. 386 The Greeks have made a connection between copper and shoemakers' black by their name for it; for they call it chalcanthon [copperflower]. 2. Black fabric. the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > of specific colour the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > for specific purpose > mourning c1225 (?c1200) (Bodl.) (1940) l. 638 (MED) Nis ha [sc. Pride] nawt i claðes..þah hit beo merke þrof..oðer hwiles, ah under hwit oðer blac & ase wel under grei ase under grene. a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer (Hunterian) (1891) l. 4756 And eke as wel by [read be] amourettes In mournyng blak as bright burnettes. c1460 (Longleat) (1889) 356 (MED) They were both in blak. a1500 Merchant & Son l. 145 in W. C. Hazlitt (1864) I. 142 Fadur, why appere ye thus in black? ar not yowre synnys foryevyn? 1579 T. North tr. Plutarch 259 Tenne moneths..was the full time they vsed to weare blackes for the death of their fathers. 1636 D. Featley xix. 247 Neither are all that weare blackes his mourners. 1641 R. Greville i. iv. 17 Some to Ministers, as Cassockes, Gownes..Canonicall Coats, Blackes. 1699 N. Luttrell Diary in (1857) IV. 557 The King..has ordered all his subjects to goe into black. 1728 J. Gay iii. vi. 45 If you have Blacks of any kind, brought in of late; Mantoes—Velvet Scarfs—Petticoats—Let it be what it will—I am your Chap—for all my Ladies are very fond of Mourning. 1748 S. Richardson V. xlvi. 326 Whom dealtest thou with for thy blacks? 1792 S. Whyte (ed. 2) 47 Our Players scarce saw me in my blacks array'd. 1837 C. Dickens xxxiii. 354 A gentleman in black..proceeded to call over the names of the jury. 1862 W. M. Thackeray I. 174 My old blacks show the white seams so, that you must..rig me out with a new pair. 1904 3 May 6/4 The duchess was in black with diamanté wings in her hair. 1920 C. Murray 15 But noo when Sunday mornin' comes I hearken for the bell, An' few set oot in runkled blacks mair eager than mysel'. a1963 S. Plath (1981) 170 A man in black with a Meinkampf look And a love of the rack and the screw. 1999 J. Lloyd & E. Rees iv. 96 If he chucks me out now, I'm going to spend the day wearing black and weeping loudly. the world > life > death > obsequies > [noun] > drapery in church during 1537 in J. B. Paul (1905) VI. 330 To ane pursyvant to pas till Dunde to charge the inhabitantis thairof to bring thare blakis to Edinburgh, for the Quenis tyrement. 1608 T. Middleton ii. sig. Cv Ile pay him agen when he dies, in so many blacks, Ile haue the Church hung round with a noble a yard. 1611 R. Cotgrave Littre,..the blacke wherewith the vpper part of a Church is compassed, at the funerall of a great person. 1650 J. Tatham 85 (title) To a vertuous lady, on whom envy had thrown a scandal, for which she mourned, and hung her chamber with blacks. 1652 E. Benlowes i. 32 Her Heart is hung with Blacks, with Dust she cloyes Her golden Tresses. 1707 IV. 254 Dismal Blacks hung round the Universe, And Stars (like Tapers) burn'd upon his Herse. 1710 ‘J. Touchwood’ 16 The Company of Upholders are not able to furnish Blacks enough for the Deceas'd. 1869 T. Baker I. 186 The old court and St Mary's church were hung with blacks, besides escutcheons and many papers of verses. 1997 J. Woodward viii. 149 All four rooms were hung with blacks. the world > matter > colour > named colours > black or blackness > [noun] ?c1225 (?a1200) (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 206 Bi halde his blac & naut his hwit. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xix. viii. 1277 Þer ben seuene colours, þat strecche fro white toward blake. a1450 (?1420) J. Lydgate (Tanner) (1891) l. 1250 (MED) For white is whitter, if it be set bi blak, And swete is swettir eftir bitternes. a1500 Foly of Fulys & Thewis of Wysmen l. 155 in R. Girvan (1939) 56 Thai luf nocht to mak of blak quhyt. 1578 J. Rolland 82 [To] mak..blak of that was neuer blew. 1645 S. Rutherford iv. 29 All his blacks are white. 1690 J. Locke iv. ii. 264 The Mind perceives, that White is not Black, That a Circle is not a Triangle, That Three are more than Two, and equal to One and Two. 1753 Suppl. It is all over of a fine gay red, only that the long-wing feathers are tipped with black at their extremities. 1792 W. Bartram (new ed.) Introd. p. xx On the top of the abdomen was a round red spot or ocelle encircled with black. 1821 W. M. Craig iii. 175 We must take black and white into our list, as colours with the painter though not with the optician. 1856 J. Ruskin IV. 45 Veronese's general practice will be..to paint the pattern with one even black. 1924 11 Nov. 4/5 Thus we see..cranberry with black, black with pervenche and tortoise with mahogany. 1956 ‘I. English’ 96 The spiked greenery of conifers and rosemary scrub..turns to black when distance drains the colour away. 1994 Issue 8. 8 For over 167 years the Bank of England £5 note was a large uniface note printed in black on white. the world > life > the body > sense organ > sight organ > parts of sight organ > [noun] > pupil a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 189 Þese hauen in eueriche yȝe tweie blakkes. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. v. vii. 185 Þe blak of þe yȝe..settiþ in þe middel as a quene. a1475 Dis. Hawk (Harl. 2340) f. 28, in at Blak Yf An hauke be wele colowrde..þe blake of þe hye..must Acorde to þe sureyne. ?1541 R. Copland ii. sig. Eiijv In the region of the blacke of the eye. 1565 J. Hall tr. Lanfranc iii. vi. 48 The Pupilla..is the blacke of the eye. 1616 Treat. Princ. Dis. Eyes in W. Bayley (new ed.) vi. 47 When the white of the eye is so swollen vpon the blacke, so that a kinde thereof appeareth to hang forth, it is called Chemosis. 1644 K. Digby viii. 53 As big as the black or sight of the eye. 1718 J. Chamberlayne tr. B. Nieuwentyt I. xii. 239 That black little Circle in the Membrane..commonly called, the Black or Apple of the Eye, becomes in a healthy Man smaller in a great Light. 1870 W. Wilson (ed. 2) 17/2 Schultens supposes it has reference to the little image of a man that is seen in the black of the eye. 1911 P. Radin tr. L. Ginzberg III. 217 You have the white of the eye and the black of the eye, and it is by means of this dark part of the eye that you are enabled to see. 1998 R. S. Jampel in M. L. Kwitko & C. D. Kelman 20/1 A needle with a sharp point, but not too slender, is thrust in a straight direction between the black of the eye and the external angle until it reaches the center of the cataract. a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng (Harl.) l. 11863 Come fleyng oute, at here mouþe a blak [Fr. cornaille], Ryȝt as she þe wurde spak... Þat yche blak, y dar wel telle þat hyt was a fende of helle. 6. In various elliptical uses. a. Chess and Draughts. society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > chess > [noun] > chessboard > square > specific squares 1474 W. Caxton tr. (1883) iv. vii. 180 Whether hit be goynge foreward or retornynge fro black to whyte or whyte to black, the pawn must allway goo in his right ligne. a1500 (?a1450) (Harl. 7333) (1879) 71 Þe quene, that goth fro blak to blak, or fro white to white. 1562 tr. Damiano da Odemira sig. Avv Because of his [sc. the knight's] marching forth, whiche is made from three into three places, to witte, from whyte into blacke, and from black into whyte. 1614 A. Saul To Rdr. sig. A5 The Bishop blacke in blacke must march..For in the white he may not come. 1775 C. Jones 155 The Knights move obliquely..from black to white, and from white to black. 1804 T. Pruen viii. 133 When your bishop runs upon white, endeavour to put your pawns upon black, because your bishop then serves to prevent your adversary's king or rook getting between them. 1882 Jan. 8 In this Knight, of irregular movement, leaping from black to white, from white to black, you will recognise, my child, the symbol of ‘opportunism’. 1917 D. A. Mitchell i. 22 Note also that the Knight always moves to a square of an opposite color, from white to black or from black to white. 2005 C. Morton 131 If you are the black pieces, put the queen on the remaining black, on the first row. society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > chess > [noun] > player > using white or black pieces 1750 ‘A. D. Philidor’ 87 The black playeth at present this Knight at his Bishop's third Square. 1822 J. Cochrane 192 On the Black taking the queen's knight with his bishop, the White must not retake immediately. 1837 VII. 52/1 Black's fourth move was a very bad one. 1886 17 Nov. 125/2 Black could draw now by continuing to check with the Rook. 1957 I. A. Horowitz 52 White's King must move, after which Black picks off White's Queen. 2004 Jan. 38/3 White's Houdini-like escape is achieved by making such cunning use of his eccentric pawn-formation that Black cannot usefully queen his pawn. society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > games of chance > roulette > [noun] > numbers or colours 1793 62 The pontes or punters who sit round the table may stake their money on red or black. 1836 Oct. 400 You see the people put money on the table in its different divisions, here to bet on the red, or there on the black. 1868 E. Yates III. iii. v. 178 I've won a little on the red and black here and there. 1928 M. Carol iv. 56 The even money chances [in the game of rouge et noir] are Rouge or Red, Noir or Black, Coleur [sic] and Inverse. 1950 L. H. Dawson (ed. 20) 291 The tailleur never mentions the words ‘Black’ or ‘Inverse’, but always says that Red wins or Red loses, and that the colour wins or the colour loses. 1975 279/1 If the opposite characteristic (eg black) comes up, the bet is lost. 2008 (U.K. ed.) Oct. 24/2 Let's say you are playing the roulette wheel and you hit five reds in a row. Should you stay with red because black is ‘due’? society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > competitive shooting > archery > [noun] > types of shot 1845 (rev. ed.) 148 Most centre blacks. 1859 H. A. Ford (ed. 2) xiv. 117 The following is a St. Leonard's round, at 60 yards:—28 golds, 37 reds, 7 blues, 3 blacks. 1882 31 Aug. 6/4 The Vice-President's Prize to ladies for most blacks. 1908 149 Miss Barker presented a prize for the most blacks, which was won by Miss Bigland. 1992 L. Wise 246 Ties shall be resolved in favor of the archer with the greatest total number of Golds, then Reds, then Blues, then Blacks. society > communication > correspondence > postal services > payment for postage > [noun] > postage stamp > types of 1863 1 159/2 Penny black, 10d. 1890 S. C. Skipton 28 1d. black sheet of 240, used. 1907 12 Dec. 6/6 A 12d. black of Canada, 1851. 1936 R. Graves x. 149 I specialize in the archetype and grandmother of all stamps—the Penny Black of 1840. 1970 31 Jan. (Sat. Review) p. v/2 (advt.) Over 250 lots of One Penny Blacks, incl. all Plates, many with matched 1d. Reds. society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > billiards, pool, or snooker > [noun] > ball > ball of specific colour 1866 G. F. Pardon xiii. 209 If he pocket the black in either of the corner-pockets, he forfeits six points. 1949 9 Nov. 519/1 It misses the pyramid altogether and then..bounces off the top cushion to deal the black a glancing blow. 1978 7 Feb. 20/6 Fagan then rushed a simple black with a straightforward clearance of the colours in prospect. 1988 I. Morrison 40/2 Maximum, the compiling of the maximum possible break..by potting fifteen reds, each followed by a black, and then all the colours in the correct sequence. 2001 M. Richler vi. 52 Taylor potted the black. society > communication > printing > printed matter > arrangement or appearance of printed matter > [noun] > mark made by furniture 1882 Feb. 36/1 Blacks is a term applied to any mark on a sheet made by pieces of furniture, catches, etc. rising to the level of the form. 1940 93/2 Black (Typog.), a blemish on a printed sheet caused by a space or lead which has risen to the height of type. 1963 W. C. Kenneison & A. J. B. Spilman Black, a blemish on a printed sheet caused by leads or spaces rising to type height. 1962 J. Brosnan 37 It was right on the black. So I bitched a little... And he gives me the third strike a couple minutes later. 1979 S. Lyle & P. Golenbock 76 He throws a hundred miles an hour and he's painting the black. 1987 S. Fiffer viii. 174 There is some discussion among the Seattle players about whether his fastball..is going straight over the middle of the plate or ‘catching the black’—the outer border of the plate. 1994 T. Boswell v. v. 103 Fastball. Right in your kitchen, up and in. In your face. On the black. It's the big pitch of the at-bat, so it's perfect. 2006 G. Gmelch iv. 83 On pitching... If a guy is painting the black on you consistently, you know that's what he is trying to do. 7. Italian Historysociety > authority > rule or government > politics > Italian politics > [noun] > supporter of Guelphs > black or white ?1585 E. Aggas tr. E. de L'Allouette ii. f. 83 He was declared..a perturber of the peace of the Church, as hauing molested all Italy, with the factions of the Whites, and the Blackes. 1615 E. Grimeston tr. P. d'Avity 474 The Donats hauing taken vpon them the protection of the Blacke, and the Cerchi of the White; Florence was wholy diuided into white & Blacke. 1680 C. Ness 428 The Guelphs..and the Gibellines,..the Black and the White (as those Two Factions were called). 1762 XXXVI. iv. 51 Florence, in a short time, became as much divided between the Whites and the Blacks as Pistoia had been before. 1785 H. Boyd Hist. Ess. in tr. Dante I. 159 As both the whites and the blacks were only branches of the Guelfs, or old papal faction, Charles was honourably received by all. 1802 C. Wilmot (1920) 134 The blacks and the whites form'd opposite parties which totally disorganized the Republick. 1877 VI. 811/2 A quarrel had arisen in Pistoia between the two branches of the Cancellieri,—the Bianchi and Neri, the Whites and the Blacks. The quarrel spread to Florence, the Donati took the side of the Blacks, and Cerchi of the Whites. 1902 11 Oct. 390/1 Were you a White and for the people, or a Black and for the nobles? 1989 B. G. Harrison iii. 148 The victorious Guelphs split into two parties: the Whites, who sought to maintain the integrity and independence of the Republic, and the Blacks. society > authority > rule or government > politics > Italian politics > [noun] > supporter of clerical party 1861 12 Jan. 19/1 At Naples and in Sicily parties will..be divided between the ‘Reds’ and the ‘Blacks’, the Mazzinians and the Bourbonists. 1875 10 Apr. 235/2 The ‘Blacks’ and the Irreconcilables act wisely in their generation in avoiding the presence of the Princess Margaret of Savoy, for she is a spell to enchant the most sour papalino. 1903 20 June 3/2 His position is that known in Italy as ‘White’, or constitutional, as compared with the clerical ‘Blacks’ and the republican ‘Reds’. 1909 29 Jan. 4/6 Most of the skaters are of the Vatican party... ‘Black’ is the local name. 1928 July 203/1 Socially, they refused to mingle with the ‘governmentals’, and it was the supreme social error to invite a ‘black’ and an ‘Italian’ to the same dinner party. 2005 J. F. Pollard iii. 78 The ‘blacks’ of Rome were not the only Catholic aristocracy to move from traditional agricultural and land-holding activities to building speculation and other commercial activities. 8. the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > colour or marking > [noun] > dark or black horse 1593 G. Markham sig. Gv Of colloures these be the best, Browne daple bayes, Bright bayes, Daple grayes, or White lyards, or blackes. 1607 G. Markham ii. i. 4 Your perfire Blacke, your redde Sorrell, and your darke Chesnutte, are much graced, if for a mittigation of their fiercer complexions, they bee accompanied with any white markes. 1735 II. at Pye-bald Horse Thus there are pye-bald bays, pye-bald sorrels, and pye-bald blacks. 1774 R. Cumberland sig. A2 Long-tail and bob-tail, blacks and sprightly bays, And filthy duns and old flea-bitten greys. 1846 J. J. Hooper Taking Census in i. 153 Mounting our old black, we determined to give the old soul a parting fire. a1861 T. Winthrop (1883) iii. 26 The black was within the corral, pawing the ground. 1932 J. G. Neihardt iii. 31 Behind me came the horsebacks four abreast—the blacks, the whites, the sorrels, and the buckskins. 1983 P. Gzowski i. 15 Greys, bays, roans, browns, blacks, and chestnuts... they are all, by the morning light, potential stakes winners, champions, legends. 1796 J. Lawrence I. vi. 295 The breeds of cart-horses, most in fashion upon our island, at present, are the heavy blacks of the Midland counties, the Suffolk punches, and those of Clydesdale in Northern Britain. 1823 Feb. 50 The Cleveland Bay..[is] a distinct race from the English blood horse, and equally distinct from the black or cart breed of the country. 1833 tr. C. Malte-Brun IX. 171 The English draught horses are held in great and merited repute; the three best sorts are the Cleveland bay, the Suffolk punch, and the Old English black or Lincolnshire cart horse. 1883 R. Moreton (ed. 2) 81 The Lincolnshire dray-horse is..the produce of a cross between the old English black and the Flemish horse. 1983 V. Russell 98/1 The breeding of the best of the 'Blacks' was centred on the Fens and adjoining areas such as Leicestershire and Staffordshire, and extending into Derbyshire. the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Columbiformes (pigeons, etc.) > domestic pigeon > [noun] > other types 1735 J. Moore 39 This Pigeon [sc. the Dutch Tumbler] affords a great Variety of Colours in its Plumage, as blacks, blues, whites, reds, yellows, Duns, Silvers.] 1839 June 378 I prefer a blue before any other, as I have generally found them hardier and swifter than the blacks and duns. 1855 2 515/2 A pen of short-faced bald head Tumblers, Blues, Blacks,..of rare quality. 1925 F. Warner in A. H. Osman xi. 67 Blacks must be black, not brown-black or grey-black, but jet-black, with iridescent sheen on every feather from head to tail. 9. the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > dirtiness > dirt > [noun] > grime, soot, or coal dirt > particle of the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > products of burning > [noun] > soot > particle of 1607 E. Topsell 331 They also haue litle blackes in the middle of their teeth. a1774 A. Tucker (1777) III. ix. 401 The trifling world around us so fills the air with infection, as the London smoke does with blacks, that we can neither keep ourselves nor our furniture tolerably clean. 1783 (new ed.) i. at Bean The black of a bean, Hilum. c1816 196 Let the blamange settle before you turn it into the forms, or the blacks will remain at the bottom. 1843 F. E. Paget 84 She carefully covered over..any articles that were likely to be damaged by blacks. 1862 E. M. Goulburn II. ii. vii. 28 The blacks of the world have settled down upon it. 1865 C. Dickens II. iii. xvi. 149 If you see a black on my nose, tell me so. 1910 E. Davies (Fabian Tract No. 150) 9 If one keeps the carriage window open, one gets covered with blacks and dust from the execrable small coal that appears to be the specialty of this line. 1939 A. Gould ii. 27 Day and night will be filled with the sound of rushing trains, and the air will be fouled with the smoke and blacks of coal. 1989 C. Palliser xxix. 146 When I commented on how dirty our clothes were, my mother explained that it was caused by the London blacks from the coal burning in the many chimneys. 1684 J. Reeve 15 There is a Sun can wake the day, Out of this dismal Night: Then shall my black be washed off. 1700 J. Stevens tr. M. de Cervantes II. xliii. 247 I love the little black of the Nail of my Soul, better than my whole Body. 1753 G. Washington (1925) I. 49 You say this land belongs to you, but there is not the Black of my Nail yours. 1860 J. P. Robson v. 16 Aw ha'e wesht baith maw feet frae the black. 1889 14 Sept. He weant pairt wi' t'black afore his finger-nails. 1952 M. Harris ii. i. 148 He plugs the sink and runs the water..and washes the black from his arms and his neck and his face. 2006 W. H. Henderson 250 They couldn't wash the black from their hands, not that they gave it much of an effort. the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > poisonous or harmful plants > harmful or parasitic fungi > [noun] > causing disease in plants > smut fungus 1844 June 618/1 In England it is best known by the names of blacks, brand, or burnt-ear. 1883 24 735 Who has not observed the smut, or blacks, among corn? 1920 (U.S. Dept. Agric.) 23 June 10/1 They discovered, also, that this same fungus is responsible for part of the heavy spoilage of canned corn, known to commercial canners as ‘blacks’. the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > black person > [noun] 1614 G. Cokayne Let. 24 Apr. in W. Foster (1897) II. 31 The 5th ditto came in a ship from Mollacco with 28 Portugals and 36 Blacks. 1625 S. Purchas II. ix. xiii. 1570 The mouth of the Riuer [Gambra], where dwell the Blackes, called Mandingos. 1682 J. Bunyan 5 This Gyant was King of the Blacks or Negroes. 1705 W. Nicolson Diary 31 Dec. in (1985) 344 Of the Origine of all Nations, from Noah and his Sons..he shews that all the Blacks (of Africa and America) sprang from the same stock with our selves. 1749 R. Poole Jrnl. 17 Mar. in (1753) 300/1 Among the Blacks in this Country are some that are called Obeah Negroes. 1789 George, Prince of Wales Let. 30 May in Ld. Cornwallis (1859) II. 28 The Adaulet of Benares..now held by a Black named Alii Cann. 1805 3 289 They exclude from suffrage the blacks and the paupers. 1856 F. L. Olmsted 129 The free black does not, in general, feel himself superior to the slave. 1929 ‘A. Russell’ 7 If I were to remark that old Blossom was a bungoona nanta I'd really mean to convey to you, in the lingo of the blacks, that Bloss was a jolly good old horse. 1968 J. Mayet in Sept. 8 I sometimes get the weird sensation that to the Whites who sit in their offices dreaming up new gimmicks to harass us and deciding where they should kick us out of or into next, we Blacks are not even people. 2004 3 May 105/1 Those blacks who remained poor and disempowered were viewed as having failed to take advantage of their definitionally equal status. 11. A person who is characterized by black clothing or some other part of his or her appearance. the world > life > death > obsequies > people involved in funeral > [noun] > mourner > hired or professional a1625 J. Fletcher (1639) iii. i. sig. E4v I doe pray ye To give me leave to live a little longer, Ye stand before me like my blacks. 1632 P. Massinger & N. Field ii. sig. E Lila. A good dumbe mourner. Aym A silent blacke. 1779 L. MacNally iii. 36 You dumb blacks with mournful face, Instantly quit this joyful place. the world > life > the body > hair > colour of hair > [noun] > person having black ?1671–1702 (single sheet) The pleasant Blacks and modest Browns, their loving Husbands please. 1823 ‘B. Cornwall’ 218 I Have quite forgotten to describe the lady: Her name was Fohi, a brunette, and nigh A black. the world > food and drink > hunting > hunter > [noun] > poacher the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > stealers of animals > [noun] > poacher 1722 c. 22 Whereas several ill-designing and disorderly Persons have of late associated themselves under the name of Blacks. 1845 H. Martineau II. ii. 23 There is an alarm of the Waltham Blacks coming down upon the forest,—just as bad as last season. 1974 17 483 What had singled out the Blacks, both in Hampshire and Berkshire, had been their tendency to deal in threats and their acts of reprisal. the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > [noun] > darkness of night 1683 I. Walton 19 Night-swaying Morpheus clothes the East in black. 1793 May 389/1 Can we e'er hope to change the black of night, And fill the rayless hemisphere with light? 1865 Oct. 475/1 Pricking nervously her ears at every flaw or rustle,..then with a snort of challenge plunging into the black of the hollows. 1899 B. M. Dix x. 169 Hugh answered stoutly, and, turning from the fire, faced into the black of the night. 1945 R. J. Casey xv. 76 Beyond him another German lay prone, peering into the black through a pair of night glasses. 1995 A. Warner (1996) 206 My ankle skited away under me and I jabbed out a hand into the black. 2004 Mar. 48/1 The ‘wind began to howl’ and so does Hendrix's fretboard, shooting skyward and disappearing into the black. society > occupation and work > worker > worker according to manner of working > [noun] > striking > refusing to strike 1826 J. Gast in K. Laybourn (1991) 26 You need not care for Blacks or Scabs, Jackdaws or Yellows. 1859 E. T. Hurlstone & J. P. Norman (1861) V. 30 He said to the men, If you dare work we shall consider you as blacks, and when we go in we shall strike against you. 1861 20 July 59/2 The lists of ‘blacks’, and the victims of the picket system. society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > illegal payment or exaction > [noun] > blackmail society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > illegal payment or exaction > [verb (transitive)] > blackmail 1923 E. Wallace xii. 95 I've been paying ‘black’ for years. 1924 E. Wallace iii. 38 Are you trying to put the black on me? 1928 E. Wallace xxiii. 190 I've never known you put the black before. 1951 J. B. Priestley iii. iii. 561 Got a lovely pub..and yet wants to start putting the black on people! 2005 P. McIntosh iv. 75 If you want to know who else he was putting the black on, you'll have to ask around yourself. the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lack of truth, falsity > an error, mistake > blunder [verb (intransitive)] the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lack of truth, falsity > an error, mistake > [noun] > serious error, blunder 1939 26 Oct. 335/2 Last week's special black. The ex-civil pilot..who thought that the ripcord of his parachute was a carrying handle specially provided by the kind manufacturers. 1941 Feb. 38/1 A glaring error is a ‘black’. ‘I have put up a black,’ they will say. 1943 Apr. 6/1 Far from committing the black they expected, she showed great heroism. 1946 G. Gibson xi. 142 One day she put up a black... She had fried our salmon in batter. 1985 2 May 11/8 Once again it looks as if Cobb may have ‘put up a black’. 2007 A. L. Kennedy 49 Nothing was settled beyond Johnnie Bastard Hanson getting his way and putting up a black for all of them. 1969 12 Sept. 6/5 The gin and orange contained no gin, and the rum and black was only blackcurrant. 1989 J. Burchill in (1992) 111 We've started to realize we had more fun fifteen years ago getting legless on Pernod and black at Shitshire's hottest nite-spot. 1995 Aug. 90/1 The lager 'n' black drinks promo was an inspired move. 2007 11 Feb. 34/4 My student horizon was limited to where my next cider and black was coming from. Phrasesc1225 (?c1200) (Bodl.) (1934) 24 Muche deale blackre þen eauer eani blamon. a1393 J. Gower (Fairf.) viii. l. 2904 A Paire of Bedes blak as Sable Sche tok and heng my necke aboute. c1400 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Tiber.) i. xlix, in R. Morris & W. W. Skeat (1884) II. 236 A ys blak as gemmes buþ. a1533 Ld. Berners tr. (?1560) xviii. sig. Ciii [The water] was blacker than smythy water. 1580 J. Lyly (new ed.) f. 4 But as the hearbe Moly hath a floure as white as snow, and a roote as black as inck. 1600 W. Shakespeare iii. ii. 358 With drooping fogge as blacke as Acheron. View more context for this quotation 1694 tr. F. Martens Voy. Spitzbergen 166 in He is not as black as Velvet, as the Whale is, but like a Tench. 1752 G. A. Stevens ii. 88 Now grizly Night, thy pitch'd Tarpaulin spread, Black as the sooty Chimney-sweeper's Sack. 1812 J. Smyth ii. 188 Its skin is blacker than that of an Otter..; ‘as black as a Mink’ being a proverbial expression in America. 1886 Feb. 522/1 Tall, well-knit Senegalese from Cape Verde, black as ebony, with intelligent, kindly eyes and long, straight, shapely noses. 1923 Jan. 52/2 There one sees pale girls, with fevered eyes as black as a raven's wing. 1974 D. Goines xii. 170 It's goin' be blacker than a witch's heart in a few more minutes. 2005 S. Saadi 168 The foetid, poundin rhythm, black as fishes' bowels, that emerged from lakes deep within the jungle ki kokh of Madya Pradesh. P2. a1350 in K. Böddeker (1878) 199 (MED) Blody stremes ronne þe fro þat þi bodi wes blak ant blo. a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) l. 8073 Four sarȝins..Blac and bla [Trin. Cambr. blak and blo] als led þai war. a1500 (a1460) (1994) I. xxii. 275 Bett hym blak and bloo. 1552 R. Huloet Beaten blacke and bloo, suggilatus. 1718 A. Ramsay 3 That curst Correction-house, where aft Vild Hangy's Taz ye'r Riggins saft makes black and blae. a1796 R. Burns (1968) I. 72 Aft hae made us black and blae. 1808 J. Mayne (new ed.) 88 Sad wights! wi' ribs baith black and blae Were harlit hame. 1868 J. C. Atkinson 48 He's getten his bats: his feeace's black and bleea wi't. 1903 G. Cunningham i. 20 A'bruised and bluidy, black and blae. 2003 E. R. Anderson v. 173 The Northern dialect form, black and blae, preserves the Norse loanword. the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > [adjective] > bruised the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > beat [verb (transitive)] > specifically a person 1568 T. Hill (rev. ed.) ii. xviii. f. 76v Ye black & blew of a striepe. 1593 G. Peele sig. F3 My pate adle, mine armes blacke and blue. 1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán i. 141 He basted our shoulders with Cudgell-deaw, making the dust flie out of our Coates, till he had beaten our bodies all blacke and blue. 1663 S. Butler i. ii. 143 Flew To rescue Knight from black and blew. 1690 No. 2577/4 His right Eye black and blue with a Blow. 1718 14 [He] hit him also against the Pommel of a Chair, whereby His Majesty's Eye is black and blue. 1833 T. Hood Happy New Year in 86 He's come home black and blue from the cane. 1883 ‘M. Twain’ iii. 61 Some raftsmen would rawhide you until you were black and blue! 1904 Aug. 473/2 It would more quickly remove the black and blue of bruises and contusions than any other remedy. 1929 Jan. 13/1 If I return home empty-handed, my wife will beat me black and blue. 1990 D. Bolger (1991) i. 20 You know, twice he caught me and leathered me black and blue. the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > blame > [verb (intransitive)] a1450 (c1412) T. Hoccleve (Harl. 4866) (1897) l. 2823 (MED) The riche and myghty man, thogh he trespace, No man seith ones þat blak is his eye. 1528 sig. eiiijv They eate their belies full, Every man as moche as he wull, And none sayth blacke is his eye? 1589 ‘M. Marprelate’ 36 If you were my chaplains once, I trowe John Whitgift..durst not once say blacke to your eies. 1675 T. Brooks 362 He knew that the Law could not say, black was his eye, and that the Judge upon the Bench, would pronounce him righteous. ?1720 11 None can say that black's his eyebrow to him. 1749 H. Fielding III. ix. iv. 337 I defy any Body to say black is my Eye . View more context for this quotation 1828 W. Carr (ed. 2) at Nail ‘Thou cannot say black's my nail’..Cui tu nihil dicas vitii. Ter. 1879 E. Waugh 61 I kept a shop, an' was well-to-do; an' I had frinds high an' low, an' was respected; an' divul a one could say ‘black's your nail’ to me. 1934 P. O'Donnell 191 I'd like meself to..have the pleasure of knocking down the man who'd say black was the white of his eye. the world > matter > colour > named colours > red or redness > making or becoming red > [phrase] > by violent effort 1607 E. Grimeston tr. S. Goulart 2 She was so opprest with paine, as she grewe blacke in the Face, like one that had beene strangled. 1646 H. Mill xix. 117 Spits ill language at the Moon, and looks Black in the face with pride. 1694 T. D'Urfey iii. i. 25 He would swear till he was black in the Face; Dissemble six long hours by the Clock. 1717 T. Lewis 30 Sept. 292 The Embroider'd Bully upon the Stage you obseve amusing the Gaping Croud with Folly, Nonsense, and Noise, bawling till he is Black in the Face. 1789 J. Wolcot 121 Swore himself black..in the face. 1836 C. Dickens (1837) v. 47 Mr. Winkle pulled..till he was black in the face. 1870 J. R. Lowell 67 Though we should boast..till we were black in the face. 1920 G. B. McCutcheon vi. 76 He might apologize until he was black in the face and still be unable to take back the words he had uttered. 1991 (Nexis) 15 Feb. The peacemongers can meet and march until they are black in the face. P5. to look black: the mind > emotion > anger > manifestation of anger > show anger [verb (intransitive)] > look angry 1608 H. Clapham 58 The heauens looke black vpon thee. The aire drawes it selfe from thee. The earth trembles at the waight of such a Reprobate. 1699 J. Barry iv. 75 The very Face of Providence shall seem to Frown and look black on thee. 1790 M. Wollstonecraft tr. C. G. Salzmann I. xiv. 104 I have offended my parents, and the strangers looked black on me. 1814 J. Austen I. vi. 120 My brother-in-law..looked rather black upon me. View more context for this quotation 1855 R. Browning Fra Lippo Lippi in I. 42 The monks looked black. 1881 45 Mr. Green looked very black at Mr. Brown; but soon Mr. Brown, as well as Mr. Green, looked very black at their master. 1917 W. Riley xxi. 173 Am I to be sworn at and looked black at because I give an order? a1974 R. Roberts (1997) xviii. 198 ‘We'll have to strip the bleedin' thing down.’ He looked black at me. 2005 J. Neel vii. 106 Paul was looking black and she did not dare ignore him any longer. the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > threat or threatening > [adjective] > specifically of aspect, etc. 1709 G. Stanhope IV. 190 When the Face of affairs looked blackest and no glimpse of Comfort appeared. 1845 16 Aug. 404/2 At the next ball,..Wisden touched into Dorrinton's hands, and went out—2 wickets for 7 runs. Things looked black for Sussex. 1865 J. Skelton xiii. 335 It looked very black for Nancy, for she could not swim. 1894 May 100/2 He protested he was as innocent as Line's seven-toed cat, but things looked black for him. 1908 8 680 The case looked black for the prisoner, it ‘looked black enough to those who knew the law’. 1920 Aug. 728/2 It looked black for the newborn peace of Transcaucasia,..and black indeed for the Armenians. 1947 J. Williamson With Folded Hands in July 8/2 Out of his startled and confused impressions, one clear fact emerged—things looked black for the agency. 1958 N. Fleischer i. iv. 22 The boxing game was being threatened by certain disgruntled politicians and blue law agitators, and things looked black for the sport. 1981 11 Nov. 20/1 Andy King put West Bromwich two up and things looked black for West Ham. 2009 H. Baumgarten in M. Green & J. D. Brown 157 The water reached my waist, and things looked black for us as our little boat began to sink. 1842 4 June 8/1 I have worked like a black to-day, and yet I am as fresh as a four-year old. 1870 E. S. Maine xiii. 107 ‘I can work like a black, Miss Beckett, when I have anything to work for,’ said Evan, proudly. 1928 H. Graham 18 While his workmen toil like blacks, St. Bees evades the Super-Tax. 1957 19 June 775/3 He worked like a black (if that phrase is still permissible) to produce a guide to French literature. 1987 P. Thomas ii. i. 58 Bridie is as quiet as the proverbial church mouse and works like a black into the bargain! 2005 (Nexis) 13 July 6 I have to say I was pretty disgusted when I heard him say: ‘I didn't come here to work like a black.’ Did he think he was being funny? P7. to fade (also go) to black and variants. 1918 R. H. McLaughlin iii. 87 (stage direct.) Lights fade to black. 1969 P. M. Jensen vi. 167 A man's figure materialises out of the haze and the screen fades to black. 1988 (Nexis) 18 Jan. The screen goes to black as the ‘snap’ of the trap springing shut is heard. 1992 L. Kramer in S. P. Scher viii. 144 After the opening forte attack, the Urklang gradually fades to black. 1997 July 21 The light brightens and brightens, and then the music ends. The lights fade to black. 2006 Fall 51 He opposes those who argue that the city [of New Orleans], because of its geography, should simply fade to black. 1947 B. Emery Singapore Spider in L. A. Sposa 144 Thanks for looking and [Good night!] fade to black. 1960 5 Oct. 491/2 Roll final credits and fade to black. 1988 S. Gray ii. 65 We'll go down to black while the rest of the furniture is struck or replaced—in fact, a conventional set change requiring a lengthy pause. 2011 P. Meehan viii. 182 The final shot shows Marion's car..being dragged out of the mucky bog. Fade to black. 1923 2 Feb. 13 Carter, Macy is now making satisfactory profits. Amsinck is operating in the black. 1940 44 734 With but few exceptions American air carriers are..operating ‘in the black’. 1990 11 Feb. (Review Suppl.) 33/4 A guarantee that I will receive other payments within a fortnight that will put me £600 in the black. 2006 R. Ash iii. iv. 80 You could even consider a part-time job for a short while to get you back in the black and feeling rich again. society > society and the community > social attitudes > racial attitudes > [adjective] > pride in blackness and black self-awareness society > society and the community > social attitudes > racial attitudes > [phrase] > slogan asserting pride in blackness 1927 8 Dec. 3/3 Marcus Garvey made black people proud of their race. In a world where black is despised he taught them that black is beautiful.] 1964 23 May 10/3 Malcolm X says, ‘Black be proud, for black is beautiful.’ 1965 Sept. 25/1 Radical blacks turn inward to united fronts and to ‘black is beautiful’ stated as an ideological principle. 1967 20 July 24/3 The hangup is that they have tried to sweep ‘Black’ under the rug for all these years and can't stand us digging ‘Black is Beautiful’. 1971 Apr. 15/2 These prisons boast Soul Shows, Black is Beautiful days, and bongo sessions in the yard. 1973 A. Dundes 231 In ‘The Language of Soul’ we find an important reversal in attitude, a reversal which is..in harmony with the general ‘Black is Beautiful’ philosophy. 1983 22 Sept. dc 1/1 I remember how black was beautiful 10 years ago and have since been struck with how abruptly the Afro was cut short. 2004 33 308 ‘Black is beautiful’... was less about the attractiveness of a particular skin color than about the advancement of black consciousness and pride that was central to the civil rights movement. 1968 16 Mar. 11/7 The violence of black man stabbing black man, mugging black man stomping black man, raping black woman. Black on black. And a black crime against a black gets cancelled out in the mind of a white precinct commander. 1974 May 20/1 In turn, Black-on-Black violence has increased along with the incidence of Black violence against whites. 1981 1 Jan. (District Weekly) d.c.2/1 This cab driver..gave me..a textbook case of the still-vigorous system of black-on-black discrimination in D.C. 1998 Aug. 84/3 (advt.) Second Time Around... The sequel to the black-on-black gay love story The B-Boy Blues. 2005 (Nexis) 22 Nov. (Entertainm. section) 25 The story takes place against a backdrop of black-on-black violence. 1968 82 503 Judge X is likely to be rough, while Judge Y is apt to be lenient on certain interracial (black on white) assaults. 1973 2 Dec. v. 2/2 The above letter arrived with four articles..pertaining to Black on White crimes. 1981 Mar. 42 (heading) Officials say that black-on-white crime is blown out of proportion by the press. 1996 14 Jan. (Life section) 6/2 He..is accused of black-on-white racism, yet his films frequently depict whites trying to do the right thing. 2011 M. Bucholtz ii. 26 Rumors of black-on-white violence were widespread among white students and their parents. Compounds C1. Compounds of the adjective. a. Parasynthetic. Compare the instrumental compounds of the noun at Compounds 2a. See also black-backed adj., black-faced adj., black-headed adj., black-tailed adj., black-winged adj., etc.1837 T. Carlyle I. v. v. 255 Meanwhile, the faster, O ye black-aproned Smiths, smite; with strong arm and willing heart. 1914 Aug. 215/1 Here, he delights to catch the postman at work, or to meet the little boys pouring out of school, black-aproned and bare-kneed. 2007 (Nexis) June 132 Vintage French posters, exposed brick and black-aproned servers create an elegant bistro feel. 1773 J. R. Forster 24 Jan. (1982) II. 218 I saw the blackbanded Petrels. 1835 2 203 The black-banded turban of a cadi. 1909 21 xxxii. 793 At the top of the Harlech series rest a curious set of dark blue or black banded shales. 2001 Apr. 161/3 A color variant of the regular black-banded bee shrimp. the world > life > the body > hair > hair on lower part of face > [adjective] > beard > types of > having 1577 S. Batman f. 9v Satvrne was portracted with a hoare head, but black bearded, & feeble footed. 1648 R. Herrick sig. M5 No black-bearded Vigil from thy doore Beats with a button'd-staffe the poore. 1832 Ld. Tennyson Dream Fair Women xxxiv, in (new ed.) 130 The stern blackbearded kings with wolfish eyes. 1881 O. Wilde 107 Grim watchmen on their lofty seats..strained black-bearded throats across the dusky parapet. 1922 J. Joyce ii. 90 A tall blackbearded figure..stumping round the corner of Elvery's elephant house. 2000 16 Nov. 10/1 A thick-set, black-bearded, phlegmatic man, always to be found in his office tapping away at a slimline laptop. 1651 A. Ross 211 I inclosed in a glasse some great black-bodied Spiders with short legs. 1857 12 Mar. 2/1 (advt.) Also a black-bodied Newfoundland Retriever Dog, two years old. 2001 Sept. 24/3 These species are effectively as inconspicuous as the black-bodied gulper eels and dragon fish. the world > matter > colour > named colours > black or blackness > [adjective] 1528 T. Paynell tr. Arnaldus de Villa Nova in Joannes de Mediolano sig. F iv Blacke colered wyne. 1779 (Royal Soc.) 68 796 On the back part of the iris, or rather the posterior part of the aqueous humour, it was only covered over with the black coloured pigment. 1866 P. H. Lawrence tr. B. von Cotta ii. iv. 338 Pyroschist..is..very bituminous and..dark-brown or black-coloured argillaceous shale. 1935 J. S. Lee (2000) xxxii. 141 One young fellow..suddenly started to vomit black-coloured bile. 2007 (Nexis) 11 Apr. 5 The man..had short brown hair and was wearing a black-coloured sweatshirt. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) v. i. 42 When the day serues before blacke-corner'd night. View more context for this quotation 1876 29 Apr. 528/2 Von Tschudi..says, that a profligate coquero may be known by his foul breath, stumpy teeth, pale quivering lips, black-cornered mouth..and general apathy. 1996 D. Marlatt 84 The place itself has disappeared into faded sepia, a flickering sequence of frames, of black-cornered stills. the world > life > the body > skin > complexion > darkness > [adjective] 1681 No. 1668/4 A middle siz'd, Black Favour'd [man]. 1830 W. Carleton I. 47 ‘Who is this coming down toardst us?’ said the black-favoured man. 1989 B. Hinton 26 That night a figure rapped his door, black-favoured with a corpse's insistence and a crow's head, hooded. 1699 B. E. Queere-peepers, c. old fashion'd, ord'nary, black-framed, or common Looking glasses. 1857 A. Mayhew (1858) ii. iii. 95 Little black-framed pictures. 1977 D. MacKenzie iii. 39 A black-framed oil of a Labrador. 2004 P. Biskind iii. 91 Lipsky has an angular face and wore black-framed Mr. McGoo glasses. 1767 N. Lardner tr. Libanius in IV. xlix. 141 Those black-garbed people, who eat more than elephants. 1892 15 Apr. 5/1 This fine black-garbed battalion is to be quartered with its Regular comrades in the Rifle Depôt. 1921 E. Ferber x. 209 Then she spied her, a draggled black-garbed figure. 2007 J. Sellers vi. 69 Two black-garbed girls sat petitely watching the show. 1611 T. Coryate sig. X2v There was another black gowned Mountebanke that gaue most excellent contentment to the company that frequented his stage. 1778 6 The almost innumerable ranks of society, who..seldom, for fear of offending their mitred, surpliced, and black-gowned godships, look beyond a Creed or Catechism. 1845 Jan. 122 Myriads of crown-shaven, black-gowned, knee-breeched, shoe-buckled, cocked-hatted and thin-legged priests, scuttling about. 1995 K. Toolis (1997) iii. 91 Rows of black-gowned bewigged barristers fiddled with their papers. 1553 J. Locke Jrnl. 27 Aug. in R. Hakluyt (1599) II. 107 They did take a blacke hafted knife, and with the edge of the same did crosse the said taile as if they would cut it in twain. 1994 R. Jordan xxii. 335 He rode on,..the black-hafted spear thrust behind the saddle girth on the opposite side from his unstrung bow. the world > life > the body > hair > colour of hair > [adjective] > having dark hair c1540 (?a1400) (2002) f. 59 Telamon truly was a tulke faire Blake horit. 1657 S. Clarke 154 They [sc. the Samoeds] are all black-haired, and beardlesse. 1771 E. Burke Speech on Jury Bill in (1981) II. 346 Whether a blackhaired man or a fair-haird man presided in the Court of Kings Bench. 1899 26 256 Palpi and antennæ black, densely black-haired. 1992 I. Banks i. 9 The tall and still dramatically black-haired Mr Blawke. 1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in I. xv. 409 Many a black-hilted faulchion huge of haft Fell to the ground. 1996 B. Cornwell (2001) 180 The man wore a black hilted saber at his side, a weapon as crude as a butcher's blade. 1751 S. Richardson (ed. 3) IV. xlii. 258 The windows, the sign-irons and balconies (garrets, gutters, and chimney-tops included) all white-capt, black-hooded, and periwigg'd. 1829 E. Griffith et al. VI. 437 Black-hooded Wheat-ear. 1946 E. A. Armstrong ii. 23 The bat in folklore is the symbol of the black-hooded figure who has the last word in the drama of life. 2002 29 Aug. 150/2 A member of Tony's music staff once played in a band that opened for the legendary black-hooded thug-rockers. 1678 J. P. tr. J. Johnstone ii. 37/2 The sides have black spots; footed like the goat, black-hoofed. 1876 Mar. 318 But a black-hooféd beast with the head of a man Stole down where she sat at my side. 2002 Spring 25 The brownish-pink flesh encased in a layer of glistening fat, the black-hooved legs tied together. 1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach iii. f. 128 The best [bullocks] commonly haue these properties: large, well knit, and sounde lyms, a long, a large, and deepe sided body, blacke horned, [etc.]. 1606 T. Pierson in W. Perkins (ed. 2) 1st Ep. Ded. sig. A2v It may be he hath seene the plaiers and the painters Diuels, some blacke horned monster with broad eies, crooked clawes or clouen feet. 1728 A. Ramsay in (1844) 60 The devil's..Appearing sometimes like a black-horned cow, Aft-times like bawty. 1834 Oct. 452/2 Black-horned Highland cattle. 1912 2 207 It was a grand black-horned Eland, leaping like a horse. 2005 (Nexis) 2 Dec. 8 An artiste in leather pants madly charcoals a sketch of a black-horned being with flames erupting from its head. 1857 27 69 Pale Chinamen and black-jacketed Shans. 1960 No. 3. 323 (note) A gang of white boys come to heckle, a ragtail rabble, slackjawed, black-jacketed. 2009 (Nexis) 31 Aug. a8 As the engines settled into idle, onlookers milled around the black-jacketed bikers and their machines. 1614 J. Cooke sig. C We suck'd a white leafe from my blacke-lipp'd penne. a1849 T. L. Beddoes (1850) iii. iii. 87 Swine,..for a smile, and kiss, and pout, I much prefer your black-lipped snout. 1971 J. Stidworthy 101 The Black-and-White Cobra (Naja melanoleuca ), also known as the black-lipped cobra and forest cobra, lives in Africa from Gambia in the west to Kenya in the east. 2009 A. S. Byatt 184 Red and angry, black-lipped and uttering a desperate whimper, the child shot into the world. the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > body or parts of horse > [adjective] > having particular type mane 1705 T. Hearne (ed. 2) I. iii. 409 Three Thousand Mares did in his Marches feed, Whom Boreas cover'd like a black-main'd Steed. 1850 R. Gordon-Cumming II. xxii. 112 The most magnificent old black-maned lion. 1872 J. S. Blackie 113 The black-maned clouds, like Furies on the wing, Skir past. 1998 Fall 55/1 This caldera..is home to black-maned lions. 1777 R. Potter tr. Æschylus 143 Seven valiant chiefs Slew on the black-orb'd shield the victim bull. 1938 W. de la Mare 73 Prowling, black-orbed, disconsolate, Questing antennae, quivering wing. 1999 V. Seth (2000) iii. 103 A black-orbed clock shows two golden figures, a goddess and a young man. 1675 E. Sherburne tr. M. Manilius 53 Corvinus! on whose Crest Phoebus does in his black-plum'd Emblem rest. 1735 I. at Hawk There is a kind of swarthy, black plumed hawk, that is good mettle. 1857 22 Oct. 6/6 He had always such a dislike to black-plumed hearses..that he would sooner ride miles than meet one of the sable equipages. 1998 J. Barnes (1999) 249 The funeral was an affair of orotundity and black-plumed horses. the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > [adjective] > wearing clothing for head or neck or body > wearing a scarf > types of 1869 Oct. 291 She sees the drooped pall and the black-scarfed mourners. 1917 D. H. Lawrence 81 Black-scarved faces of womenfolk. 2000 N. Gage (2001) xxii. 516 Black-scarved village women holding bunches of wildflowers crossed themselves as the casket passed. the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > [adjective] > wearing clothing for head or neck or body > wearing a shawl > types of 1882 Jan. 321/1 There are many of them [sc. women] abroad at this hour, gliding with soft steps, black-shawled, or folded in dark rebozos , through the streets. 1929 R. Graves 27 The black-shawled peasant woman. 2005 A. Bennett (2006) 560 As I was borne in on a stretcher, black-shawled ladies gazed down at me, raised their eyes to heaven, and crossed themselves. 1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus I. Acts viii. f. xxxiiiiv An Ethiopian borne, blacke skynned, but one that shoulde sone after be clothed with a garment of a lambes flece. 1655 T. Moffett & C. Bennet xxiii. 226 Radish roots of the Garden (for they are best) are either long and white without, or round like a Turnep, and very black skinned. 1781 R. Harrington 269 The human species, near the equator, should be quite black skinned, while those near the poles should be white skinned. 1835 May 759/2 In general, the white skinned sorts [of potatoes] are fit for the table from August to Christmas—the black skinned sorts from October to May. 1986 20 117/1 Black-skinned individuals are protected from the damage caused by ultraviolet by the melanin pigment. 2005 24 June 13/2 A black-skinned apricot has been developed in California by crossing the fruit with a plum. the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > evil and dark > [adjective] > in soul society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > [adjective] > in heart, soul, or blood 1648 No. 1 6 A base perfidious, perjur'd, black-soul'd elfe, Who first destroy'd thy Countrey, then thy selfe. 1749 A. Hill tr. Voltaire iii. iii. 35 Some black-soul'd Fiend, some Fury ris'n from Hell. 1840 W. Whitman (1921) I. 15 All lie earth's spreading arms within, The pure, the black-souled, proud and low. 1944 E. Blunden 43 And forth from black-souled hurricanes Conjures glad day. 2003 P. Williamson (2004) iii. 18 She wasn't sweet Remy anymore, but the red-lipped, black-souled vamp who picked up men, bled them dry, and threw them away. the world > matter > colour > variegation > spot of colour > [adjective] > spotted > having specific coloured spots 1545 T. Paynell tr. St. Bernard xxvii. f. cxiiv Therfore yf ye wyll wasshe cleane awaye youre blacke spotted sinnes. 1662 R. Smith (title) A Wonder of Wonders:..an Invective against Black-spotted Faces. 1768 T. Pennant (new ed.) II. 369 (heading) The black spotted sandpiper. 1884 G. B. Goode in G. B. Goode et al. 468 The Atlantic Salmon, and the black-spotted species of the west. 1932 D. Gascoyne 9 A tattered projection of black-spotted leaves On a branch. 1995 Feb. 14/2 They are complimented by copper-red, black-spotted little butterflies called coppers. 1839 C. Otway viii. 180 He was overtaken..by a moon-faced, able-bodied person, the ample calves of whose black stockinged legs protruded from top boots. 1970 T. Southern i. i. 19 The same rear master-shot..of some cretin's buttocks thrusting halfheartedly into a dopey girl's black-stockinged honey-pot. 2003 C. Birch ii. 22 They watched her skinny black-stockinged legs, twisting and writhing crazily in the frenzy of a made-up dance. the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > [adjective] > wearing clothing for body (and limbs) > wearing a stole > types of 1758 Sept. 434/1 Gloomy Spleen, and sullen Care! Of black-stol'd Night, and horrid Hydra born. 1815 W. Scott ii. xxii. 66 The black-stoled brethren. 1973 1 188 From the absolution by a black-stoled Benedictine with aspergillum and censer..four gondoliers in their Sunday best brought the coffin through the Palladian doors of San Giorgio Maggiore. the world > matter > colour > variegation > stripiness > [adjective] > with specific colour or pattern 1718 R. Bradley (ed. 2) vi. 126 The several kinds of Crocus which blossom in the Spring are the common Yellow and Black strip'd, the Yellow Dutch.., and the White sort. 1888 G. B. Goode 420 One of the most beautiful of our species is the ‘Black-striped Minnow’. 1923 D. H. Lawrence (N.Y. ed.) 134 She [sc. a goat]..reaches her black-striped face up like a snake. 2004 W. B. McCloskey ii. viii. 108 Fish bycatch included the thick, flat, black-striped ishidai they had eaten raw. the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > [adjective] > wearing headgear > wearing a veil 1631 J. Weever 238 An house of blacke veyled Nunnes. 1768 P. Morant II. 296/2 This religious house was founded, for Black veiled Nuns of the Benedictine order, before the year 1190. 1876 E. Jenkins vii. 114 The woman..looked at the long, black-veiled figure of the mourner with respectful sympathy. 1906 B. von Hutten iii. i A black-veiled nursing-sister. 2000 P. Petrone iii. 130 Damascus was a babble of sound and a whirl of colour: black-coated and black-veiled Moslem women; coiffured ladies in Western dress. the world > life > the body > skin > complexion > darkness > [adjective] 1602 J. Marston Prol. sig. A2v Let such Hurrie amaine from our black visag'd showes: We shall affright their eyes. 1710 No. 4695/3 This William Charlton is a black visag'd Man. 1863 E. C. Gaskell I. i. 6 There was an odd, intelligent expression in their faces, as well as in those of the black-visaged sheep. 2009 Mar. 14/2 The six men entered a black-visaged van, the closed, windowless side of which hid them from view. 1628 O. Felltham xiii. sig. K3 Styx, and black-wau'd Acheron. 1882 W. Allan 15 Up on the wind-swept bridge the sea-beaten captain stood, Scanning the black rack's lour, which trailed on the black-waved flood. 1996 S. J. Ostrander lvi. 183 Barrens are also prime habitats for rare butterflies and moths, such as the..frosted elfin, and black-waved flannel moth. b. Complementary. the world > life > the body > skin > complexion > darkness > [adjective] 1753 R. Sheils & T. Cibber II. 290 A black-looking ugly son of a w—— , who had no money in his pocket. 1822 B. E. O'Meara I. 238 He was a little, black-looking man. 1995 W. H. Turner (1997) 104 We had often looked out into the Bay and seen large flocks of black-looking ducks which turned out to be scoters. OE (1955) 156 Ferrugo, blac purpur. 1418 in F. J. Furnivall (1882) 37 (MED) A Cloke of Blake russet. 1462 in J. Raine (1855) II. 254 (MED) Unum equum coloris le blak gray. 1554 in J. Stuart (1844) I. 282 Ane hors. blak-broune mowitt, with ane bell in the forrett. 1606 Edinb. Test. XLI. f. 314v, in at Blak gray xj bollis blak gray aittis. 1685 2037/4 Stolen or strayed..a black-brown Gelding. 1757 tr. J. F. Henckel iii. 30 Sulphur is observed to reduce the white metals, and the semimetals, as silver, lead, regulus of antimony, to black, or black-grey bodies. 1841 R. Browning Pippa Passes i, in 6/1 Its black-blue canopy seemed let descend. 1844 A. W. Kinglake xxvii. 387 A long, low line of blackest green. 1849 D. Campbell 257 This oxide separates after some time as a black-green hydride. 1877 G. Nevile xv. 105 A black-chestnut will clip the same colour he was before. 1923 D. H. Lawrence (N.Y. ed.) 150 The black-green skirts of a yellow-green old Mexican woman. 1995 V. Chandra (1996) 127 The woman..was bleeding in several places, slashed in long black-red lines across the arms and white back. d. With adverbial force, esp. as an intensifier with negative connotations. (a) With the sense ‘badly’, ‘severely’ (chiefly Scottish). black afraid and black angry are found esp. in the writings of Samuel Rutherford Crockett and John Buchan.the mind > emotion > fear > [adjective] > very fearful 1894 S. R. Crockett xli. 297 We are all black afraid, only—we do not all show it! 1910 J. Buchan v. 97 I'll admit the truth to you, Davie. I'm black afraid. a1940 J. Buchan (1941) iii. ii. 239 I'm afraid, black afraid of this damned country. 1829 (ed. 2) 253 Dear me gin we have to stan' lang, and naebody seek us, we'll be black affronted. 1905 Christmas No. 8/1 The thing was fair ridiculous! I'm black affronted. 1976 R. Bulter 33 Hit niver seemed ta budder her, but if yun hed been me I'd been dat black affrontit for a neebor wife ta see [the state of her house]. 2013 (Nexis) 17 May 20 My black-affronted kids and hubbie were still scraiking ‘Please, no!’ as I boogied across. the mind > emotion > anger > [adjective] 1894 S. R. Crockett i. 3 I could have broken his head, for I was black angry at the senseless and causeless cruelty of the shooting. 1915 J. Buchan iii. 47 I had been sore at my imprisonment, I was black angry at this manner of release. 1999 B. Teran 229 Bob knows her well enough from the way she's rocking back and forth on her boots and the turn her eyes take, getting black angry, that she's gonna blow. the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > [adjective] > severely 1938 E. Bowen i. i. 24 His father was black depressed. 1991 (Nexis) 3 Aug. 1 The clove cigarette smoking, black depressed, psychedelic cool people who kept to themselves. (b) the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrepute > damage to reputation > slander or calumny > [adjective] > secretly 1624 F. Quarles sig. E3 Earths black babbling Daughter (she that heares, And vents alike, both Truth and Forgeries). 1647 R. Baron i. 13 Earths black babling daughter spred the pinions of swift wings, advanced her shrill trumpet, and fill'd the inquiring eares of Tripolis, with the relation of our journey. the world > action or operation > adversity > calamity or misfortune > [adjective] > inauspicious 1743 E. Young 3 Black-boding Man Receives, not suffers Death's tremendous Blow. 1841 Nov. 433 The black-boding seal that tells of death. 1895 A. Lang in C.O. Murray p. xviii The picture..is wonderfully vivid: the turf wall (fail dyke), behind it the knight slain in some Border feud, and the converse of the two black boding corbies. the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > appetite > fasting > [adjective] > severely 1664 vii. 66 Black fasting as they were born. 1823 W. Scott II. iii. 61 To sit for ten hours thegither, black fasting. e. (a) 1876 G. M. Hopkins Wreck of Deutschland xxiv, in (1967) 59 She to the black-about air..Was calling. society > law > types of laws > [noun] > relating to game or poaching 1789 G. White 18 The Waltham blacks..committed such enormities, that government was forced to interfere with that severe and sanguinary act called the black act. 1809 T. E. Tomlins (at cited word) A virtual repeal of the punishment inflicted by the Black Act. 1933 38 247 The Black Act..made it a felony with the death penalty for anyone while disguised to kill deer illegally. 1999 M. Shoard iii. 121 The notorious Black Act of 1723 created fifty new offences punishable by death, but in fact few people actually went to the gallows for breaking the game laws and poaching, say, a single fish. the world > the earth > named regions of earth > Africa > [noun] > black or white regions 1789 J. Lowe 49 Be not surprized, ye Amazons of France, if on reading ‘This day a female slave plunged herself into the sea and was drowned’ ye see the Amazons of black Africa, as fond of liberty as yourselves! 1858 36 The black missionary to black Africa, like to like. 1887 H. S. Fulkerson iii. 80 The country in Africa known on the map as Ethiopia, (meaning land of the scorched faces) is often confounded with black Africa, hence we sometimes hear the Negro called an Ethiopian. 1938 L. Hughes 10 Torn from Black Africa's strand I came. 1975 E. Shils in H. M. Patel et al. 83 In Black Africa, between 1954 and 1970, they have increased the number of pupils in primary schools threefold. 2001 4 Jan. a16/1 Migrants entering Niger pass through Agadez, about 350 miles southwest, which..has served for centuries as a gateway between black Africa to the south and Arab Africa to the north. the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > black person > [noun] 1633 W. Rowley i. sig. B3v Souldiers should be forward; looke yee I have bright steele for the blacke Affricans. 1710 W. Hume 89 His Followers prevailing most in the black African Regions. 1787 O. Cugoano 43 Bloody slavery carried on by the inhuman, barbarous Europeans, against the poor unfortunate Black Africans. 1891 7 Nov. 711/2 The descendants of a black African man and woman in America will perpetuate the negro type with marked persistency. 1969 A. F. Addona 11 There are at least three types of ‘Africans’: the Arab African, the black African, and the White African. 2004 28 June 26/1 Accounts from dozens of refugees in Darfur..provide evidence of an organized campaign by Arab Janjaweed militias..to rid the Darfur regions of its 80 black African tribes. the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > hydrocarbon minerals > [noun] > coal > lignite > jet the world > animals > mammals > order Cetacea (whales) > suborder Odontoceti > [noun] > family Physeteridae > genus Physeter (sperm whale) > parts of > ambergris 1658 E. Phillips Geat, a sort of precious stone, otherwise called black Amber. 1670 C. Cotton tr. G. Girard iii. ix. 447 Some pieces of Amber-gris, (or rather black Amber, for it was of that colour). 1773 W. Lewis tr. C. Neumann (ed. 2) I. 384 There is a hard light sort [of coal] not staining the fingers..; capable of being polished, filed, cut, and turned... called Gagates and Succinum nigrum, jet or black Amber. 1871 A. Hope & A. Harvey vi. 105 Yellow amber should be of the palest primrose hue, but there is another shade that is now much prized, namely, the black amber. 1886 3 116/1 The electrical qualities of jet obtained it the name of black amber. 1932 G. C. Williamson 214 The ordinary phrase of Black Amber applied by dealers to Rumanite is misleading, because its colour value is a very high one. 2004 (Nexis) 5 Sept. 1 Amber is on sale all over Lithuania, ranging from..the black amber we seldom see in the UK, to the pale yellow that is the most expensive. 1891 W. L. Clowes (title) Black America: a study of the ex-slave and his late master. 1973 10 Nov. 14/3 The peoples of the Third World look to Black America for support in their struggles. 2004 15 Mar. 6/2 Al is positioning himself to be leader of black America. 1818 H. B. Fearon 61 Black Americans are..practically and politically slaves. 1892 F. A. Durham i. 16 Mr. Frederick Douglass (who is a Mulatto) had for his first wife a Black American lady of full, unmixed blood. 1959 E. Muhammad (1973) i. 5 Here we are, upwards of twenty million Black Americans who have given their blood, sweat, and service for four hundred years in the vain hope that one day justice would be ours. 1971 B. Sidran i. 13 One psychologist..has attempted to chart and analyze black American singing. 2000 A. Calcutt 95/2 It is often said that drum'n'bass is as distinctively British as hip-hop is black American. 2010 Feb. 14/1 The imprint Black Americans leave is deserving of celebration throughout the year. society > law > legal profession > lawyer > [noun] > collectively society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > non-manual worker > [noun] > collectively 1832 M. O'Doherty in Oct. 427 The absurd etiquette which prevents [them] from following any profession save the Army, the Navy, Black-apronry, and Black-leggery. the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > type of disease > bacterial diseases > associated with food or crop plants 1902 47 This form is sometimes known as ‘black-arm’ and sometimes does much damage to Sea Island and Egyptian cotton in South Carolina and Southern Georgia. 1931 26 Mar. 8/1 In severe cases of black-arm, large patches of diseased tissue may completely girdle the stalks, which then break off. 1991 37 285 R. L. Knight..had been employed..to work on the genetics of resistance to an important bacterial disease of cotton, widely known at the time as ‘blackarm’, but later referred to as bacterial blight. 1923 2 Oct. 23/7 The ‘Black Reichswehr’..—Nationalist groups which had nuclei throughout Germany for months—are now growing so fast it is no longer possible to control them.] 1924 10 June 7/7 The term ‘Black Army’ is used first for members of the organisations who keep their arms in their homes, like the Swiss militia, or in carefully hidden arsenals, and, secondly, for troops who are organised in regular army fashion. 1945 25 Sept. ii. 4/6 He gave assurances that the Reichswehr and the Black army would throw the Poles back beyond the prewar frontier. 1977 10 128 Rossbach..was an organizer of the ‘black army’ (commonly known as Black Reichswehr) which Saxony, Prussia, and Thuringia had encountered during their attempts to outlaw the racist German People's Freedom Party. 1996 R. Kimber & R. Kimber tr. K. Kreimeier (1999) xv. 174 Other advance troops of the ‘conservative revolution’—from the Free Corps to the Black Army of the Reich..—had long been prepared to march on into a Führer's state. 1863 2 253 In regions in which it [sc. nature] planted..the black Australian..there now thrives the White Man of Europe. 1883 5 [He] made some excursions in the interior of the mainland, in order to study the natives,..and throw some light on the..origin of the black Australian race. 1982 15 Oct. 6/2 Since Black Australians can't get control of their own land,..a token piece of the white colony was being claimed temporarily. 1998 J. Kalb vii. 136 Most of them are middle-class professionals doing the play in their spare time, not illiterate and impoverished outcasts, the usual depiction of Aborigines even in Black Australian theater. 2009 (Nexis) 4 Oct. Siri in Amsterdam allows himself to be mistakenly identified as a Black Australian although he is no Aborigine. society > law > law enforcement > investigation of crime > [adjective] > types of search 1966 23 Aug. ii. 6/6 The new man [to lead the C.I.A.] probably also ought to be an outsider (with no interest in covering up past mistakes or prolonging old quarrels) given to study and evaluation (rather than black-bag tricks). 1972 25 June a5/3 The abortive black-bag job of the Democratic National Committee headquarters by five yo-yos..has plumbed the very depths of outrageous activity. 2000 T. Clancy vii. 110 Now it's called ‘special operations’; back then it was a ‘black bag job’—and we weren't always very careful about getting a warrant. 1970 K. F. Walker vii. 224 The Broken Hill unions have employed all the various forms [of direct action]: strike, go-slow, black ban, [etc.]. 1996 (Nexis) 27 Oct. 19 Fire and progress almost ended the life of the theatre, but thanks to a union black ban which held up demolition and a multi-million dollar refit by local property developers, the Regent was saved. 2006 T. Bramston App. 292 A two-year black ban by the Transport Workers Union starting in October 1976 torpedoed the pilot Regional Freight Centre at Tamworth. the world > the earth > minerals > ore > [noun] > metal ore > iron ore > others the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > carbonates > [noun] > hexagonal > siderite 1811 1 497/1 (table) Black bands, with iron-stone. 1838 379 A seam of black band, at a depth of 15 to 25 fathoms under the splint, or fifth seam of coal, of the Lanarkshire basin. 1846 1 173 The ‘Black Band Ore’ recently discovered at Ransh Gap in great abundance, is not known in any other section of the United States. 1903 22 108 As the blackband ironstone contains a considerable amount of carbonaceous matter, little or no fuel is added to the ruck. 1954 J. F. Kirkaldy xiii. 191 These ores, even the ‘Blackband Ores’, consisting of alternate layers of coaly and ferruginous material, are not worked today. 2008 R. L. Lewis ii. 62 John Lewis..recognized that the bottom of this little mine was not worthless blackstone but rather black-band ore. the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > restoratives, tonics, or stimulants > [noun] > stimulant > pills 1966 27 May 4/2 The youngsters broke into laughter..at the pathetic descriptions of teen-agers who have gone berserk under the influence of near death-dealing doses of sleeping tablets, cough syrups, pep pills, ‘black beauties’, [etc.]. 2003 A. Franken xxix. 240 Wakey-wakeys. You know, pep pills, black beauties. 1678 J. Browne xiv. 77 And for this Use Sperma Ceti, black Beer, Pulv. ad Casum, and the like, being taken inwardly, are good and proper. 1799 15 June 1/3 For sale... Spruce or black beer, in kegs and half kegs. 1894 c. 30 §25 The duties of Customs now payable on beer of the descriptions called mum, spruce, or black beer, imported into Great Britain or Ireland. 1992 (Nexis) 9 June 9 A Yorkshire drink known as black beer. This syrupy drink..is normally mixed with milk or lemonade before it is drunk. 2009 J. Mcllvain et al. iii. 102 Black beer is suggested with smoked meats. 1966 28 Dec. 3 (caption) Black Berets, members of the Navy's corps of guerrilla fighters, take part in simulated mission. 1971 G. MacEóin vii. 168 Mora is a Black Beret, the Chilean version of the Green Berets. 1972 N. R. Pierce 282 City officials..showed great reluctance to confer with the leading local militant group, the Black Berets, a ‘brown power’ organization. 1991 (Nexis) 20 Jan. 3 b If legislators balk, his [sc. Gorbachev's] Black Berets can surround the Supreme Soviet and conduct a Pride's purge. 2006 L. Pulido ii. vi. 167 Other organizations were influenced by and emulated the BPP. Such groups include the aim,..the Red Guard, and the Black Berets. 1737 B. Franklin Drinker's Dict. 13 Jan. in (1960) II. 174 A Man is drunk... He's kiss'd black Betty. 1835 N. Ames 277 If you've got any white-eye in that black betty,..I don't much care if I take a drop. 1880 in C. T. Greeve (1904) I. 463 They didn't forget to pass the old ‘black betty’, filled with good old peach brandy. 1992 J. M. Faragher i. ii. 43 The rowdies who gathered on the wedding morning, passing the jug (‘Black Betty’). 1480 Bill of Expenditure in (1978) 64 233 Iiij blake bills, v shepp sperys, v long bowys..xij bow strynges. 1598 R. Barret i. 5 Thus much..to our inueterate conceiters of bowes and blacke billes. 1688 A. Pulton 8 A Band of Bully Scholars, marching under ground with their Black-Bills. 1839 26 The bill, and the English black bill, are very ancient arms, and were those principally used by the infantry before the introduction of the pike. 1908 B. E. Sargeaunt ii. 24 Certain weapons were termed ‘brown-bills’ or ‘black-bills’ on account of the colour of the material put on the metal to preserve it. 2007 L. Brittney (2008) v. 76 There are rapiers.., battle axes, black bills. 1895 R. W. Furnas 76 The severe dust storm, called the ‘black blizzard’, which prevailed over the state. 1934 29 Apr. i. 21/1 Black blizzards sweeping over the Middle West are menacing crops in huge areas of the ‘world's bread basket’. 2007 (Nexis) 16 Oct. 1 e Black blizzards of the Dust Bowl brought ‘dust pneumonia’ to the Panhandle. 1739 1 122 Black Bogs yield some Kind of Pasture, of a finer or a coarser Grass, according to the Nature of the Bog. 1772 H. Brooke 6 There is another kind of Bog called black Bog, and this is readily reformable, at small cost and trouble, into the most prolific of all sorts of Soil. 1814 4th Rep. Commissioners Bogs Ireland 127 in (H.C. 131) VI. ii. 167 These bogs do not form one continuous mass of red bog, but are connected together by intervening tracts of black bog. 1864 18 June 706/2 In Ireland alone there are nearly a million and a half of acres of red and black bog, and a million and a quarter of mountain bog. 1900 S. Baring-Gould i. 7 Here may be found Cranmere Pool, which is now no pool at all, but just a small piece of bare black bog. 1996 J. Feehan & G. O'Donovan ii. 39 There was a difference of opinion [in the 19th century] as to whether it was more remunerative to reclaim red or black bog. the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > restoratives, tonics, or stimulants > [noun] > stimulant > pills 1963 22 Aug. 17/2 Drugs named in the various charges included ‘purple hearts’, soneryl, methadrine, and ‘black bombers’. 1964 29 Aug. 452/1 The preparations in circulation apparently included ‘black bombers’ (‘Durophet’, a mixture of the two amphetamines). 2003 22 Dec. (Review section) 5/2 We all smoked dope, and we all took uppers—Black Bombers and Purple Hearts—particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. the world > food and drink > drink > containers for drink > drinking vessel > [noun] > drinking-bowl 1509 S. Hawes xxix. 136 He never dranke but in a fayre blacke boule. 1568 U. Fulwell sig. B.iiii From morning til night I sit tossing the black bole. 1651 in J. Taylor 20 Body and Soule may blesse the Black bowle. 1856 G. Gilfillan i. 36 On returning to the house, there was a new set of hero-and-toddy-worshippers arrived; the black bowl was again produced, and Burns' mood was changed accordingly. the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > bread > [noun] > coarse bread ?c1335 in W. Heuser (1904) 157 Hail be ȝe bakers wiþ ȝur louis smale Of white bred and of blake. 1447 O. Bokenham (Arun.) (1938) l. 9911 Blak brede..In hote watyr moystyd..she eet. 1484 W. Caxton tr. G. de la Tour-Landry (1971) cxxxiiii. 178 They..ete black brede and metes of lytyll sauoure. 1596 T. Danett tr. P. de Commynes viii. vii. 340 Two daies I ate nothing but naughty blacke bread: yet was I none of those that stood in most neede. 1635 W. Saltonstall tr. G. Mercator 551 Their [sc. the Westphalians'] food is blacke bread and cheese: their flesh meate is Porke, hung Beefe, and Bacon. 1765 L. Sterne VII. viii. 29 He had lost five minutes already, in alighting in order to get at a luncheon of black bread. 1820 T. Hodgskin I. 306 The celebrated pumpernickel, a black bread made of rye, with nothing separated from it but the husks of the grain. 1933 A. M. Lindbergh Let. 3 Aug. in (1974) 72 Mrs. Rasmussen's lunch is very good: sardines on black bread with a little oil paper laid on top to keep it moist. 1977 T. Kilroy (1979) 21 Mondays only the black bread and the black tay. 2008 (Nexis) 2 Jan. Black bread, sausages, fried eggs and cucumber pickles rinsed down with a cup of strong, hot tea is more of the breakfast trademark in Russia. 1705 R. Blackmore v. 125 The black Brigades, that did on Rome depend, Assert her Power, and impious Cause defend. 1881 Sept. 393/1 Cassidy..ostentatiously kept away from mass, and inveighed against the ‘black brigade’. 1895 20 May 4/7 The Welsh Church Bill will have no better chance with the Peers for being left to the tender mercies of the ‘Black Brigade’ until they are tired of the struggle. 1907 A. S. T. Griffith-Boscawen vi. 65 The Church Parliamentary Party (or Black Brigade, as we were now jocularly styled) were well to the fore. 1987 G. I. T. Machin v. iv. 210 Opposition in Parliament was later shown particularly by the Church Parliamentary Committee or ‘Church Party’ (or the ‘Black Brigade’ to its opponents). 1994 R. M. Crunden (1996) i. 26 The passions of these years would have been hard to sustain without the black brigades of Congregationalist clergy urging their flocks into something very close to a political Armageddon. 1966 R. B. Davison (title) Black British: immigrants to England. 1979 5 June 8/5 In Britain, there's still little reggae..that deals with the black British experience. 1987 C. Phillips xiv. 125 The crisis of a second-generation black British community..will deepen in direct proportion to the vigour with which Britain tries to ignore the gross inequity of opportunity. 2003 K. Kwei-Armah i. i. 15 (stage direct.) Although black British, she too swings into authentic, full-attitude Jamaican at the drop of a hat. 2004 R. V. Arana in R. V. Arana & L. Ramey ii. 20 From England, we learn that the English-English are suffering an identity crisis..while the black British are feeling ‘centered at last’. 1971 P. Haikin (title) Black Britons. 1975 S. Selvon 21 Blessed be the coming of this new generation of Black Britons... It is a sight for sore eyes to see them flounce and bounce about the city, even if they capsize on their platforms and trip up in their maxis. 1999 B. Crick in R. English & C. Townshend ix. 226 It is significant that fellow citizens from the new Commonwealth call themselves..‘Black Britons’ or ‘Black British’, but rarely if ever ‘Black English’, ‘Black Welsh’ or ‘Black Scots’. 2002 C. Williams 2 A second generation black Briton. the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > cake > [noun] > a cake > cake for specific occasion > Hogmanay 1898 J. L. Waugh 104 I'se warrant ye hae nae black bun or currant loaf to first-fit wi'. 1958 30 May 698/2 We could have done with something more like a haggis and less like a black bun. 1992 I. Rankin 190 New Year was the time for celebration, for first-footing, black bun, madeira cake, coal wrapped in silver foil. the world > food and drink > food > additive > sauce or dressing > [noun] > fruit sauces the world > food and drink > food > additive > sauce or dressing > [noun] > butter sauces 1775 C. Mason (ed. 2) 420 Black Butter. Three pounds of fruit, (viz. currants, gooseberries, rasberries, and cherries) to one pound of sixpenny sugar boiled till it is quite thick. 1808 J. Austen 27 Dec. (1995) 160 Our Black Butter..was neither solid nor entirely sweet... Miss Austen had said she did not think it had been boiled enough. 1824 Aug. 180 They [sc. the French] eat a Ray fried in black butter. 1906 (rev. ed.) x. 273 Black Butter Sauce. Ingredients—11/ 2 ozs. of butter, 1 teaspoonful of chopped parsley, 1/ 2 a teaspoonful of vinegar. 1962 23 Aug. 299/1 Serve them [sc. mackerel] hot with black-butter sauce. To make the sauce..melt 2 ounces of butter until it is dark brown but not burnt, and then throw chopped parsley into it and let it fry for a few seconds only. 1994 9 Jan. (Review Suppl.) 39/3 Black Butter, which you can buy in Jersey. It's a treacly paste made from slowly boiled-down, caramelised apples. 2004 8 Dec. 5/1 Skate Also a traditional fish restaurant favourite, more recently turning up pan-fried (with black butter or capers) and poached. 1914 May 856/1 A moment later she entered a taxi-cab. ‘Follow that black cab,’ said Kennedy, to our driver. 1971 16 Sept. 499/3 Drivers of black cabs know they risk losing their licence if they should get into trouble. 1993 I. Welsh 5 We wir here first, Sick Boy sais, opening the taxi door.—Thir's another yin coming. He gestured up the Walk at an advancing black cab. 2009 18 Sept. 22/1 And now they're teaching him how to be a cab driver, driving round London in a black cab. the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > cake > [noun] > a cake > rich cake the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > cake > [noun] > a cake > cake for specific occasion > Christmas 1823 5 Sept. 192/2 Black Cake, much esteemed.—Three pounds of butter and three pounds of sugar beat to a cream, three glasses of brandy and two of rose water, twenty-eight eggs, and three pounds of flour added by degrees together, six pounds of currants, six pounds of seeded raisins, [etc.]. 1916 13 Jan. 11/5 Mrs. Anthony Charley made a beautiful large Xmas black cake. 2006 R. Ganeshram v. 138 Every family has a bottle of fruit soaking for their Christmas black cake—usually, for some odd reason, under the kitchen sink. 1968 53 284 How do black Canadians differ from black Americans? 1972 401 186/1 The Blacks in Canada surveys the entire field of Black Canadian history from the Maritime Provinces to the Pacific Coast. 1987 July 22/3 I am a Black Canadian female studying law. 1996 R. W. Nelson in B. Schissel & L. Mahood xvii. 381 Many Black Canadians and African Americans find themselves dealing with ‘the oreo question’ of how to make it through the White-dominated school system while maintaining ties to their culture and local community. 2003 D. B. Nurse 150 Kate is white, Jewish and from England. Diane is black Canadian. society > faith > church government > council > chapter > member of chapter > regular > [noun] 1447 O. Bokenham (Arun.) (1938) l. 137 (MED) In an old pryory Of blake chanons, hyr oo foot is. a1525 in W. A. Craigie (1923) I. 248 About the quhilk tyme sanct Austyne..began the ordour of blak channonis. a1672 A. Wood (1848) 156 The abbey there, originally built for Black Canons. 1722 J. Stevens II. 69 By reason of their black Habit, worn over their white Surplices..generally call'd either Black Canons, or Canons of St. Augustin. 1850 vii. 75 There was an hospice also, and the black canons were..ready to give the traveller spiritual counsel. 1996 Mar. 100/1 Bolton Abbey marks the gateway to the dale and was home to the Black Canons—Augustinian monks who followed vows of poverty and chastity—until the Dissolution. 1825 66 291 Strong sulphuric acid, employed under similar circumstances, leaves, besides the graphite, black carbon easily combustible. 1889 23 1010 In this meteor were also found hydrocarbons and small grains of black carbon. 1934 Nov. 57/1 The zinc in burning combines with the carbon tetrachloride to form zinc chloride and particles of black carbon. 1983 Mar. 3/3 Black carbon particles can contribute to the heating of the atmosphere. Moreover..computer models indicate that these particles could alter Arctic climate in the same way as the greenhouse effect. 2009 4 Oct. 17/4 Soot from developing countries is a largely unappreciated cause of rising temperatures. Once the black carbon lands on glaciers, it absorbs sunlight that would otherwise be reflected. 2016 (Nexis) 11 Dec. The breathing in of particulate matter (composed of black carbon, sulfate, nitrates, ammonia, sodium chloride, mineral dust and water) that measures 10 microns or less in diameter (PM10), poses the greatest health risks because the particles can find their way deep into lungs and the bloodstream. society > authority > rule or government > politics > party politics > [noun] > party machine > types of control of > committee > for advancement of black people society > authority > rule or government > politics > party politics > [noun] > party machine > types of control of > committee > composed of black people 1964 29 233/1 A relatively new organization, the all-Negro Trade Union Leadership Council (TULC), constitutes a ‘black caucus’ of approximately 9,000 Negroes. 1971 20 May a13/1 The President's response to the congressional Black Caucus should stand as a comprehensive statement of ‘where we are at this moment.’ 1989 B. Spock & M. Morgan xiv. 173 The black caucus..absented themselves from the conference and effectively stalled it for two days while they formulated their ‘nonnegotiable demands’. 2003 B. McKibben (2004) iv. 195 The endless meetings with the Congressional Black Caucus. society > communication > printing > types, blocks, or plates > relating to type > style of type > [noun] > type face or font > black letter or Gothic 1659 221 This book, that is also printed in a large black Character, after the manner of the Statutes. 1751 S. Johnson No. 177. ⁋6 Books..printed in the black character. 1827 Mar. 223 The MS. is a small quarto of vellum, in old French, finely written in the black character, and richly illuminated. the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > confections or sweetmeats > sweets > [noun] > a sweet > chocolate 1902 16 Oct. 8/3 (advt.) They [sc. Boston chocolate crackers] are a dainty little oval shaped sugar cracker, dipped in finest black chocolate. 2009 J. McGannon & M. McGannon ii. 74 Black chocolate can thin your blood, like red wine or aspirin. 1963 16 Nov. 9 The Birmingham police who purposely turned their backs while the white terrorists bombed black churches. 1971 B. Sidran i. 23 The black church instigated the split between middle-class and poor blacks. 1992 2 July 3/1 The book documents the hymnological tradition of black churches in America. 2008 17 July 21/2 Secular leaders who had no interest in religion were nevertheless very much influenced by the black church's emphasis on the redemptive power of suffering. society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > parson > [noun] society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > non-manual worker > [noun] 1616 T. Granger 6 Many protestant Atheists, and Epicures..hate and deride the very name of a Preacher, and cannot looke on a blacke coate, (as these blacke mouthed hell-hounds terme them) with a patient eye. 1711 J. Swift No. 26. 165 He delights to have his Table filled with Black-Coats, whom he uses as if they were Gentlemen. 1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian xiii, in 2nd Ser. IV. 300 You are the black-coat's son of Knocktarlitie. 1870 R. W. Emerson 219 The black-coats are good company only for black-coats. 1940 87 110/1 Both these sorts of public house are essentially working class; the blackcoat's pub is another sort of place. 1995 S. S. Webb (1998) ii. iv. 135 The red coats and the black coats were uniting against him. society > occupation and work > [adjective] > relating to skilled occupation > manual or industrial > not the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > [adjective] > wearing clothing for body (and limbs) > wearing a coat > types of 1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault ii. xxxix. 251 The blacke coated pompion. 1652 J. Ferriby ii. 5 Those who thus labour in the Lord, and are thus highly to be esteemed, are not the Black-coated Ministers, Ordained by men, furnished with learning at the Universities. 1774 ii. 67 That brother not, like you devoted To ev'ry tyrant Priest black-coated. 1893 14 Apr. 506/1 The young fellow who will devote himself to agriculture..in New Zealand..may do even better than the youth who wins his way to the black-coated servitude of a bank. 1932 D. L. Sayers i. 12 He can't be a fisherman or anything of that kind; they don't waste time snoozing. Only the black-coated brigade does that. 1993 J. Pournelle & S. M. Stirling 99 Close to the ranch headquarters they saw black-coated Angus cattle. society > law > types of laws > [noun] > relating to ethnic minorities 1749 M. Postlethwayt 22 The ordinance commonly called in the French islands of America, The Black Code, it containing the laws to be observed in respect to negroes. 1840 30 July 2/1 A black man..[will] be tried before Judge Preval, under the Black Code. 1876 9 Aug. 5347/2 I hold in my hand the laws of the Legislature of South Carolina passed in the session of 1865–'66... Among the very first acts that they passed was the act which is known all over this country and all over the world as the ‘black code’ of South Carolina, a code that should disgrace every one of its authors. 1960 H. Carter in (1963) xvi. 154 South Africa's system of residential and occupational passes and other onerous restrictions upon the African's movements are little different from the Black Codes with which the fearful South of Reconstruction enmeshed the Negro freedman. 1997 6 Nov. 54/1 White Southerners set out to restore a racial oligarchy, bulwarked by the notorious ‘Black Codes’ that were close to slavery. the world > food and drink > drink > coffee > [noun] > black coffee 1796Black coffee [see sense A. 2f]. 1818 C. I. La Trobe v. 86 Some black coffee without milk, as is here the fashion, was handed round. 1867 S. W. Baker ix. 220 I..sat down..to good curry and rice, and a cup of black coffee. 1913 29 Nov. 1563/2 Coffee is often made with a generous proportion of the powdered bean as in the case of after dinner ‘black’ coffee, the view being that the secret of good coffee is to make it strong. 1940 W. H. Auden 77 Kept awake with black coffee. 2003 8 Jan. 18/1 Taking a slug of black coffee and eating a doughnut. society > society and the community > social attitudes > racial attitudes > [noun] > awareness of one's identity as a black person 1935 22 June 24/5 A program to create an international black consciousness through the medium of a world-wide organization. 1953 F. Henriques iii. 62 The current expositors of black consciousness in Jamaica are a group of people who call themselves Ras Tafarites. 1966 A. Baraka 241 Malcolm X's great contribution..was to preach Black Consciousness to the Black Man... Malcolm talked about a black consciousness that took its form from religion. 1991 13 May 1/6 Supporters of the black consciousness movement, Azapo. 2005 Feb. 53/1 Steve was the first president of the SA Student's Association, which he helped start in 1968 to raise black consciousness in the country. the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > kind of earth or soil > [noun] > dark soil 1804 Marquess of Wellesley Let. 12 Sept. in R. G. Burton (1908) 167 The rain..rendered Monson's marches much more difficult than they would otherwise have been; particularly in that country, which is a black cotton ground. 1838 XII. 205/1 On the whole surface of the table-land [of the Deccan] a black soil prevails, which, from being favourable to the growth of cotton, has been called the black cotton ground, or regur. 1884 XXII. iv. 254 In this transition region the soil is generally a reddish alluvial clayslate crossed here and there..by narrow belts of black cotton ground. the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > kind of earth or soil > [noun] > clayey soil 1814 B. Heyne xix. 309 The soil in the large plains is universally the black cotton soil, having a sub-soil of calcareous marl resting either on compact limestone or on clay slate. 1882 A. Geikie iii. ii. 442 The ‘regur’, or rich black cotton soil of India. 1935 H. B. Thomas & R. Scott vii. 116 It is almost uncultivable and is known (quite erroneously since it will not grow cotton) as ‘black cotton soil’. 1960 M. Perham iii. 51 The black cotton-soil plains of Bornu [Nigeria], flat dry land patched with thorn-scrub. 1991 65 796/2 The Deccan Chalcolithic was essentially a village culture which flourished in the region of the fertile black cotton soil. 2002 Winter 36/2 Not unless ploughing through black cotton soil quagmires or being eaten alive by mosquitoes and tsetse flies features high on your list of fun activities. 1846 W. Gresley (title) Colton Green: a tale of the Black Country. 1851 S. Sydney 126 In this Black Country, including West Bromwich, Wednesbury, Dudley and Darlaston, Bilston, Wolverhampton and several minor villages, a perpetual twilight reigns during the day. 1871 J. C. Young I. 325 In the densely-populated black country, with its smoke and blasts and furnaces. 1924 29 Nov. 248/2 Some of the finest structural engineering in the world was done in the Black Country. 2006 5 Oct. 25/2 ‘So I got a ticket and I went’, Iqbal says flatly in his adenoidal Black Country accent. 1867 1 Apr. 1/5 The chief trouble, however, will be in the black counties, where..the blacks are still under the tyrannical heels of their old masters. 1888 Sept. 8947/1 Justices of the peace in the black counties..converted their offices into engines of oppression to both races. 1969 31 July 8/3 In the black counties of the deep south, the whites can feel threatened and beleaguered. 2004 13 Sept. 30/2 Developing one of the nation's more affluent Black counties. 1795 G. Robertson (new ed.) vii. 89 The dung forced the crop of wheat, and this succeeded by the black crop, which seldom failed to prosper, left the land in a fine heart for barley. 1889 J. Wrightson ix. 210 Vetches..may be allowed to stand until they ripen, and they are then classed with beans and peas as ‘black crops’. 1961 F. E. Shotton in (Brit. Assoc. Advancem. Sci.) 165/1 Wherever possible a cereal should follow a root or ‘black’ crop. the world > matter > gas > [noun] > fumes or vapour > noxious vapour or gas > in mines > choke-damp 1736 11 Divers colliers ventur'd down at different times..but perceiving a black damp in the work.., were as often obliged to return. 1836 334 The miners..also meet with foul air, called by them the black damp..which suffocates the instant it is inhaled. 1914 86 370 How does the admixture of black-damp modify the respirability of mine air? 1998 (Nexis) 29 Jan. 18 His own father had died from breathing in black damp as an oversman down the pit. the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of sheep > [noun] > other disorders of sheep 1906 W. H. Hall 282 The chief diseases of sheep recorded during the last ten years are anthrax, foot-rot, fluke, worms, and the black disease. 1918 31 2 Two explanations of the origin of the term black disease are given, viz., (1) on account of the dark appearance of the liver of animals dead of the disease; (2) because of the dark colour assumed by the under surface of the skin. 1986 J. F. Gracey (ed. 8) xv. 317/1 Other clostridial diseases such as tetanus and black disease result from the elaboration of toxin in previously damaged tissue, e.g. a deep puncture wound in tetanus and a lesion caused by immature flukes in black disease. the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > hook > [noun] > hooks fastened together 1883 23 Full dressed fancy salmon flies..Silver Doctor, Black Doctor, Butcher. 1909 22 Oct. 4/2 When..there is no possibility of catching a salmon except by that engine of death, the ‘Black Doctor’—the three big hooks tied back to back and dragged along the floor of a pool. 2006 C. Mann 21/1 The Black Doctor is another pattern that still finds a place in modern fishing. the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > cleansing or expelling medicines > [noun] > purgative > drink 1823 50 321 In twelve hours from the first purgative he had three grains of calomel and six of James' powder; followed, in twelve hours, by a black draught. 1840 W. M. Thackeray I. 166 Go enjoy your dull black draughts of metaphysics. 1861 A. K. H. Boyd 2nd Ser. 155 As if you gave a man a large jug of pure water, and then cast into it a few drops of black-draught. 1935 14 Dec. 1345/1 My grandfather used a blue pill and a black draught which he called ‘a birch broom and a bucket of water’. 2003 D. A. E. Shephard iii. 38 Further treatment included an enema of salts, muriate of soda, oil of terebinth, and Black draught (a senna preparation). the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > evil person > [adjective] > convict society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prisoner > [adjective] > distinguished by bad conduct 1875 745/1 The black dress men are now kept separate at work as well as elsewhere, and are only released and returned to the parties when they have given some proof of improvement. 1899 3 July 5/6 The convict Billinge is what is known as a ‘Black dress’ man, being thus distinguished because of his bad conduct. 1913 T. Hopkins i. iii. 54 The black-dress men have been flogged with the cat-o'-nine tails for an assault on a warder. 1772 D. Taitt in N. D. Mereness (1916) 503 I went this Morning to the Hot house and Stayed there about two hours smoking and drinking black drink. 1884 A. S. Gatschet I. i. iii. 183 The black drink was the symbol of purification from wickedness, of prowess in war and of friendship and hospitality. 1985 W. Brandon (new ed.) viii. 222 The old ceremonies, the black drink, the busk or green-corn festival, the eternal games of chunkey and ball play, went on as ever. 2005 C. Tudge x. 246 The native people of the south-eastern United States make ‘black drink’ from the leaves of I. vomitoria. the world > the universe > star > kind of star > small star > [noun] > black dwarf 1929 R. H. Fowler xxi. 552 If such matter were removed by any cause from the interior of the black dwarf it could not then resume its ordinary state. 1933 20 Jan. 71/2 Milne points out that we should have not only white dwarfs with degenerate cores, but still fainter orange and red dwarfs, stages of approach to the dead ‘black dwarf’. 1978 J. M. Pasachoff & M. L. Kutner x. 284 Some black dwarfs come from featherweight stars.., stars that were not massive enough to begin hydrogen burning; others are cooled white dwarfs. 2002 K. Heusch tr. H. Fritzsch xiv. 185 Stars that are lighter, or even a bit heavier, than our Sun will be subject to a fate similar to that of the Sun: they will pass through a phase as white dwarfs, finally to end up as black dwarfs. the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > kind of earth or soil > [noun] > organic soil > humus > chernozem the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > kind of earth or soil > [noun] > organic soil > humus > chernozem > belt of 1607 E. Topsell 613 Annoint his body..with Brimstone, and soft Idean Pitch, with wax, Hellibur, black-earth, or the flesh of shrimps. 1650 J. Bulwer 113 Thin Vessels made of black earth, the which are pierced in the neck. 1799 W. Tooke I. i. ii. 72 On the Oby near Barnaul, the black earth does not indeed go very deep. 1842 3 712 (title) On the Tchornoi Zem, or Black Earth of Central Russia. 1861 Rep. H.M. Secretaries No. 4 250 in (Parl. Papers LXIII) The ‘black-earth’ region, where the ‘obrok’ system prevails only as the exception. 1905 5 Aug. 175/1 The black-earth country of the south. 1935 J. S. Huxley & A. C. Haddon vii. 198 The black-earth belt of Russia. 2000 Summer 22/2 Triple Mix... Three ingredients: compost (or composted manure), sphagnum peat moss and loam (or black earth). 2001 20 Mar. i. 15/2 The fertile Black Earth regions of the south also have a bad reputation for muddiness. 1969 27 Oct. 7 a/4 The Methodist agency..voted an additional $550,000 for ‘black economic empowerment’. 1987 (Nexis) 1 Oct. Economic growth and the openness of the South African economy have been among the major forces eroding apartheid... Black economic empowerment is one of the keys to progress. 1993 Nov. 51/2 Black businesses will continue to lift all African-Americans to greater participation..in the global economy. And that's what black economic empowerment is all about. 2008 107 333 The post-apartheid South African government..has adopted and forcefully implemented policies, generally referred to as a programme of ‘black economic empowerment’ or BEE, to foster the emergence of a black capital-owning class. society > trade and finance > management of money > management of national resources > [noun] > political economy > specific sector of the economy society > trade and finance > management of money > management of national resources > [noun] > political economy > specific sector of the economy > relating to population segment 1929 44 620 The dream of an independent black economy within white society suits the Negro better than a working-class movement which knows no color line. 1974 24 Sept. (Internat. Scene section) p. ix/6 Fuelled by stagnant or declining industrial and agricultural production, deficit budgetary financing and the existence of a parallel ‘black’ economy (mainly the product of massive tax evasion), the general price level rose. 1978 18 Jan. a1 When placed against the statistics of blacks still in poverty, they indicate the disturbing quality of the black economy—a slow-growing black middle-class and an increasingly jobless lower economic class. 2002 1 July 10/3 Ministers believe that ‘entitlement cards’ could have an important role to play in fighting illegal immigration, terrorism, benefit fraud and the black economy. 1968 18 Apr. 30a/2 Black Empowerment—Re-evaluation of total white society. 1968 Aug. 5/1 It is difficult to consider the struggle for black empowerment without also considering the dominant ideologies among black people. 1988 (Nexis) 12 Aug. Republican members urged the House to adopt a policy of ‘black empowerment’ to increase the economic and political power of blacks and weaken apartheid's foundations. 1991 75 198 There is much more to be learned about the processes of desegregation and black empowerment in states where King never led a crusade. 1994 (Nexis) 3 Oct. Among the joint venture's key black empowerment initiatives..is a contract distributor system through which financial assistance and training will be provided to a number of black entrepreneurs in order for them to establish their own trucking businesses. 2017 May 20/1 At present, at least 26% equity in all mining projects must be held by black empowerment investors. the mind > language > languages of the world > Indo-Hittite > [noun] > Indo-European > Germanic > English > other varieties of English the mind > language > languages of the world > Indo-Hittite > [noun] > Indo-European > Germanic > English > American English > African American English 1734 30 Mar. 3/2 To be sold... Four young Negroe Men Slaves and a Girl, who..speak very good (Black-)English. 1919 C. M. Andrews vi. 150 Many of the slaves were African Negroes who spoke no English at all or only what was called ‘Black English’, and for that reason among others the Negro born in America always commanded a higher price in the market. 1968 W. Labov et al. i. 278 The question must be posed to those..who see the actual performance of the ghetto youth as a deviation from some ideal, homogeneous Black English. 1973 43 30 The formal style used by a speaker of black English (referred to here as 'formal black English'). 1978 Dec. 7/1 There are dozens of standard kinds of Black English, which vary from Detroit to Chicago to Mobile to Albuquerque. 2004 31 May 34/2 Black activists sometimes say that African-American kids need to become ‘bi-dialectic’—to speak both black English and standard English—to succeed. the mind > language > languages of the world > Indo-Hittite > [noun] > Indo-European > Germanic > English > American English > African American English 1972 W. Labov p. xiii I will then refer to the black English vernacular (BEV) as that relatively uniform grammar found in its most consistent form in the speech of black youth from 8 to 19 years old who participate fully in the street culture of the inner cities. 2006 (Nexis) Fall Pinker attacks the idea that the English of the ghetto, Black English Vernacular, is in any way inferior to standard English. society > faith > worship > liturgical year > fast > [noun] > forbidding milk and eggs 1519 in A. M. Cooke (1901) 67 Elizabetha..assereba[t] se velle perficere vnum Jeiunium vocatum, the blakffast, ad invodandam vindictam contra Edmundum Parker. 1577 R. Barnes Charge in (1850) VI. 16 That no..superfluous faste be vsed as those called the Lady fast saint trinyons fast, the black faste. 1864 Oct. 397/2 The Viceroy..puts the household one day every week on cold mutton, and makes Friday a black fast. 1922 J. Joyce ii. 145 Their butteries and larders. I'd like to see them do the black fast Yom Kippur. 1977 T. Kilroy (1979) 21 Sure it's only during Lent, doctor, he does the black fast. 2008 S. Heaney in D. O'Driscoll ii. viii. 232 I'd been hearing about..people in earlier generations doing ‘the black fast’. Apparently they would walk the whole way to Donegal, keeping going on black tea and dry bread. society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > clay compositions > baked clay > pottery or ceramics > [noun] > ancient Greek or Byzantine society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > clay compositions > baked clay > pottery or ceramics > [adjective] > ancient Greek 1867 C. Babington 29/2 See also a representation of one [sc. pointed amphora] (stuck in the ground) in a black-figure vase in Leake's collection. 1891 12 164 Small fragment of a black-figure cylix. 1930 J. D. Beazley in 14 217 (title) Attic Black-Figure. 1948 A. Lane iii. 19 This orientalising phase of the seventh century saw also the introduction of polychrome painting and the ‘black figure’ technique, wherein black-painted silhouette figures were enriched with detail incised in the yet unfired clay. 1999 76/1 (caption) Greek neck amphora decorated in the black-figure style enlivened with purple and white,..circa 510 BC. society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > decoration of china > [adjective] > specific designs 1825 J. Christie 120 The Black-figured Vases rank next for antiquity and curiosity. 1890 M. de G. Verrall & J. E. Harrison 432 It [sc. the vase] is of the finest early black-figured style, not later than the time of the sixth and fifth centuries b.c. 1993 D. S. Olson (1994) x. 202 Sketching everything I saw, from golden Byzantine madonnas..to black-figured satyrs dancing..across the curve of a kylix. 1827 J. F. Cooper I. viii. 125 The newspapers of Kentuck have called you a dealer in black flesh a hundred times, but little did they reckon that you drove the trade into white families. 1896 July 9 The easeful leisure of certain cultured English men and women..is the result of their fathers' traffic in black flesh. 1968 Nov. 16/4 It was the Arab who showed the white man what a fortune could be made in black flesh. 2000 F. A. Nussbaum in V. Jones iii. 69 Any Englishmen possessed the right to trade in black flesh. the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > cold weather > [noun] > freezing or frosty weather > frost > specific types a1425 (c1395) (Royal) (1850) Dan. iii. 69 Dewis and whijt forst [L. pruina], blesse ȝe the Lord... Blac forst [c1384 E.V. Byndynge frost; L. gelu] and coold, blesse ȝe the Lord. 1583 B. Melbancke (new ed.) sig. Fijv The greene blade that shooteth too earely is soone bitt with a black frost. 1756 L. Carter 4 Nov. (1965) I. 131 The fine Rain yesterday was succeeded by..a hard black frost. 1842 N. Hawthorne II. 261 The hoar frost, and the black frost, hath done its work on Brother Adam and Sister Martha. 1996 1 Feb. i. 14/7 Snow and black frosts in the Cheviots can decimate woodcock and snipe. society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > [noun] > gang of > types of 1862 M. Oliphant xii. 187 He saw various groups of the black gang, of his own and kindred trades, hastening hither and thither, carrying tools. 1918 L. E. Ruggles 24 The engineer's division is always known as the ‘black gang’. 1923 R. D. Paine iii. 44 There wasn't a smarter man in the black gang. 2000 P. W. B. Semmens & A. J. Goldfinch vii. 274 Refuelling tended to involve hard physical work by a ‘black gang’. 1685 G. Sinclair 7 The black Gentleman being present, (which was the name she gave the Devil). 1728 C. Cibber iv. i. 71 C. Bas. Well, the Devil fetch me... Myr. And may the Black Gentleman tuck me under his Arm at the same time. 1854 C. Lever I. xxii. 197 Those stories where people make compacts with the Devil, and always try to pose him by the terms of the bargain. In the present instance, I certainly got off easier than I should have done with the Black Gentleman. 1613 G. E. in (new ed.) 258 Take..white & blacke, Ginger, Sinamond, of each halfe a dram made in fine powder. 1707 No. 4319/3 With Annotto, lower'd to 8d. per lb. and Black Ginger to 15s. per C. 1887 C. A. Moloney 427 The coated or unscraped sort is similarly prepared, excepting that the rhizomes are unscraped; this is sometimes called Black Ginger. 1996 A. Greif in P. Dasgupta et al. 267 The inferior black ginger that had..to be sent to another European country in the hope that it would be sold there. the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > hydrocarbon minerals > [noun] > oil society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > mineral material > mineral oil > [noun] 1910 25 173 (title) California's black gold: the romance of the oil gushers. 1969 19 Mar. 401/3 Tankers which leave the Gulf with 200,000 tons of black gold come to Milford Haven with nothing but a cargo of pullulating bacteria. 2003 Jan. (Chronicle 2002 Suppl.) 7/2 Now near the top of the list of oil producers, Russia is increasingly dependent on its ‘black gold’ as a revenue-producer. 1968 Sept. 100/2 This [sc. the impact of black culture] is most noticeable..in the music field where the influence of black gospel, jazz and rhythm & blues is pervasive. 1977 22 Jan. 22/4 Is it country and western, or country-rock, or..Delta blues or black gospel, or what? 2010 (Nexis) 18 Feb. 1 d He was mixing the influences of his time and his region of the country—church music, black gospel, blues, some of the jazzier stuff. society > education > member of university > [noun] society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > priest > kinds of priest > [noun] > Roman Catholic 1616 T. Scot xi. 79 The Flie and Flea having in Court got place... They thought since these..grew rich & braue They would as nimbly too..For many black gowns ther then ought..And thus resolu'd the Flea leaps up aloft. 1698 tr. L. Hennepin i. lxxiv. 296 A Mass of Requiem had been sung for me in the Monastery, because some Savages had given out for certain, to a Black Gown, i.e. a Jesuite, That the Nation whom the Iroquois call Hontouagaha, had hung me to a Tree with St. Francis's Rope. 1700 E. Ward 12 We saw several Black Gowns pop in and out of the little Country-hovels, like so many Black Rabbits in a Warren, bolting out of their Coney-Burroughs. 1710 J. Toland 12 That great Company of Black-Gowns, commanded in chief by..Doctor Lancaster. 1804 C. B. Brown tr. C. F. de Volney 409 This is as difficult to the black gowns as to ourselves. 1872 6 94 Everywhere among the western Indians the Jesuits were known by the name of Blackgowns. 1927 J. Buchan iii. 56 But think you our bannock-fed foot-sentinels care a doit for the black gowns at Westminster? 2000 tr. P. Lombard v. 57 Mazarin decided to serve His Holiness without joining the black gowns. the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > conifers > [noun] > wood or growth 1815 in 2nd Ser. III. 121 The wood is chiefly black growth, viz. hemlock and spruce. 1913 J. Knowles xiv. 215 I would pick the site of a camp in the open, under the shelter of spruce or cedar, or some other black-growth timber. 1995 82 375/2 I grew up close to the center of New England forest..looking out over the hardwood ridges and intervales into the ‘black growth’ of the upland evergreens. the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > [noun] > specific degree of heat 1800 W. Herschel in (Royal Soc.) 90 306 I therefore placed a poker, when of a proper black heat, at 12 inches from the steel mirror. 1888 31 91 A sheet of copper was brought to a black heat and allowed to cool gradually. 1950 81 199 The searing or docking iron must be at ‘black heat’, not red hot. 2005 C. McRaven iv. 78 For a blacksmith's finish on your tongs, heat to a black heat, which is just under darkest red, and dip into oil. 1976 2 July 2/6 There are numerous reports of unidentified flying objects... Black helicopters, unclaimed by any agency or firm, hover over the Montana countryside. 1987 K. Anderson iii. 331 We love those black helicopters and all that spook stuff. 1994 J. Keith i. 18 We are able to first document sightings of the black helicopters beginning in August of 1971, in Lake County, Colorado. 1995 (Nexis) 7 May The favorite conspiracy script of the right-wing ‘one world’ paranoiacs..can be loosely dubbed ‘the Black Helicopter Theory’. 1996 14 Dec. 53/2 Because of black-helicopter paranoia, this calm counsel will probably get lost in alarmism. 1998 E. Davis (1999) viii. 225 Thousands of otherwise ordinary citizens have reported run-ins with..black helicopters, chupacabras, and almond-eyed extraterrestrials armed with anal probes. 2010 M. Labash 237 He rubs turpentine in the wounds of black-helicopter types, saying that he believes in the United Nations so strongly. the world > time > relative time > the past > history or knowledge about the past > [noun] > branches or types of history 1920 L. Stoddard 88 The key-note of black history, like yellow history, has been isolation. 1969 10 71 The history department of Southern University is planning to initiate a more intensified program in the study of ‘Black History’. 2008 Summer 59/3 This was his [sc. Carter G. Woodson's] library... This is where black history began. society > education > educational administration > university administration > [noun] > governing body > member(s) of > in specific universities 1763 21 The Vice-Chancellor's Chair is at the West End, and semicircular Seats on the Right and Left of it for the Heads, Noblemen, and Doctors: Below them sit the Regents, or Black-hoods, and at the East the Non-regents, or White-hoods. 1797 147 The Non-Regents or Black-hoods are those who have taken their master of arts' degree five years or upwards. 1805 p. ii All the rest constitute the Non-Regent of Lower House, otherwise called the Black Hood House, its members wearing black silk Hoods. 1859 23 July 75/1 The white lining cannot with propriety be retained by those who so habited were admitted M.A., and have never become Non-regents or black hoods. 1926 M. R. James 111 Non-regents were the senior M.A.'s who were no longer under the obligation to lecture; in old times they constituted a separate House in the Senate—the Black-hood House. 1905 July 4/1 The Black Hundreds..are being organized for the purpose of simultaneous pogroms in thirty or forty towns. 1917 28 Mar. 1/2 From all parts of the empire I hear that the reformers are receiving heartening news except from Odessa, where the Black Hundred recently provoked considerable disorder. 1976 tr. S. Ettinger in H. H. Ben-Sasson lvii. 887 The Union of the Russian People and the Black Hundreds organized mass ‘patriotic processions’ with portraits of the Tsar borne aloft. 2006 65 316 He [sc. Kronshtadtskii] was an ardent supporter of tsardom, and after 1905 he became an honorary member of several Black Hundred organizations. 1876 14 Sept. 2/3 There is no reason why any bona fide member of the Cherokee or other Nation in the Territory, whatever may be his complexion, should not take a becoming part in its local politics... The Journal therefore urges red Indians, white Indians, and black Indians to fully post themselves upon their political rights. 1877 S. W. Marston Rep. 8 Nov. in E. C. Boudinot (1878) 55 Cherokees. Indians by blood..14,800. White Indians by marriage..700. Black Indians by treaty..3,500. 1979 17 Sept. 6/4 They're black Indians, they've intermarried so much... Their reservation is on Route 27A—the best property on Long Island. 1982 L. Bennett 322 A number of black women married Indian braves. Of the two wives of Micanopy,..one was a black Indian. 1993 (Electronic ed.) 6 Nov. 18 When the local media understood that these were actually Black Indians claiming the lands, many began to let their racism toward both Native Americans and African-Americans surface overtly. 2008 R. Casement vii. 118 [The book] also contains many stories of Black Indians in the South, where many escaped slaves from coastal North Carolina and Georgia found a culture of acceptance with the Seminole Indians who lived in Florida. the world > the earth > water > ice > [noun] > thin 1827 W. Hone I. 75/2 Black ice is discovered between banks of snow, and ramified into numerous transverse, oblique, semicircular, or elliptical branches. 1922 C. S. Wright & R. E. Priestley x. 325 Large sheets of fresh ‘black’ ice a very few inches thick..had evidently formed between the floes. 1961 28 Dec. 1/3 Roads in many places were covered with black ice which was hard to detect at night. 1999 A. Arensberg iii. ix. 98 The walk concealed a triple hazard: wet moss, patches of black ice, and bricks heaved askew by past frosts. the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Europe > the Irish > [noun] > native or inhabitant of Ireland > of Mediterranean appearance 1875 Dec. 260/1 The same usage still prevails among the vulgar as in the phrases, ‘black Irish’, ‘black Dutch’, describing certain well known types of Celts and Teutons (Hollanders, probably), differing widely from the prevailing type of either race in respect of their black eyes and hair, and gypsy-like, tawny complexions. 1888 R. Kipling 84 Those are the Black Oirish an' 'tis they that bring dishgrace upon the name av Oireland. 1953 K. Tennant v. 46 His fleshy hooked nose..suggested Jewish blood, but he claimed he was black Irish. 1962 18 July 5/5 That haunted ‘Black Irish’ face [of Eugene O'Neill]. 1970 K. Giles vii. 177 Have you ever seen the black Irish? 1993 H. Gardner vii. 268 Martha turned out to be an even mix of the two parents, a stern indomitable Godfearing Puritan pioneer on one side, and on the other a wild tempestuous moody, dream-obsessed and quick-to-anger creature of the Black Irish persuasion. the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > Semite > [noun] > Jew > black 1807 C. Buchanan Jrnl. 4 Feb. in (1811) 192 The resident Jews are divided into two classes, called the Jerusalem or White Jews; and the Ancient or Black Jews. The White Jews reside at this place [sc. Cochin]. The Black Jews have also a Synagogue here; but the great body of that tribe inhabit towns in the interior of the province. 1843 J. C. Maitland xviii. 178 I told him about the first preachers, the Black Jews, the Syrian Christians, &c. 1892 G. M. Rae x. 150 These black Jews are converts to the faith from among the people of the land. 1907 I. Zangwill 155 The black Jews..surrounded by all those millions of Hindoos. 1964 26 Mar. 16/4 The Falasha, the so-called Black Jews of Ethiopia. 1990 6 Dec. 53/3 The Malabari Jews who were known to the British as Black Jews; the Pardesi (foreign) or White Jews..and the Brown Jews, descendants of manumitted slaves who had been converted to Judaism. 2006 (Nexis) 13 July 1 Operation Moses (1984-85) and Operation Solomon (1991) brought to Israel the Beta Israel, the black Jews of Ethiopia known pejoratively by their neighbours as Falashas (strangers or outsiders). the world > life > death > obsequies > [noun] > a funeral 1785 R. Cumberland iii. 41 We shou'd have had a terrible journey of it, if we had not luckily fallen in with a black job by the way, and kept company with the corpse to Exeter Cathedral. 1849 W. M. Thackeray (1887) 91 An expatriated parson..who gets his living by black jobs entirely and attends all the funerals of our country-men. 1876 W. P. Lennox I. xii. 313 The ‘black job’ business. society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > vocal music > types of song > [noun] > music for specific types of song 1729 C. Coffey i. iv. 17 (heading) Hunter with Musick. Air X. Coal-black Joak. c1734 in T. Hearne (O.H.S.) II. 463 His black Jokes or smutty Songs. 1748 T. Smollett II. liii. 186 He whistled one part and hummed another of Black Joke. 1796 (ed. 3) Black Joke, a popular tune to a song, having for the burden, ‘Her black joke and belly so white’: figuratively the black joke signifies the monosyllable. 1808 S. W. Ryley I. iv. 91 A blind fiddler, mounted on a three footed stool, rasped away very seriously the black Joke. c1835 (song) Next night I got drunker than ever, And sang the Black Joke at his [my Tutor's] door. 1970 P. O'Brian (new ed.) ix. 252 He decided..to sit it out until the drum beat to quarters,..humming the Black Joke. 2009 C. Bartram 53 The Black Joke has been around for some hundreds of years. Many latter-day English musicians associate the tune with the morris dance. 1978 16 Oct. 88/1 ‘White knights’ rush to rescue ‘sleeping beauties’ from ‘black knights’... So goes the lingo in what is fast becoming Wall Street's hottest game, the merger-and-acquisition business. 1988 29 Oct. 98/2 Unsolicited offers have become common. KKR is one of the most aggressive ‘black knights’. 2010 H. Bierman 304 A corporation..finding that it was being pursued by an undesirable suitor (a black knight) would arrange to buy the shares held by the black knight at a premium. the world > plants > particular plants > fungi > [noun] > names applied to various types 1840 14 Nov. 155/1 His tail bein' very long, gave a twitch an' hitched itself in a black knot round the chap's body, and so towed him across the river. 1846 July 222/2 The black knot on the plum tree, is also cured in the same way. 1884 W. Miller 252 Sphæria mortosa, ‘Black knot’ fungus. 1905 J. M. Synge 50 Give me a knife, Nora, the string's perished with the salt water, and there's a black knot on it you wouldn't loosen in a week. 1915 No. 213 Gooseberry Black-knot (Plowrightia ribesia, Sacc.). 1990 May 12/3 The growth is black knot fungus... Remove the black knots on the smaller limbs by pruning out infected branches. 2004 G. A. Hammerson 156/1 (caption) Black knot is a fungal parasite commonly afflicting native cherries. society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > alloy > [noun] > brass > types of 1545 sig. a.iiiiv Blacke latten rolles the c. pound xx.s. 1660 c. 4 Sched. Rates Inwards, Lattin vocant blacke Lattin the hundred weight..ij li. shaven Lattin..iij li. vj s. viij d. 1763 R. Dodsley (ed. 4) II. 436 Black Latten is Metal prepared for Clock-work, Jacks, Engines. 1812 J. Smyth ii. 107 Shaven Latten is distinguished from Black Latten by its thinness, and brightness on both sides of the sheets. 1858 P. L. Simmonds 223/1 Black latten is brass in milled sheets, composed of copper and zinc, used by braziers, and for drawing into wire. 2005 N. Shopland i. 21 There are three forms of latten: black latten which is usually unpolished; shaven latten which is generally very thin, and roll latten. society > communication > broadcasting > television > visual element > [noun] > signals, types, or parts of 1935 23 1457 This provides a black-white ratio of at least 3 to 1 and a black level high enough to eliminate noise pickup troubles. 1982 J. Goldberg i. 5 Television standards identify a white level and a black level of picture information. 2002 May 83/2 Both the black level and grayscale will drift as it warms up. the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > chromatism > [noun] > spectrum > light or rays beyond 1896 G. Le Bon in 41 236 As they are invisible to the eye, I give the name of black light to those radiations of unknown origin which pass in this way through opaque bodies. 1913 C. S. Page v. 227 The ultra-violet are discernible not only by the blackening of silver salts but by their heat. It is a spectrum of black light having a velocity..less than that of violet. 1933 28 618 The ‘black bulb’ ultraviolet lamp..can be easily concealed..projecting invisible radiations of ‘black light’ on to luminous designs painted on the walls. 1957 IX. 426 d Plate 1 (caption) Photograph of white girl made in the dark by black light. 1999 H. Kragh (2002) 453 The pseudodiscoveries of black light and N-rays. 2009 26 Feb. 51/4 Dress code: ‘glow-wear black-light reactive or underwater-themed outfits’. 1705 tr. 259 From this mixture the Black Liquor, a Body of a new Figure, is produced. 1860 C. O'Neill x. 101 An impure solution of acetate of iron is made by digesting metallic iron with crude pyroligneous acid for some weeks; it has a black colour, and is known in trade as iron liquor and black liquor. 1911 XXVI. 702/1 The iron mordant which gives the best results is known as ‘black liquor’. 1935 7 288 (heading) The toxic effects of waste sulphate liquor (black liquor) on fish. 2007 12 Feb. r4/3 Weyerhaeuser, for example, makes electricity..by burning hog fuel, or wood waste, and black liquor, a pulp-mill byproduct. society > communication > printing > printed matter > [noun] > matter printed from type > specific 1797 22 345 Multitudinous porers in black literature. 1958 24 71 The Editors are the poet Janheinz Jahn and the Africanist Ulli Beier, assisted by an editorial board which will be representative of the entire domain of black literature. 1983 A. Walker 288 At black literature conferences it would be examined fleetingly, if at all, in light of this ‘traitorous’ union. 2009 J. V. Gabbin 56 Students there were now clamoring for courses in black literature. the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disorder of respiratory organs > [noun] > disorders of lungs > caused by dust or fibre 1837 W. Thomson in 20 243 The symptoms, towards the termination of the case, being more those of chronic bronchitis than of black lung. 1969 16 June 44/2 The dread black-lung disease..annually disables thousands of miners. 2009 Jan. 53/4 Workman was a coal miner..in West Virginia who was forced to retire after 42 years in the mines due to black lung and a slipped disc. the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > [noun] > involving demons or black magic 1590 E. Spenser iii. xi. 564 For he the tyrant, which her hath in ward By strong enchauntments and blacke Magicke leare, Hath in a dungeon deepe her close embard, And many dreadfull feends hath pointed to her gard. 1635 T. Heywood vii. 469 Some diuide this abstruse Art into Theurgia, White Magicke, and Goetia, Blacke Magicke, or the Blacke Art, otherwise called Necromantia. 1711 tr. L. Bordelon ii. viii. 234 By a Black Magic, or the Black Art,..we are to understand, whatever Men perform by Diabolical Assistance. 1871 E. B. Tylor I. 125 What with slavery and what with black-magic, life is precarious among the Wakhutu. 1989 21 Feb. 36/2 H also claimed to be in fear of Mr Emode's black-magic powers. 2002 28 May 15/2 Each year hundreds of people become victims of human sacrifices at the hands of witch doctors or their followers in Africa and their body parts are used for black magic. 1820 July 30 Would so long a time elapse before the white minority of the Northern Sea must seek the protection of their European neighbours against the black majority of the torrid zone? 1915 30 753 It tells the story of the struggle of the black majority with the white minority for supremacy. 1990 18 Feb. 13/1 The disenfranchised black majority has begun competing with the ruling white minority on politically equal terms. 2003 D. G. Saunders in A. West-Durán ii. 13 At the top of the social pyramid was the white upper class,..and at the bottom, the black majority, comprising the former slaves, liberated Africans, and their descendants. the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > malting > [noun] > malt > other types of malt 1628 in M. Cash (Devon & Cornwall Record Soc.) (1966) New Ser. 11 40 In the Maulte House and Chamber over: the blacke mault and barley mault. 1829 D. Booth ii. vii. 51/1 Some of the principal brewers have never used black malt. 1839 A. Ure 95 According to the colour and the degree of drying, malt is distributed into three sorts; pale, yellow, and brown... The black malt used by the porter brewer..is partially charred. 1994 Apr. 15/2 Grains used in Doppelbock are pale Munich, dark Munich, black malt, carapils and dextrin. 1825 C. M. Westmacott I. 305 If you're fond of fun, old fellow, jump up and view the Christ Church men proceeding to black matins this morning. society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > pop music > [noun] > heavy metal > types of 1982 ‘Venom’ (title of album) Black Metal. 1984 (Nexis) 22 Dec. There is a new breed coming out which call themselves black metal... They label themselves as satanic. 1996 (Nexis) 12 Apr. 7 d Their style of choice is black metal, a faster, more atmospheric form of death metal, though equally as bludgeoning. 2007 (Midwest ed.) 1 June ii. 3/1 When the band split up in 2001, its status as black metal's foremost artisans stood uncontested. 1965 18 Apr. 32 The white American reaction is just now starting to build against the black movement's use of civil disobedience, threats and coercion to gain their ends. 1973 Dec. 12/1 The various ‘lib’ movements, therefore, are white derivatives of the Black movement. 2000 M. P. Levine in M. S. Kimmel & A. Aronson 351 The black movement effectively ended legalized discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations. society > communication > manifestation > showing to the sight > exposure to public view > an exhibition > [noun] > exhibit > collection > specific 1877 8 Apr. 3/3 The building is, indeed, as it is called, a Black Museum, for it is associated with whatever is darkest in human nature. 1902 A. Griffiths III. xxxiii. 124 Some very beautiful implements are now exhibited in the Black Museum of New Scotland Yard... Amongst these..are some of the tools used by the notorious Charles Peace. 1997 P. D. James iv. 383 She remembered a visit paid a year ago to the Black Museum at Scotland Yard, the high shelf with the rows of death masks—only they had been death heads—of executed criminals. society > faith > sect > non-Christian religions > Islam > Islamic sects and groups > [adjective] > Nation of Islam society > faith > sect > non-Christian religions > Islam > Islamic sects and groups > [noun] > Nation of Islam > person 1960 11 Oct. 4/2 Black Muslim leaders concede there are many ex-convicts, former prostitutes, drug addicts, and alcoholics in the movement, but they put a different interpretation on this than the police. 1961 C. E. Lincoln p. iv The racial emphases peculiar to this rapidly growing, Chicago-centred movement suggested the descriptive phrase ‘Black Muslims’, which I coined in 1956... Theretofore they had been variously known as the ‘Temple People’, ‘the Muhammadans’, ‘the Muslims’, ‘the Voodoo Cult’ and ‘the Nation of Islam’. 1964 1 Apr. 505/1 Black Muslim claims to an African heritage. 1992 16 Nov. 74/1 He went by many names: born Malcolm Little; dubbed Red,..then Malcolm X, his Black Muslim name, and finally, after his break with Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam, he called himself El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. 2006 J. Updike ii. 100 The Black Muslims of New Prospect, and the apostate adherents of the Nation of Islam, keep to their own lofts and storefront sanctuaries. society > society and the community > social attitudes > patriotism > nationalism > [noun] > other spec. 1927 G. S. Schuyler in 11 June Agitation for everything Negro—the propaganda of black nationalism—tends to further develop counter-propaganda of white nationalism. 1962 E. U. Essien-Udom (title) Black nationalism: a search for identity in America. 1963 23 Apr. 2/1 A new assertive mood, characterized by some Negro leaders as ‘Black Nationalism’ is spreading throughout the United States. 1977 11 Jan. a1 It is failing to provide the Afrikaners with a ‘moral alternative’ to the use of force in containing black nationalism. 1997 7 May b5/5 Unknown to most whites, Moore was a hero in Harlem and an elder stateswoman of black nationalism. society > society and the community > social attitudes > patriotism > nationalism > [noun] > other spec. > person 1943 R. Ottley viii. 105 Here, at long last, was some sort of tangible idealism..around which the black nationalist could rally, and indeed rally a great section of the black population. 1958 22 Dec. 12/7 What is the origin of the Africanists, the extreme Black nationalist group which recently broke away from the African National Congress? 1963 24 May 4/2 The Negro's feeling that the white man's law has failed him is polarized by extreme black nationalists. 1974 II. 1093/1 The Black Muslims..are a quasi-religious black nationalist organization among Afro-Americans. 1992 Dec. 65/2 While black nationalist and separatist ideas coming from Elijah Mohammed seemed cranky, cult-like, backwaterish, and marginal, the same ideas coming from Malcolm seemed revolutionary, hip, and vibrant. 1999 K. A. Appiah & H. L. Gates 492/3 Many early black Communist recruits, at least in the urban North, were former Garveyites and black nationalists of various stripes. society > occupation and work > worker > worker according to manner of working > [noun] > striking > refusing to strike 1838 16 Jan. 6/3 A man on the opposite side called out ‘Don't give it to him, he is a nob.’ Another beside him said ‘He is a black nob.’ 1874 18 Mar. 5/5 All the men employed by the iron companies were on strike, with the exception of six ‘blacknobs’. 1890 J. S. Farmer I. 218/1 Black-nob, a non-unionist; one who, while his fellows are on strike, persists in working at his trade. 1921 W. R. Browne 34 An earlier term with the same connotations as ‘blackleg’ is ‘knobstick’,..and these two terms have evidently been combined to produce ‘blacknob’, another not uncommon variant. society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > extracted or refined oil > [noun] > distilled or refined mineral oils > lubricating oils 1576 G. Baker tr. C. Gesner iii. f. 136 The blacke oyle is of great vertue in the ioynt sicknesse, euen lyke to a baulme. 1651 J. French tr. J. R. Glauber ii. 56 Then take out your Retort together with the black oyle, and pour upon it the Volatile spirit. 1790 Dec. 586/1 He was aware that the black oil was comparatively of little value. 1832 6 Oct. 156/2 Black oil sells only at about half the price of the sperm oil. 1896 B. Redwood II. ix. 532 Lubricating Oils..‘pale’ oils..‘black’ oils..‘compound’ oils. 1904 G. F. Goodchild & C. F. Tweney 54/1 Black oils, mineral oils which have not been chemically purified. 1949 (Anglo-Iranian Oil Co.) (ed. 2) 325 (Gloss.) Black Oils, a general term applied to the heavier and darker coloured petroleum products such as heavy diesel fuel, fuel oil and some cylinder stocks. 1954 C. R. Straubel in p. xvi The oil of black whales was usually called ‘black oil’, not because the oil was black, but because of the colour of the whales producing it. 2007 (Nexis) Feb. Demand for white-oil products (gasoline and diesel) is increasing at an all-time high, while the demand for black-oil products such as fuel oil is declining. 1980 D. Freed 374 The truth was that whatever the KBG was up to, it was Scott and the DOD that were running illegal Black ops into the United States from all over the perimeter of Central America. 1998 (Nexis) 26 Oct. e4 A former ‘black op’ man and Contra trainer for the CIA, he has become a peace worker. 2004 K. Tinsley 209 Corporations..tap into this resource for deniable industrial ‘black ops’. 1751 J. Hill 298 We sometimes meet with blackish Opals, which shew no other Colour in any Light, only the Red.] 1771 J. Hill 201 (table) Black opal. 1884 XVII. 777/2 The so-called ‘black opals’..consist of this matrix [of dark brown ironstone] penetrated in all directions by veins and spots of opal. 1948 R. M. Pearl v. 228 The tendency of black opal..to be deposited in very thin seams makes it often necessary to include a piece of the country rock..to provide a substantial support. 1996 J. T. Hospital (1997) 357 Lightning Ridge is where the serious deals are, and besides, they know black opal when they see it. the world > food and drink > food > additive > spice > [noun] > pepper > types of pepper eOE (Royal) (1865) ii. xxxii. 234 Wyrc him sealfe þus wiþ wambe coþum, of cwicum swefle & of blacum pipore. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xix. viii. 1278 Many þinges beþ of oon coloure wiþoute and of oþer colour wiþinne, as it fareþ in blak peper. ?a1425 (c1400) (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 112 And there is iij maner of peper alle vpon o tree: Long peper, blak peper, & white peper. 1539 T. Elyot (new ed.) ii. x. 27 Blacke pepper is hottest, and most dry, white pepper is next, long pepper is moste temperate. 1652 J. Wadsworth tr. Colmenero de Ledesma 14 Some doe put into it [sc. chocolate] black Pepper, and also Tauasco. 1769 E. Raffald xvi. 323 Half an Ounce of Black Pepper, the same of Long Pepper, and Ginger. 1846 Lady Montefiore 4 Pour in a wine-glass of port wine, half an ounce of black pepper, a little mace, four spoonsful of ketchup or Harvey's sauce, a little salt, and the peel of a lemon grated. 1922 A. Jekyll 179 Hard-boiled eggs accompanied by..a small wisp of oriental salt, or Cerebos, mixed with coarsely-ground black pepper for each traveller. 1964 G. C. Booth 55 Mix an adobo of one half teaspoon black pepper, one quarter teaspoon cumin, one quarter teaspoon salt and three tablespoons vinegar. Rub the ribs with the adobo. 2004 June 21/2 Slice the tomatoes and season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > iron > [noun] > types of plate(s) 1701 76 For every hundred of single white or black Plates, 4 s. 4 d. and so in proportion. 1858 P. L. Simmonds Black plates,..thin sheets of iron not coated with tin. 1962 16 Mar. 372/1 Continuous annealing of blackplate has been made more than ten times faster. 1996 H. E. Hough vi. 77 The principal noncoated tin product is called black plate and is simply flat rolled steel. the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > type of disease > fungal > associated with crop or food plants > various diseases 1904 (Trinidad Bot. Dept.) Apr. 69 In the year 1898, the Cacao pod rot known as ‘Black pod’ or black Cacao, was very prevalent on Cacao estates. 1953 19 Dec. 917/1 The outlook for the Nigerian [cocoa] crop is uncertain... The poor weather..increases the risk of black pod disease. 2006 28 May (Food Monthly Suppl.) 26/1 These trees have been bred so they are not susceptible to black pod. society > faith > church government > monasticism > religious superior > [noun] > Jesuit 1851 P. Connelly i. 2 The white Pontiff of the Vatican became a pageant; the black Pope of the Gesù was the real successor of the canonized Hildebrands and Ghisleris. 1873 30 May 8/1 The only practical result has been an almost unanimous vote by which the General of the Jesuits, Father Becks—the ‘Black Pope’ as he is called—will be instantly..turned out of the apartments. 1911 XV. 339/2 It is said that the general of the Jesuits is independent of the pope; and his popular name, ‘the black pope’, has gone to confirm this idea. 2006 G. Vidal xxx. 157 The ‘Black Pope’ is the name given the head of the Jesuit order, an order usually at delicate odds with whomever occupies the See of Peter. society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [noun] > explosive for use with firearms > specific 1793 tr. H. Le Maire IV. viii. 185 The chief appeared astonished at the skill of Philips, and the terrible effect of the black powder, which when enclosed in a narrow space, can produce such extraordinary and violent explosions. 1892 W. W. Greener 124 The butt of the gun being forty yards..from the target, the load being 3 drams of black powder. 1971 C. J. White v. 37 Crude methods of blasting meant the ignition of black powder by time fuse. 2005 12 Dec. 80/1 Robbie loaded his Hawken musket with eighty-five grains of black powder. 1853 26 Mar. 315/2 The chloride of barium will often produce black images, though very uncertain; and the black process as given by Le Gray is uncertain also. 1899 May 179/1 There is a black process paper, which is now coming a good deal into use... When making blackprints put strips of black process paper in your small frame. 1903 S. S. Leach 78 Tracing linen... Blue print paper... Black process paper. 1909 (new ed.) I. 418/2 A black process, which will compete for favour with the above blue process, is given in the Photocopie of A. Fisch. 1920 R. McGarraugh iv. 25 Forms ruled by hand or printed upon black-process paper. society > communication > information > action of informing > [noun] > dissemination of deliberately false information 1856 Aug. 156 This circumstance was eagerly taken advantage of by the Black Propaganda. 1893 C. G. Leland tr. H. Heine VII. 366 This black propaganda endeavours to destroy fundamentally the fair fame of those who are now in power, that is to say, of the King. 1962 16 Nov. 7/5 The ‘black’ propaganda of ‘Lord Haw-Haw’. 1972 F. Fitzgerald iii. 76 Their tactics were promises and ‘black propaganda’, or the falsification of enemy reports. 2006 July 95/1 An astoundingly effective campaign of disinformation, or black propaganda, which led..the American media to promote the falsehood that Saddam Hussein's nuclear-weapons program posed a grave risk to the United States. 1829 A. M. Hall I. 139 Ould James Corish, though suspicted o' being a black Protestant (I ax pardon; but that was what they were called), was well counted by all his neighbours. 1899 E. Œ. Somerville & ‘M. Ross’ (1901) i. 7 They were ‘Black Protestants’, all of them, in virtue of their descent from a godly soldier of Cromwell. 1958 9 92 Catholics have always known the difference between the ‘decent’ and the ‘black’ Protestant. 1970 1 93 A bloody villain of a land-grabber, and a black Protestant to boot, was trying to throw a lonely, helpless..widow-woman out on the side of the road to die. 1984 6 Oct. 73/2 The original Townshend was one of these ‘Cromwellites’ or ‘Black Protestants’. 2007 (Nexis) 3 Aug. 21 They call him a black Protestant and yell that such should not be allowed on to a GAA pitch. the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of cattle, horse, or sheep > [noun] > disorders of cattle or sheep > quarter-ill 1768 C. Varlo II. xxxvii. 367 (heading) To prevent the Black-legg, or Black-quarter in Calves or Lambs. 1834 W. Youatt xi. 356 Inflammatory fever..is termed black quarter, quarter evil, [etc.]. 1986 J. F. Gracey (ed. 8) xv. 318/1 These post-mortem changes of the liver and kidneys are responsible for the ‘foaming organs’ of blackquarter. 1772 June 428 The vapours, fogs, and rains with which the atmosphere of London is loaded, drag with them in their fall the heaviest particles of the smoke: this forms black rains. 1820 P. B. Shelley Ode to West Wind ii, in 190 From whose solid atmosphere Black rain, and fire, and hail will burst. 1867 Feb. 164/2 In Scotland, these black rains have been frequently noticed. 1946 (title of film) White light black rain. [With reference to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.] 1979 P. White 4 Mar. (1994) xiv. 518 We are going through awful days of humidity, and now two whole days of black rain as the result of a cyclone up north. 1991 (U.K. ed.) May 7/3 Newspaper and television reports depict clouds so dense that car headlights must be turned on at midday and ‘black rain’ that coats crops, water supplies and all else with soot. 2005 (National ed.) 2 Aug. d2/2 The day after the A-bomb, my father went into Hiroshima to search for his mother and siblings. My father was exposed to the radioactive ‘black rain’. society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > illegal payment or exaction > [noun] > protection money 1423–4 (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1423 §9. m. 1 The erle of Ormond..set his lordship of Oghtryn in the countee of Kildare, to bere tribute and blakrente to the somme of .xij. marc, to be paied to the wyf of Calagh Oconqore Irissh enemy..that the same Calagh..shulde do no harme..to the tenauntz of the said lordship. 1533 (Rolls Ser.) No. 39 The black rents and tributes which Irishmen by violence have obtained of the King's subjects. 1612 J. Davies 200 The Borders and Marches..were growne vnruly,..being subiect to Blacke-Rents and Tribute of the Irish. 1827 H. Hallam II. xviii. 718 The inhabitants..were hardly distinguishable from the Irish, and paid them a tribute, called black-rent. 2005 D. Gabaldon 297 Organized bands of armed men..rode the country, charging fees from the Highland chiefs to protect tenants, land, and cattle—and if the black rent they charged was not paid, promptly seizing goods and cattle themselves. 1854 16 Aug. The ‘Black Republicans’.—The mongrel Convention of Abolitionists, Free Soilers, Whigs, Political Clergymen, and Fugitive Slaves. 1866 (at cited word) The Whig party..adopted the name of Republicans, and were called by their opponents Black Republicans, from their anti-slavery tendencies. 1929 L. W. Reese 121 Confederate and Federal men, statesrighters and black Republicans might froth and rave about them. 2000 M. Sinha vi. 174 Etheridge's moral condemnation of the foreign slave trade clearly reflected a minority position in the slave South. A year later, he had to fight against being branded a free soiler and a Black Republican. society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > priest > kinds of priest > [noun] > missionary 1811 J. Black tr. A. von Humboldt I. 116 The Canadian savages call themselves Metoktheniakes, born of the sun, without allowing themselves to be persuaded of the contrary by the black robes, a name which they give to missionaries. 1840 N. P. Willis I. 24 They exhorted her to take it into the woods, where the blackrobes, as they called the Christian priests, would not be able to find her. 1907 J. W. Schultz xvii. 189 ‘I will pray to those gods for you. Long ago..a Blackrobe..taught me the way,’ and she began... 'Twas the Lord's prayer! 1990 R. Graham i. 28 Though they [sc. the Indians] sensed that the Black Robes undervalued the world of nature for the world beyond—most evident in the white man's klutziness as hunter and explorer—they were impressed by the magic of clocks and writing. the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > type of disease > fungal > associated with crop or food plants > various diseases 1901 (U.S. Dept. Agric.) 55 The fields of sugar beets during the past two or three seasons have been very much affected with what is termed ‘black root rot’. 1954 A. G. L. Hellyer 208/2 Black root rot..is found most commonly on peas, violas and violets. 2002 31 Jan. 6 b/4 Black root rot usually makes its presence known soon after fall planting. the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > characterized by part affected or appearance produced 1769 5 May 438/3 Belfast, April 29. An infallible cure for the disorder in horned cattle, called the Big Gaul,..has been also tried with success upon sheep for the Black Rot. 1780 A. Young (Dublin ed.) I. 260 They will bring limestone 14 or 15 miles, burn it, and sprinkle their potatoe land with it to prevent the black rot. 1809 14 343 Some people have been led to consider the rot as of two kinds, viz. the querney, or black rot, proceeding from foul feeding, and the hunger rot, from an absolute deficiency of food of every kind. 1850 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Patents 1849: Agric. 438 in (31st Congr., 1st Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc. 20, Pt. 2) VI In the southern part of the State winter apples are very liable to the black-rot, spots, [etc.]. 1957 X. 640/1 Europeans imported the American varieties [of vine], and thereby unwittingly imported phylloxera..and black rot (Guignardia bidwellii). 2000 Sept. 27/3 Black rot attacks leaves, shoots, tendrils, and young stems, which show small, dark, elliptical cankers. the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > rum > [noun] > kinds of rum 1872 June 506/2 The company own a number of vessels, and employ..from one hundred and fifty to two hundred men, who receive about twenty cents per diem, their food, and a drink of black rum. 1976 34 311 A shot or two of black rum at one or another of the ramshackle ‘clubs’. 2003 15 June ii. 46/2 Its Bermuda fish chowder may be the best I had—a combination of a tomato base with a purée of local fish, celery, onion, carrot, that I laced with local black rum. the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > type of disease > fungal > rust disease or condition of having 1785 R. Baker Let. 27 July in (Bath & West of Eng. Soc.) (1788) 4 282 The bearer hereof, Richd Winsor, of Berry-Pomeroy, near Totnes.., has found out a method of curing the Black-Rust in wheat. 1887 21 1117 Farmers say the red rust of wheat produces comparatively slight injury, while the black rust is destructive. 1904 T. F. Hunt vi. i. 96 There are two stages of rust found on the wheat plant:..(2) the black rust, caused by elongated two-celled teleutospores. 1996 35 This particular species [of barberry] has the misfortune to be the alternate host of the Black Rust of Wheat and it should not therefore, be planted in wheat-growing districts. the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > type of disease > fungal > associated with crop or food plants > potatoes 1830 (Hamilton County Agric. Soc.) p. xi This is the true way to remove all excresences on fruit trees, especially the black scab from plum trees. 1884 Feb. 33/1 The apple crop is very light; in some northern localities the fruit was attacked widely with black scab. 1908 30 Oct. 1/7 The disease of black scab is spreading alarmingly among potatoes. 2002 (Nexis) 9 Oct. 16 Slugs and black scab have caused problems in some areas. the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of cattle, horse, or sheep > [noun] > disorders of cattle, pigs, or sheep 1749 W. Ellis iii. v. 355 We reckon that the white Scour is catching, when the black Scour is not. 1847 Sept. 208/2 As late in the season as the middle of October, my lambs lying as usual on cabbages, with plenty of clover-hay chaff, suddenly fell with the black scour. 1942 C. G. Grey & Dale MCMXIV. 15 Swine Dysentery is also known as..bloody dysentery, bloody flux, black scours, and colitis. 1983 B. MacLaverty 75 Brown stomach, lungworm, black scour, bankrupt worm. 2001 N. B. Haynes (ed. 4) vii. 161 Other names [for swine dysentery] are black scours and bloody scours. 1899 D. McAlpine 132 Black Scurf of Citrus Fruits... This disease resembles one stage of Sooty Mould, only it does not peel off and leave the surface unbroken. 1903 404 The same fungus causes black scurf of potato tubers. 1913 F. L. Stevens 504 C. scabrum McA. is the cause of black scurf of citrus fruit in Australia. 2005 (Nexis) 12 Mar. 38 Seed potato producers are being advised to consider treating stocks for black scurf, which is reportedly visible on 45% of tatties. 1982 13 Aug. 9/1 What the party needs is..a black section within as an internal training-ground and pressure group, like the women's section and the Young Socialists. 1988 41 319 The conference also overwhelmingly rejected proposals to set up Black sections within the party, a matter which had caused difficulty earlier in the year [sc. 1987]. 1998 (Nexis) 25 Sept. 7 It took a bitter struggle by the ‘Black Section’ campaign before any more black MPs—three African-Caribbean and one Asian—were elected in 1987. 2010 (Nexis) 9 June 29 My friends at..the Labour party black sections have worked their butts off to help increase the number of African Caribbean and Asian members of parliament. the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > sedimentary rock > [noun] > shale > others 1730 (Royal Soc.) 36 30 The Bodies through which they dig to come at the Vein are generally Limestone and Black Shale. 1811 J. Farey I. 399 The Black-shale flake..produces a bed of Ironstone, that has a good deal of Spar in veins or Septa in it. 1896 10 483 It became evident that no coal-seam above the blackshale could be profitably worked on a large scale. 1951 No. 17. 146 In Derbyshire, centering on the Clay Cross-Chesterfield area, several seams are again of coking quality; the best is the Blackshale (= Silkstone). 2002 (U.K. ed.) Aug. 43/1 Some of this carbon becomes incorporated into sedimentary rocks such as black shales, the largest reservoir of organic matter on earth. society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > iron > [noun] > type of iron > sheet iron > other types of sheet iron 1850 F. Overman v. 370 We have seen very beautiful sheet iron made from very cold-short iron containing phosphorus, and very cloudy-looking black sheets from the best and toughest charcoal iron. 1895 18 Feb. 2/5 Black sheets for galvanisers. 1930 21 Feb. 254/3 In the black-sheet trade. 2004 A. E. Mosher ii. iv. 97 In 1897, the total capacity of the new mill was 70,000 gross tons of ingots, 96,000 gross tons of sheet bars, 38,000 tons of black sheets and 51,000 tons of galvanized sheets. 1950 26 Jan. 8/2 All of us in the Navy must avoid using such terms as black-shoe Navy, trade-school boys, mustangs, [etc.]. 1962 J. E. Quirk iv. 25 You fellows Black Shoes?.. He don't like nobody that can't fly and's got rank. 1989 J. Q. Wilson ii. vi. 106 The ‘black shoe’ navy is the navy of battleships, cruisers, and destroyers,..built to protect the sea lanes and bombard enemy shores. 1994 T. Clancy xxi. 335 Fortunately, his chief engineer was a black-shoe destroyer sailor with a command under his belt. 2005 W. B. Johnson & G. P. Harper i. 22 ‘Black shoes’ sailed at 30 Knots, whereas ‘brown shoes’ flew at 300 knots. 1667 T. Sprat 209 The Male-Oyster is black-sick, having a black substance in the Fin. 1869 J. G. Jeffreys V. 165 The most forward, or ‘black sick’, easily opened, and have evidently lost much of their muscular power. 1896 M. Hartog in II. iv. 114 The old view, that ‘black-sick’ oysters are the male..is therefore quite incorrect. 1977 Nov. 275/4 Fertilised eggs, which oyster farmers call..white, grey or black sick, depending on how ripe it is. 2002 N. Milner 70 When oysters are incubating eggs they are described as being ‘white-sick’, ‘grey-sick’ and finally ‘black-sick’ due to changes in the pigment in the digestive tubules. 1986 5 387 The so called black silicon occurring in a pure Cl2 plasma is caused by micro masking by Al-, Si- oxide clusters which stem from surface absorbed oxygen and the alumina covered cathode. 2008 (National ed.) 12 Oct. (Business section) 4/2 Black silicon has since been found to have extreme sensitivity to light. the world > life > death > obsequies > formal or ceremonial mourning > [noun] > period of > stage of 1894 22 Nov. 8/1 Deep crape and distinctive headgear have been dropped at the end of six months, the period known technically as ‘black silk’ then setting in. 1672 J. Josselyn 63 The Black Pox, the Spotted Feaver, the Griping of the Guts, the Dropsie, and the Sciatica, are the killing Deseases in New-England.] 1696 J. Pechey tr. T. Sydenham iv. vi. 160 Not long a go a very Virtuous and Noble Lady was committed to my care, who had the dangerous black Small-pox [L. Variolis nigris & mali moris laborantem]. 1753 P. Shaw (ed. 7) I. 145 These eruptions are frequently depressed in the middle, and there turn black; from whence the black small-pox. 1871 29 166/1 In the black smallpox all treatment is useless. 1949 H. W. C. Vines (ed. 17) x. 268 In very severe cases there may be toxic capillaritis with cutaneous purpuric hæmorrhage, the so-called ‘black’ smallpox. 2005 T. Reiss (2006) iii. 73 The captains called the disease black smallpox, though Lev thought it could just as well have been the plague. the world > the earth > water > sea or ocean > region of sea or ocean > [noun] > sea bed > submarine hydrothermal vent 1980 F. N. Spiess et al. in 28 Mar. 1425/1 Edifices atop the mounds are classed as either black or white, and those venting particulates are dubbed smokers.] 1980 F. N. Spiess et al. in 28 Mar. 1425/1 (caption) The black smoker is similar to that shown on the cover, at which 380° ± 30℃ water temperatures were measured. 1987 F. Jackson & P. Moore ii. 66 Recent explorations of the sea bed have revealed the presence of unusual local conditions where hot vents (named black smokers) occur. 2007 T. Friend vii. 199 I found archaea living in deep sea hot vents with their spectacular black smokers. 1415–16 in D. Yaxley (2003) 16 [12d. received for sifting one barrel of] Blaksope. c1425 tr. J. Arderne (Sloane 6) (1910) 40 (MED) Ane oyntement made of blakke sope and poudre of bole. 1526 f. xxxiv Take blacke sope in a clene cloth and put it in yelowe pysse & then anoynte the morfewe therwith. 1575 G. Turberville 364 Then washe him twice with blacke Sope. 1669 J. Blagrave 108 Take Butter, black Sope, and Hemlockherb, with a quantity of Salt and Oyl proportionable, then mix them altogether. 1704 (at cited word) For black Soap, it is made with strong Lye..and Whale or Fish Oil, commonly called Train-oil. 1826 29 Apr. 136/2 Cottons which have received stains of oil are best cleared by a hot solution of black soap. 1942 V 27 60 Brazilian ex-slaves..would bring to be sold in Brazil such African products as kola nuts, palm oil, black soap, [etc.]. 2006 (Nexis) 7 Mar. Students plan to make the so-called ‘black soap’ following a traditional Ghanaian recipe. the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > kind of earth or soil > [noun] > dark soil the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > kind of earth or soil > [noun] > organic soil > humus > chernozem 1700 C. Leigh i. iii. 55 These Countries afford us various sorts of Earths, but the most noted are the Black Soil, the Foxglove-Earth, and the Clay-Earth. 1845 R. I. Murchison et al. I. xxii. 559 The black soil does not, however, occupy all the vast country alluded to. 1908 N. M. Tulaïkoff in 3 82 Black soils (Tchernozem)..cover generally the grassy steppe or prairies of the temperate zone. 1914 H. I. Jensen x. 47 In Australia we can find..black-soil plains (pasture and agriculture, maize and gourds). 1959 M. Hastings i. ii. 40 What we call black soil areas. They're covered in kunai grass..no trees will grow in that soil. 1972 V. Priddle 145 Our bullock camp was black soil and starting to get very boggy. 2000 1 June (Trader section) 28/3 (advt.) Excellent all seasons mixture of river country, black soil channels, billabongs, cowells. society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > match-making > [noun] > match-maker 1725 A. Ramsay iii. iii This too fond heart o' mine..a black-sole true to thee. 1822 Oct. 436/1 Adam Dinwoodie fills the right honourable situation of secretary, or black sole, to Aggie and her gallant. 1834 A. Cunningham in R. Burns II. 310 On this occasion he forgets the duty of poetic ‘black-sole’, and absolutely courts a young lady for a friend, in very persuasive rhyme. the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > [noun] > wind with reference to direction > winds from specific compass points > south-east > specifically in South Africa 1836 T. Maclear Observ. Halley's Comet 6 Feb. in (1838) 10 126 Wind violent—a ‘black south-easter’. 1870 Dec. 357 Then we are sometimes blessed with a black south-easter... The mountain is then quite buried in cloud, the air is laden with moisture, the winds run howling hither and thither,..the rain descends. 1950 L. G. Green vi. 74 In the middle of January 1844 a ‘black south-easter’, the wind most feared in summer on this coast, forced most of the fleet to run for open sea. 2010 (Nexis) 22 Feb. (Sport section) 22 The runners battled in stormy conditions as they were buffeted by a black south-easter on the switchback course around the southern tip of the Peninsula. the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > stream > [noun] > other 1847 27 July 3/2 In consequence the cattle and sheep eat the soil which surround the numerous springs, commonly called black springs. 1878 J. W. Bull x. 55 I..passed over a saddle, on the western side of which I discovered the Black Springs, as they are now called. 2005 (Nexis) 20 Mar. 11 Warby Range State Park has many viewing points, picnic spots and walking trails, including..Black Springs—a natural source of permanent water in the park. the world > the supernatural > deity > a devil > the Devil or Satan > [noun] 1699 B. E. Black spy,..the Devil. 1785 F. Grose Black spy, the devil. 1896 L. C. Cornford iii. 37 For drinking, roaring drunk, hand-to-fist, and raising the Black Spy in general, commend me to the Mul-Sack's crew. 2009 L. R. Burkard xiii. 140 ‘Ye're the Black Spy, ain't cha!’ ‘The what?’ ‘Old Nick! Old Harry. The devil 'imself!’ society > communication > printing > printers' symbols and directions > [noun] > mark to show sequence of page or sheet > style of 1946 A. Monkman in H. Whetton iv. 56/2 Another style of signature which has become popular in bookwork offices is known as the black-step method... A piece of rule, about 6 points thick and 24 points long, is placed between the first and last pages (or spine) of each section... For the first section the rule would be positioned opposite the top line of text. The next section would have the rule stepped down, say 24 points, and so on through the sections. 1994 D. C. Greetham (new ed.) iii. 135 Black-step collation marks may be used instead of signatures as a guide to the binder. 1704 J. Pitts 82 At one Corner of the Beat there is a black Stone fastned, and fram'd in with silver Plate, and every time they come to that Corner they kiss the Stone. 1862 25 Aug. 9/4 We at once advanced to the Black Stone embedded in an angle of the Kábah, kissed it, and exclaimed, ‘Bismillah wa Allahu Akbar.’ 1933 33 199 The great Omar performed the tawaf around the Ka'ba in Mecca, and kissed the black stone there enshrined. 2000 Z. Smith (2001) vi. 152 You come with me on haj. If I am to touch that black stone before I die I will do it with my eldest son by my side. the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > rum > [noun] > drinks made with rum the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > wine > fortified wine, Madeira wine, and sack > [noun] > port > types of port the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > type of disease > fungal > associated with crop or food plants > tomatoes 1862 J. Thomas 78 Black stripe... 1 wine-glass of Santa Cruz rum. 1 table-spoonful of molasses. This drink can be made either in summer or winter. 1894 11 Aug. 119/2 Black stripe, for as yet I know of no other name for it, is to a certain extent infectious. 1900 G. J. Kappeler (new ed.) 22 Black stripe. One teaspoonful molasses, one small lump ice, one jigger Jamaica, Medford, or St. Croix rum. Mix well in small bar-glass. 1927 26 Mar. 104/2 If any [tomato plants] have very finely cut, lace-like leaves, take them out... These plants have contracted Black Stripe disease. 2003 M. H. Regan 85 Black stripe..is a very old drink, probably first served in the 1700s when sugar, molasses, and Caribbean rum were available ingredients in the newly settled America. society > education > learning > study > subject or object of study > [noun] > specific subjects 1968 25 Jan. 8/1 The trustees should ‘assert some leadership by means of policy statements’ calling for courses in ‘black studies’. 1969 20 265 We urge that CCCC and NCTE work to include preparation for student teachers which will lead to black studies for black students, working class studies for working class students, women's studies, etc. 1973 W. Baskin & R. N. Runes 53 Black studies..now include courses in African history and religions, Swahili, and Afro-American literature, economics, and social and political thought. 1990 7 Dec. 1/1 Women's studies and black studies are now seen as serious areas of academic inquiry. 2004 26 Sept. a27/2 In the 1990s, Gates set out to create a premier black studies department at Harvard, assembling a ‘dream team’ of academics. society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > a land or country > part of country or district > [phrase] > civilized part 1884 8 Oct. 6/5 Mr. Gillies.—..The bill of 1882 proposed to stop that [railway] line at a portion of the district where there was no considerable population. Mr. Mason.—A black stump. (Laughter.) 1889 21 May Some of those lines terminate at places which, though not quite like the proverbial ‘black stump’ of Victoria, are almost as bad.] 1953 23 Jan. 12/3 (advt.) Here is the greatest buy this side of the black stump. 1956 ‘N. Shute’ (title) Beyond the black stump. 1975 X. Herbert 1149 I've been played for the biggest mug this side o' the Black Stump. 2009 (Nexis) 25 June We were living out beyond the black stump there was nothing to do. 1835 13 June 666/6 Does not everybody know, that Van Buren is notorious as a Missouri restrictionist and an advocate of black suffrage. 1865 30 Sept. 1/3 Our Tennessee friend wants the Rebel Amnesty hurried up, but thinks Black Suffrage can wait a while. The Blacks say, No; it is ‘now or never’. 1997 X. Wang Introd. p. xvii With the Reconstruction Act of 1867,..the Republican Congress secured the constitutionality of black suffrage and made protection of black voting rights a national obligation. the world > food and drink > food > additive > sweetener > [noun] > sugar > unrefined or brown sugar c1430 7 Take blake sugre, an cold water. 1696 J. Ovington 238 Another Compound-Liquor made in India, which is distilled from Black Sugar mixt with Water, with the bark of the Tree Baboul. 1787 J. Beattie 15 Black sugar, Licuorice juice. 1864 J. Brown v. 76 A bit of black sugar. 1877 2 July 352 Any marked difference as to good or inferior kinds of black sugar depends on the quality of the cane and the skill of the workmen. 1920 J. K. Mackenzie 21 We..are much disillusioned when we learn that black sugar stamped with a seal is just nothing but licorice. 1999 A. Arndt 145 This substance obtained from boiling down licorice juice, sometimes called ‘black sugar’, is the traditional basis for licorice cough drops, syrups, and candies. 2000 W. Lianmao in D. Selbourne tr. J. D'Ancona xii. 463 Black sugar refers to a type of milled sugar... Jacob could certainly have purchased black sugar in Quanzhou. the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > an intoxicating drug > [noun] > a) narcotic drug(s) > morphine, cocaine, or heroin > heroin 1983 12 Oct. b2/2 He pleaded innocent to one heroin selling charge filed in connection with the alleged sale on Aug. 11 of ¼ gram of ‘black tar’ heroin to an undercover informant. 1986 7 June 37/3 What makes black tar heroin unique is that it has a single, foreign source—Mexico—and finds its way into Mexican-American distribution networks, often via illegal immigrants. 1996 14 Apr. b4/3 For reasons not completely known, botulism in heroin only seems to show up in Mexican black tar. 2006 9 July (Herald-Times ed.) a6/2 Two types of heroin seen locally are ‘brown powder’ and ‘black tar’. society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles (plying) for hire > [noun] > taxi > types of taxi 1911 4 Dec. 6/3 A black taxi drew up at the curb and three men sprang out. 1968 A. Ginsberg 100 A high black taxi with orange doorlight passes around iron railing blazoned with red sigma Underground. 1993 25 Oct. i. 1/4 The loyalists do shootings in bookies and black taxis with kids inside. 2006 G. Malkani xii. 140 Now you can stretch to a proper, shiny black taxi. the world > food and drink > drink > tea > [noun] > other types of tea the world > food and drink > drink > tea manufacture > [noun] > types of dry tea 1706 tr. E. Y. Ides 44 The better sort drink Kara't Za, or black Tea, which is a particular Species of that Plant, the infusion of which, instead of greenish, tinctures the water blackish. 1854 W. Williamson 5 Pure water, toast water, gum arabic water, weak black tea, cocoa and plain chocolate. 1888 J. Paton Tea in XXIII. 97/2 Black and green tea are made indifferently from the leaves of the same plant. 1937 Apr. 122/4 In Ceylon and India most of the tea is black tea, while in China and Japan green tea represents more than half of the manufacture. 1963 R. L. Bacon 89 The foreman nodded..squinting up at us from where he sat nursing a mug of black tea. ‘Goodday, mates. Like a mug of brew?’ 2003 5 May 86/4 Black tea contains..complex antioxidants called theaflavins and thearubigins. 2008 S. Heaney in D. O'Driscoll ii. viii. 232 They would walk the whole way to Donegal, keeping going on black tea and dry bread. the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > sulphides and related minerals > [noun] > galena group > lead telluride 1810 J. Murray II. vii. iii. 264 In the black tellurium ore, a number of metals are combined with a little sulphur, the composition, as stated by Klaproth, being tellurium 82, lead 54, gold 9, copper 1.3, silver 0.5, and sulphur 3.] 1821 R. Jameson 281 (heading) Genus IV. Tellurium-Glance, or Black Tellurium. 1923 H. H. Read (ed. 21) ii. 376 Nagyagite: Black Tellurium... Telluride and sulphide of gold and lead. 2010 C. W. Allin II. 528/1 Similarly, sylvanite and nagyagite (black tellurium) contain gold and silver, but in different arrangements and ratios. society > faith > aspects of faith > theology > branches of theology > [noun] > black 1968 11 Nov. 5/2 To restore the purity of original Christianity, ‘black theology’ wants to roll back many of the major characteristics of Christianity. 1969 J. H. Cone ii. 31 There is, then, a desperate need for a black theology, a theology whose sole purpose is to apply the freeing power of the gospel to black people under white oppression. 1986 R. Fatton v. 107 Christianity, according to the dominant theme of Black Theology, was imbued with the legacy of Jesus' identification with the oppressed, and Jesus' condemnation of the powers that be. 2000 W. J. Jennings in A. Hastings et al. 74/1 Liberation, as the link between theology and sociopolitical agendas, has always been an important concept for black theology. society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > mineral material > ore > [noun] > tin ore > types of 1602 R. Carew i. f. 13v They measure their blacke Tynne, by the Gill, the Topliffe, the Dish and the Foote. 1767 (Royal Soc.) 56 37 The best tin ore..will not melt without flux, nor do twenty pounds of black tin usually produce more than fourteen pounds of white. 1865 E. Burritt 320 The mine produces about 430 tons of black tin annually. 1936 16 July 25/6 Geevor Tin.—Results for the three months ended June 30:—Tons of ore crushed, 14,267; tons of black tin (65 per cent. sn.) produced, 250. 2005 (Nexis) 10 Dec. Total exemption of custom duty and sales tax on import of black tin used as raw material for manufacturing of tinplate. the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > [noun] > other types of tobacco 1698 tr. L. Hennepin Continuation xxviii. 108 in I presented them with two Fathoms of black Tobacco, which they love mightily; theirs is not so well prepar'd, nor so strong as that of Martenico. 1790 E. Umfreville 63 Let us trade good black tobacco, moist and hard twisted. 1897 F. W. Sykes 103 A half-pound cake of black tobacco fetched £2. 1977 C. Wagley i. 8 I was able to complete my purchases—among them beans, rice, rapadura,..salt, and coils of black tobacco. 2002 23 1994/2 Haemoglobin adducts of 15 different aromatic amines were determined in non-smokers and smokers of blond- or black-tobacco cigarettes. the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disorders of mouth > [noun] > disorders of tongue 1833 Let. 30 Dec. in (1834) 18 Jan. 114/2 There is a disease prevalent in various parts of the United States, among cattle and horses, called the Black Tongue. 1843 6 250 There were several more cases [of typhus fever] in the immediate vicinity equally fatal, which received the very expressive title of Black tongue fever or Black fever. 1858 C. L. Flint (1860) 281 Typhoid fever..is sometimes followed by diseases known as black tongue, black leg, or quarter evil. 1919 J. P. Dunn II. 804 In 1842–3 epidemic erysipelas prevailed in a number of counties in southern Indiana, and was known by a number of popular names, as ‘black tongue’, ‘sore throat’, etc. 1936 11 75 Fractions prepared from liver extract which were rich in vitamin G (B2) and from which the hepatoflavin had been removed..were very active in the cure of black tongue. 2003 49 661 Acute black tongue was first demonstrated in dogs, with similar observations in swine. the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of pigs > [noun] 1851 20 Aug. 68 A disease known as the black tooth, has proved very fatal to swine at St. Johns, N. B. 1877 8 107 Black tooth is a popular disease of swine. 1918 13 60/2 In so-called ‘black tooth’, where shedding of the temporary tusks does not take place, the loosened tooth predisposes to infection. the world > movement > progressive motion > order of movement > following behind > [noun] > following track or trail > one who 1862 5 July The black trackers could only discover the tracks of six horsemen. 1867 J. Morison 88 The native police, or ‘black trackers’,..are a body of aborigines trained to act as policemen. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ xvii The sooner we get the black trackers on the trail, then the sooner we shall have a chance of seeing some of it back. 1952 R. E. Robinson in 213 The black-tracker, in his police boy's shirt, trousers, and hat, was with them. 1988 (Nexis) 30 Sept. Northern Territory police have called in black trackers to search for a man alleged to have shot and killed six members of his family at a remote outstation in Arnhem Land. 2006 (Nexis) 11 Feb. 5 Dr Musgrave was one of the last of the recognised ‘black trackers’. In 1960 he found the little boy lost in Australia's most famous search, at Guyra, New South Wales. 1897 M. Kingsley xiv. 310 Here, in the black trader factory, you see the first stage of the export part of the trade. 1989 V. G. Myer xii. 137 A black trader factory was a fascinating place to stay. the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > part or joint of animal > [noun] > pluck, offal, or tripe 1937 ‘G. Orwell’ i. i. 7 The grey flocculent stuff known as ‘black tripe’. 1992 E. Pearce xv. 149 The commodities at the cooked-meat stall could only, outside Normandy, be offered in Lancashire—black tripe, cow-heel pieces (for the piemaking), little spherical black puddings and not pigs' trotters but, of course, pigs' feet. the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > kind of earth or soil > [noun] > dark soil a1650 G. Boate (1652) xx. 155 Black Turf cannot be made without more trouble. First they mark out convenient places; for onely those are fit for it to which some paths do lead. 1780 A. Young (Dublin ed.) I. 30 Adjoining to it is a black turf bog of admirable use for firing. 1850 22 222/1 For steam purposes the black turf is admirably adapted. 1897 ‘Cios’ xxxiv. 102 The sticky black soil was coating the wheels to such a degree that..the wheels had no spokes, but became a solid mass of black turf. 1906 Oct. 150 Heavy clay soils and black turf soils which become hard in dry weather are also apt to produce badly-shaped and dirty roots. 1982 H. H. Glassie xvi. 475 Black turf burns longest and hottest. 2005 L. Prendini in B. A. Huber et al. 43 In contrast, Chelectonus jonesii, a liochelid common in black turf soils.., is a pedipalpal burrower. the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > black person > [noun] > woman the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > wine > drinks made with wine > [noun] > drinks with champagne 1900 H. Lawson 57 I know the track from Spencer's Gulf and north of Cooper's Creek—Where falls the half-caste to the strong, ‘black velvet’ to the weak. 1926 G. Frankau i. 24 ‘Black velvet’ of stout and champagne. 1929 K. S. Prichard vii. 79 ‘No “black velvet” for you, I suppose?’ ‘I'm goin' to marry white and stick white,’ Hugh said. 1930 H. Craddock i. 29 Black velvet. Use long tumbler. 1/ 2 Guinness Stout. 1/ 2 Champagne. 1942 E. Waugh 45 Young men..gulping Black Velvet. 1948 D. Ballantyne ii. xx. 263 I'd like a nice piece of black velvet... One of those quarter-castes, boy. 1990 8 Oct. 20/4 Jack..is part-Aboriginal and the descendant of Hamish, a lecherous Scot who, as it is delicately put, liked black velvet. 2009 Sept. 15/1 Sit at the street-side counter for rock oysters and a foaming tankard of Black Velvet—Guinness and Champagne. 1939 Oct. 80/2 A Davis Safety-Grip six-ply black-wall tire. 1948 24 Sept. 7/4 (advt.) Cushion-aire tires... Size 6.70 x 16 blackwalls. 2006 M. Antonick 47 With blackwalls, wheels were painted body color. 2007 P. Keresture 35 A black-wall tire and a silver wheel cover with imitation spokes. the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > type of disease > fungal > associated with crop or food plants > potatoes 1846 Aug. 258/2 At a late meeting in Boston, John Owen of Cambridge, stated he cured the black wart on plum trees by cutting off and washing in salt water. 1950 L. E. Hawker viii. 240 Some, such as Synchytrium endobioticum, which causes the black-wart disease of the potato..are obligate parasites and exist in the soil only as spores. 2004 J. W. Taylor et al. in J. Cracraft & M. J. Donoghue 184/1 This parasite causes a malformation of potato tubers known as black wart. society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > unit of army > named companies, regiments, etc. > [noun] > British 1739 Ld. Lovat Let. 7 Apr. in W. Fraser (1883) II. 380 My dear Frank..is not to stay any time in what you call the Black Watch. I think it is a right name to us, for we are represented very black to our Generall. 1822 D. Stewart I. iii. i. 223 The 42d Highland Regiment..was originally known by the name of..Black Watch. It arose from the colour of their dress. 1871 Princess Alice 12 Sept. (1884) 273 We did not see the 42nd Highlanders, the ‘Black Watch’, to-day. 1952 22 Nov. 5/2 Eighth Army censorship to-day released details of the action by the Black Watch in defending the position known as the Hook..some 30 miles north of Seoul. 1986 17 July 3/2 The ancient Abbey of Inchcolm was the destination of 100 members of the Black Watch Regiment and their families. 2004 5 Nov. (London ed.) 1/1 Three Black Watch soldiers were killed in a suicide bomb attack yesterday—the first casualties since they struck out for Iraq's so-called Triangle of Death. 1899 18 Dec. 4/4 In view of the series of reverses during the Black Week it was decided to send out new Generals and more men. 1977 22 Apr. 490/3 Black Week..brought a decade of cheap military victories to a dismal close. 2002 44 314 Press and politicians alike looked forward to an easy campaign which would be over by Christmas. The events of ‘Black Week’..shattered this complacency. (b) In the names of birds. See also blackbird n., black cap n. 2, blackcock n., blackpoll n., black swan n. 2, etc. 1805 W. Clark Jrnl. 16 Nov. in (1990) VI. 53 My Servt. York killed 2 Geese & 8 white, black and Speckle Brants. 1922 V. Stefánsson 469 East of Richard Island the Black Brant and Longspurs had just begun to lay. 1999 Apr. 21/1 Rare and distinctive subspecies like Black Brant, Green-winged Teal and Black-headed Wagtail. 1764 G. Edwards III. 28 The Great Black Cockatoo. 1846 J. Gould (1848) V. Pl. 13 Calyptorhynchus baudinii... White-tailed Black Cockatoo of the Colonists. 1896 B. Spencer I. 31 At the Goyder was secured the first specimen of the Western black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus stellulatus), which does not appear to extend further south than this. 1930 W. M. Mann xx. 253 The great black cockatoo from New Guinea contrasts sharply with the great white cockatoo from the Moluccas. 2003 L. Glaister in D. Adebayo et al. 12 193 A couple of crows and a flock of black cockatoos hop about, suddenly scuttering upwards, flashing scarlet underwings. the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Ciconiiformes (storks, etc.) > [noun] > family Threskiornithidae (ibises and spoonbills) > member of (ibis) > miscellaneous types of 1829 J. Chambers I. p. lxvi Tantalus ignens—Glossy Ibis... Mr. Norman has one, which was killed at Cromer, and sold to him under the name of the Black Curlew. 1905 15 July 158/2 The glossy ibis is known in East Anglia as the black curlew. 1928 F. A. Bailey 101 At a distance they [sc. white-faced glossy ibises] looked black enough to justify their common local name Black Curlew. 1951 E. W. Teale 34 To natives of the region [sc. Florida] the glossy ibis, with its dark plumage and downcurving bill, is the ‘black curlew’. 1625 S. Purchas IV. x. vi. 1873 Numbers of seuerall sorts of Wild-fowle, as Wild-goose, Black-Duck, Woodcock, Herron, Pigeon. 1731 M. Catesby I. p. xxxvii/1 The Black Duck is considerably bigger than the common Wild Duck, and is esteemed preferable to it for the goodness of its flesh. 1829 A. Wilson III. 326 Anas perspicillata. Black, or Surf Duck... This Duck is peculiar to America, and altogether confined to the shores and bays of the sea. 1852 J. Macgillivray I. 55 Anas superciliosa, the `black duck' of the colonists, the richest and best flavoured of the Australian water-fowl. 1867 W. B. Tegetmeier xxviii. 308 (heading) The Cayuga, or large American black duck. 1907 ‘N. Blanchan’ xvii. 269 In every slough where..black duck and pintails settle down to rest in the autumn, gunners wait concealed in the sedges. 1986 K. F. Walker in B. R. Davies & K. F. Walker xiii. 652 Pacific black duck and other ‘sedentary’ species frequent permanent swamps and waterways. 2001 Mar. 71/1 Wings of common merganser, American black duck, and common goldeneye whir softly in passing. the world > animals > birds > order Falconiformes (falcons, etc.) > family Accipitridae (hawks, etc.) > [noun] > eagles > genus Aquila > other types of 1575 G. Turberville 8 The trayne of the Egle Royall, as also the trayne of the slender blacke Egle, is short and stiffe at the poynt, euen as the traine of the Vulture is. 1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch 783 There is one kinde of gentle faulcons or roiall eagles bred in the mountaines, which Homer calleth the Blacke eagle for game. a1797 J. Parkhurst (1799) 520/2 The black eagle, so called, according to Bockhart, from it's great strength in proportion to it's size. Thus Homer describes it... The same account is given of it by Aristotle, Pliny, and other writers. 1816 11 Sept. 3/2 The sculls of a sea-horse and bear, the ear of a whale, and the preserved skin of a black eagle. 1906 A. O. Hume 131 The female, shot on the nest, was sent to me—an old, unmistakable, black Eagle, with conspicuous white scapular patches. 1951 20 Oct. (Mag.) 2/4 Most difficult of all birds to shoot, Hoesch found, was the black eagle or dassievanger. 1970 S. T. Satyamurti 102 The Indian Black Eagle (Ictinaetus malayensis perniger) is a graceful long winged bird. 2006 P. Ryan (new ed.) iii. 27 Verreauxs' Eagle was called Black Eagle in southern Africa, but its East African name was preferred to avoid confusion with the Indian Black Eagle Ictinaetus malayensis. 1743 G. Edwards I. 4 (heading) The Black Hawk or Falcon. ?a1775 W. Bartram Trav. Georgia & Florida in (1943) 33 165/1 The Black Hawk is about the size of the Chicken Hawk, they are all over a dark slate colour appearing perfectly black. 1832 1 Sept. 78/1 But I cannot describe how beautiful their aerial evolutions were, if a black hawk appeared in their rear. 1872 E. Coues 549 American ‘Rough-legged Buzzard’ ‘Black Hawk’. 1970 R. M. de Schauensee 47/1 Common black hawk... Black, base of primaries white. 1994 R. Hendrickson 24 Black hawk, a dark-colored, red-tailed hawk (Buteo calurus) native to the West. The name is also given to the Mexican black hawk, Swainson's hawk and Harris's hawk. 2002 G. M. Eberhart I. 49/2 The Common black-hawk (Buteogallus anthracinus) has a wingspan greater than 4 feet and is found in cottonwood groves in Arizona. 1866 T. McIlwraith 92 Pelidna americana Coues. Red-backed Sandpiper. This is the Black-heart Plover of sportsmen. 1878 H. Scadding xiv. 194 The Island, just across the Bay, where the black-heart plover were said always to arrive on a particular day, the 23rd of May, every year. 1919 36 265 Pelidna alpina. Red-backed Sandpiper.—Mr. Farley reports ‘Black-heart Plover’ May 11, 1899 at Red Deer. This is an old South Ontario name for this species. 1575 G. Turberville 45 They flee with the Sacre at twoo sortes of Kytes, that is, to the Kite royall, which is called by the Frenche man, the (Mylan Royall) and at one other kinde of Kyte, called the Blacke Kyte, (the Mylan Noyer) whiche is farre the more nimble byrde of the twoo. 1687 R. Wolley tr. N. Besongne (new ed.) i. xxiv. 205 When the Captain of these Flights of Hawks, takes a black Kite, in the Kings Presence, then he is to have the Kings Horse, his loose Gown, and his Slippers, for his Fees. 1787 C. Taylor II. 17 There is a black kite, whose tail is not forked, in size rather less. 1865 1 256 The Black Kite, never once seen in winter, returns in immense numbers from the south. 2006 Aug. 101/2 On Exmoor, a Black Kite flew over Hawkcombe Head (4th) and a Woodchat Shrike was found. the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > non-arboreal (larks, etc.) > [noun] > family Alaudidae > genus Melanocorypha (calandra) 1738 E. Albin III. 47 (heading) The black Lark. 1829 E. Griffith et al. VII. 118 The Black or mutable Lark. Al. Tatarica et mutabilis, et Tanagra sibirica. 2003 3 June i. 5/1 The cause of their excitement..was a black lark, Melancorypha yeltoniensis—2,000 miles west of its normal haunts on the remote steppes of Kazakhstan. the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Apodiformes > [noun] > family Apodidae > genus Apus > apus apus (swift) 1673 J. Ray 86 The black Martin or Swift; Hirundo apus. 1761 (Royal Soc.) 51 464 There are four distinct species of birds, that go under the general name swallow; viz. the swift or black martin; 2. the swallow..; [etc.]. 1842 XXIII. 363/1 The Common Swift..is the..Screech Martin..and Black Martin of the country-people. 1938 14 May 13/5 An old friend writes to me that C. A. Johns, backed by J. A. Owen, gives black martin and martlet as occasional names of the swift. 2000 (Nexis) 18 Jan. (Suppl.) 25 Swifts were Black Martins or Skirrs. the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > [noun] > family Charadriidae > member of genus Vanellus > vanellus vanellus (lapwing) 1538 T. Elyot Vpupa, a lapwynk or blacke plouer. 1560 tr. f. I.iiiiv And yf the harte, eye or brayne of a lapwynge or blacke plouer, be hanged vpon a mans necke, it is profitable agaynste forgetfulnes. 1632 R. Sherwood Dict. in R. Cotgrave (new ed.) Dixhuict, eighteene; also, a Lapwing, or Black-Plouer; (so tearmed because her ordinarie crie sounds not vnlike this word.) 1824 T. C. Croker ix. 175 Cormick..could kill with his gun every bird that flew in air,—the wild duck, and the partridge, and the grouse, and black plover of the lonesome mountains! 1885 W. Aldridge 87 Peewit Plover, Lapwing, or Black Plover. Vanellus cristatus. Is not uncommon about here. 1920 Nov. 35/1 Prices for game in the London markets [in 1913]... Golden Plover, 10d to 1s each. Black Plover, 6d to 8d each. the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > subfamily Turdinae > [noun] > genus Phoenicurus > species ochruros (black redstart) 1831 W. Yarrell in 4 118 Black Redstart (Sýlvia Tìthys).—Since the publication of the notice of the first capture of this warbler in England..two other specimens have been taken. 1894 A. Newton et al. 776 The males of the Black Redstart seem to be more than one year in acquiring their full plumage. 1991 M. Tully (1992) i. 32 On the bank of one field we saw a black redstart, his tail quivering energetically. 1575 G. Turberville 137 The flesh of a white Storke, and also of the blacke Storke, called (Saracinessa) is euill of nourishment, and hard to be endewed, and stinking. 1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby iii. ii. 286 The black Stork. Ciconia nigra. It is equal to the white Stork, or but little less than it. 1831 1 July 35 Black storks are frequent in all the South-eastern parts of Europe, inhabiting marshes in these countries. 1907 E. Rhys (ed. 3) 176 They were about to fell a tree..on whose naked branches a black stork had built its nest. 2006 Aug. 113/4 The Whiskered Tern..was found by birders watching out for a Black Stork, which had flown south..earlier the same evening. 1764 12 The Great Black Swallow, or Swift. 1793 J. Leslie tr. Comte de Buffon VI. 554 The Black Swallow... This bird, which inhabits St. Domingo, is somewhat differently shaped from the Swift. 1889 7 44 If the ‘black swallows’ (Hirundo Apus. Linn.) are out, there will be no luck [in fishing]. 1960 J. Bond 132 Black Swift Cypseloides niger. Local names: Swallow; Black Swallow; Rain Bird. 1817 T. Forster 55 Apus cypselus... Black swift. 1868 4 152 Cypselus barbatus... South-African Black Swift. 1901 18 394 On reaching the locality, I noticed a pair of Black Swifts flying about over the cliffs. 1962 C. D. Sherman tr. J. Dorst iii. 69 The spine-tailed swift..and the American black swift..also perform unusual flights, quite distinct from migrations. 2008 P. Briggs 73 The outsized Alpine swift, which nests colonially on cliffs, often alongside the African black swift. the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Apodiformes > [noun] > family Trochilidae (humming-bird) > unspecified and miscellaneous types of the world > animals > birds > order Falconiformes (falcons, etc.) > family Accipitridae (hawks, etc.) > [noun] > genus Buteo (buzzard) > other types of 1831 J. J. Audubon I. 441 (heading) The Black Warrior. Falco Harlani. 1854 2 328 Linden's helmet-crest, Oxypogon Lindeni... It is called the Black Warrior by the dealers in skins. 1884 E. Coues (ed. 2) iii. 543 B. harlani. Harlan's Buzzard. ‘Black Warrior’. 1891 J. W. Buel 284 Black Warrior (Oxypogon lindenii). This is quite a large species. 1917 F. H. Herrick I. xxiv. 427 Harlan's Hawk, or the Black Warrior, is now regarded as a southern variety of the Red-tailed Hawk. 1983 100 161/1 John James Audubon described as Falco harlani..a hawk he had shot in Louisiana and called a Black Warrior. 1740 E. Albin 22 The lesser black Woodpecker... This Bird I had from a Gentleman very curious in Birds, &c. he told me it came from New England. 1806 M. Lewis Jrnl. 27 May in (1991) VII. 293 The Black woodpecker..is found in most parts of the rocky Mountains. 1877 (new ed.) I. 271 Picus cathpharius... The lesser black woodpecker. 1922 45 298 There were ants in five of the six stomachs examined of the great black woodpecker; often in abundance. 2006 Aug. 13/2 Nutcracker, Wallcreeper, Alpine Swift and Black Woodpecker can be seen, not far from Dracula's Castle itself! (c) In the names of animals other than birds. See also black-beetle n., blackfish n., blackfly n., black panther n. 1, blacksnake n. 1, etc. 1625 S. Purchas II. vii. ii. 956 There are great store of blacke Ants, which make holes in the earth, like field Mice. 1843 23 Dec. 491/2 The enslaved species are of two species, a black ant..and a mining ant. a1921 A. Teixeira de Mattos tr. J. H. Fabre (1991) xxiii. 173 The distance covered by the nymph-stealing column varies: it all depends on whether Black Ants are plentiful in the neighbourhood. 2006 M. Golley (2007) 75 The Black Garden Ant is a familiar sight, very common in gardens. 1589 J. Davis in R. Hakluyt iii. 785 Here we saw a blacke beare. 1648 B. Plantagenet 25 Here black Bears and Lions feeding on sweet foods, are killed and eaten. 1781 T. Pennant II. ii. § ii. xx. 286 The black bears of America form a very distinct variety. 1800 G. Shaw I. ii. 451 The brown Bear is also said to be found in some of the northern parts of America... The American Black Bear is a different species. 1929 No. 360. 1 The Asiatic black bear is given generic rank as distinct from the typical genus Ursus on account of its color..and the formation of the plantar pads. 1992 May 25/2 The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) voted in March to restrict the sale of body parts of American black bears. 2006 (Midwest ed.) 15 Jan. i. 7/5 Most of the 68 existing farms raise Asiatic black bears, which are also known as moon bears due to a colored crescent shape on their breasts. the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > antelope > [noun] > subfamily Antilopinae > genus Antilope (black buck) 1834 J. Forbes (ed. 2) I. x. 175 He ran with surprizing velocity, and killed a black buck. 1891 W. T. Blanford ii. 521 Antilope cervicapra. The Indian Antilope or black Buck. 1930 W. M. Mann xv. 189 The black buck of India, a medium-sized antelope..makes a most successful exhibit. 2001 5 Mar. 74/2 Texas may have as many Indian blackbuck antelope as India, more Arabian oryx than Saudi Arabia, more scimitar-horned oryx than Africa. the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > breeds of ox > [noun] > miscellaneous types of the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > breeds of ox > [noun] > of Scotland > Highland cow or cattle the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > breeds of ox > [noun] > of Wales 1610 J. Healey tr. J. L. Vives in tr. St. Augustine viii. xiii. 320 And Porphery elsewhere saith that the lower the gods are, the sadder sacrifies they require: the earth-gods, and hell-gods loue blacke cattell: the first vpon alltars, the latter in graues and pits. 1725 21 July (Brand) After the body [of a Highland chief] is interred, a hundred black cattle and two or three hundred sheep are killed for the entertainment of the company. 1755 S. Johnson Black-cattle, oxen; bulls; and cows. 1836 VI. 378/2 In the usual acceptation..is confined to the ox, or what is called black cattle or horned cattle. But as many varieties are not black, and several have no horns, the name neat cattle is more appropriate. 1868 18 June The large stock of black cattle and crosses. 1919 K. J. J. Mackenzie xi. 149 Welsh Black Cattle. Some 20 years ago there were two distinct types of black cattle in Wales. 1995 28 Aug. 2/8 Hardier breeds—Scottish black-faced sheep and black cattle—are now used by the commoners. 1620 G. Markham xiii. 90 Dores, or great black Clocks are vehement destroyers of all kind of Corne. 1727 R. Bradley tr. N. Chomel at Dores Now the Way to secure or prevent these Dores, Dare, or Black Clocks, is, to make great Smokes in the Corn-fields in Seed-time. 1886 in F. Podmore (1894) vii. 169 He found a ‘blackclock’ (i.e. cockroach) floating in his coffee. 1951 S. H. Bell i. vii. 55 It's wonderful what happens tae black-clocks when they get intae long grass. 1999 C. Tóibín (2000) iii. 56 He was afraid of the black clocks which darted awkwardly across the floor. 1681 N. Grew i. Of all our European Fishes, it seems to come nearest to the Cole-Fish or Black-Cod. 1808 J. Pinkerton I. 437 The black cod..is very frequent in the sea of Finmark. 1886 R. A. A. Sherrin 302 Notothenia..microlepidota... Black Cod. 1941 4 270 Anaplopoma fimbria, the ‘black cod’ or skil-fish, is a fish similar in general appearance to the cod, though it is a Percomorph fish, one of the Hexagrammatidae. 1982 S. B. Flexner 210 Many Americans wouldn't know..that a coalfish or a coley fillet is black cod. 1988 M. Francis (rev. ed.) 54/2 Black cod Paranotothenia magellanica... Back usually uniform and dark. 2006 Oct. 100/1 Choose between new-style sashimi anointed with hot soy soil, or black cod in miso (which is really sablefish). 1900 G. E. Delavan in 50 Still other names [of the calico bass] of local application are..black crappie and lake crappie. 1969 D. F. Costello vi. 105 I realized this many years ago while fishing for black crappies on Jumbo Reservoir. 2010 (Nexis) 25 Mar. 10 Black crappie prefer clearer water and are more commonly found around aquatic vegetation than are white crappie. 1743 W. Ellis (Dublin ed.) Aug. 45 The Shrimp or green Fly took the Pease, as the Black Dolphin, or Collier Fly, did the Beans. 1820 (new ed.) 261 When the young shoots of standard cherry trees, or any other trees, are covered with the black dolphin flies, an infusion is made with the leaves and stalks of tobacco. 1851 M. Somerville (ed. 3) II. xxix. 266 The Grind or black dolphin has been known to run ashore in hundreds in the bays of Faroe, Orkney, and Shetland. 1904 III. at Caaing whale The whole of the body is of a glossy black color, and hence the fish is frequently known as the blackfish..or black dolphin. 1919 No. 104. 2 The Bean Aphis, known variously as Black Fly, Collier, and Black Dolphin. 2002 G. M. Eberhart II. 476/2 The Black dolphin (Cephalorhynchus eutropia ), one of the smallest cetaceans, ranges from the Strait of Magellan north to Valparaiso, Chile. 1709 J. Lawson 156 Black Drums are a thicker-made fish than the Red Drum. 1825 22 Sept. 2/5 Black drums. About one hundred and twenty of these Fish were caught on Monday, at a single haul of the seine in south River. 1911 310/1 The young and adult fish are respectively known as ‘striped drum’ and ‘black drum’. 2001 8 Dec. 12/1 With each passing year more large, slow-growing fish such as black drum and spotted sea trout are being caught in the surrounding waters. 1802 C. S. Sonnini (new ed.) X. 131 Sparus niger... Par les anglais, the black fin. 1848 8 47 The black-fin or salmon smolt, the orange-fin or whitling, and the grey-fin or bull-trout smolt. 1888 G. B. Goode 491 The ‘Blue-Fin’, or ‘Black-fin’, Coregonus nigripennis, has thus far only been taken in the deeper waters of Lake Michigan. 1945 R. T. Whiteleather & H. H. Brown 95 It was an excellent lure for blackfin tuna (bonito). 2002 Sept. 30/1 Huston amassed 137.5 points..with two kingfish, three blackfin and one dolphin. the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [noun] > genus Vulpes > vulpes fulva (red fox) 1586 Acct. 18 May in (1973) 59 103 They had of black fox, the rarest furres that are knowen xvten skinnes estimated to be wourth Cli a skinne. 1602 J. Brereton 13 Beares. Luzernes. Blacke Foxes. 1757 18 Apr. 3/3 Muscovy Ducks, a Pair of large Eagles, two black Foxes from Hudson's Bay. 1826 J. D. Godman I. 276 The black fox is found throughout the northern parts of America..where it is considered among the richest and most valuable of furs. 1998 35 128/2 Gromoff..listed eight varieties, including arctic fox..: black fox, red fox, silver fox, and cross fox; gray, white, and blue arctic foxes. the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > [noun] > suborder Gobioidei > family Gobiidae > member of genus Gobius 1769 T. Pennant (new ed.) III. 174 The Black Goby. Gobio niger. 1876 S. Smiles xiv. 290 She sent home a specimen of the Black Goby or Rock-fish. 1936 J. T. Jenkins (ed. 2) 91 The Black Goby is a frequenter of rocky or sandy ground. 1996 53 757 Black goby mostly ate gammarids, crabs, and fish. society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > other animal raw materials > [noun] > mollusc or sea-shells 1846 19 Feb. 8/2 The defendant had agreed to sell the plaintiff 22 pair of ‘Honduras black helmet shells’. 1876 IV. 740 The black helmet (Cassis tuberosa) of the West Indian seas. 1993 N. Penny (2005) i. 18 (caption) Shell cameo of a chariot... The shell is probably the Black Helmet (Cassis tuberosa). 1984 42 150/1 The black lion tamarin, Leontopithecus chrysopygus, and the Golden-Headed Lion Tamarin..have rarely been bred. 2001 4 Apr. i. 9/6 Three other species of lion tamarin are also critically endangered. They are the black lion tamarin, the golden-headed lion tamarin, and the black-faced lion tamarin. 1859 D. Leslie in 14 Feb. 6/2 He had tramped on a black Mampa, at least ten feet long. 1876 Lady Barker in 289/1 An Englishman having been bitten by a black mamba (a very venomous adder) some short time since. 1958 23 Jan. 154/1 Black mambas..have the unattractive habit of lurking in trees and dropping down on to the unwary. 2005 Autumn 116/1 When agitated, black mambas raise their heads over a metre off the ground..and open their mouths wide. 1753 Suppl. Mugil Niger, the black Mullet, a name given by authors to a fish of the Mullet kind, but all over black, more usually known by the name of the portius piscis. 1888 G. B. Goode 123 The King-Fish,..also known as..the ‘Black Mullet’ in the Chesapeake. 1915 Aug. 168/2 These resembled the black mullet and were fairly edible, proving, however, of greater service in baiting the traps and the flashlight machines. 2009 (Nexis) 8 Nov. d9 By mid-October, the coastline is literally black with huge schools of black mullet, with large tarpon in tow. the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > family Centrarchidae (sun-fish) > [noun] > member of genus Micropterus (black bass) the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > family Serranidae (sea-bass) > [noun] > member of genus Centropristis (black sea-bass) the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Percoidei > [noun] > member of family Theraponidae (tiger-fish) the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Percoidei > [noun] > member of family Girellidae 1685 W. Penn 9 There is the Catfish, or Flathead, Lampry, Eale, Trout, Perch black and white, Smelt, Sunfish, &c. 1792 III. 226 Only five kinds of the perch are found in the lakes and on the coasts of Britain; the river perch, the sea perch, the basse, the ruffe, and the black perch. 1836 VI. 423/1 Centropristes nigricans, one of the species known by the name of the black-perch or black-bass, is abundant in the rivers of the United States. 1898 E. E. Morris Black-Perch, a river fish of New South Wales, Therapon niger, family Percidæ. 1946 F. LaMonte 134 Micropterus dolomieu... Black Perch. 1966 R. B. Doogue & J. M. Moreland 242 Blackfish, black perch; black bream (Tasmania)... Frequents mangrove swamps and muddy river mouths. 2009 109 112 (caption) Other fish included sugartoad, butterfish, jacks, mahi mahi, hake fish, anchovies, black perch, [etc.]. 1772 R. Smith (new ed.) 133 The black rat..is the old genuine English House-Rat. 1862 D. T. Ansted & R. G. Latham ii. ix. 201 The black rat, so rare in England, is common in Alderney and Herm. a1933 J. A. Thomson (1934) II. 1375 Many of the ‘black rats’ (Rattus rattus) in Britain are actually brown, and many of the ‘brown rats’..are black. 1988 Q. N. Myrvik & R. S. Weiser (ed. 2) xxiv. 347 Transmission from rat to rat and from rat to man is due to two species of rat fleas which parasitize Rattus rattus (black rat) and Rattus alexandrinus (Egyptian rat). 2007 R. Lovegrove vii. 217 The Black Rat..probably first arrived here with the Romans. 1888 E. L. L. Arnold 16 Here was waiting, like a black rat snake under a log, a line of these carriages. 1953 H. S. Zim & H. M. Smith iii. 91 The Black Rat Snake, also known as the Pilot Black Snake, may be mistaken for the Black Racer. 2001 May 72/1 The islands are like stepping stones for all manner of species, like the black rat snake, Canada's largest reptile. the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > order Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates) > [noun] > with hoof in more than two parts > family Rhinocerotidae > rhinoceros > other types of 1900 C. V. A. Peel viii. 298 The head of the black ‘rhino’ is small in proportion to its body; the head of the white ‘rhino’ is large in proportion to its body. 1952 26 37/1 The delightful experience of seeing our travelling companion and a tall Zulu emerge from the bush, pursued by a black rhino and all three running like hell. 2005 Autumn 47/2 Black rhino still hide in the deepest thickets. 1838 17 Mar. 101/1 In the South African Museum, the three species are—rhinoceros Africanus, or the black rhinoceros of the Cape colonists; rhinoceros simus, or the white rhinoceros; and rhinoceros ketloa. 1886 S. W. Baker (new ed.) xiv. 246 There is only one species of this animal in Abyssinia; this is the two-horned black rhinoceros. 1958 R. Garnett tr. B. Heuvelmans ii. 53 The white rhinoceros is the same greyish hue as the black rhinoceros. 2002 G. M. Eberhart II. 407/1 The black rhinoceros lingers tenuously in widely scattered pockets of East, Central, and South Africa. the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Hemiptera > suborder Homoptera > family Coccidae or genus Coccus > member of (scale) 1880 3 July 4/2 He referred..to the black scale, nine species of which were known, and which had destroyed $10,000,000 worth of orchards in Illinois. 1930 Apr. 135/2 The little ladybird has been enlisted to fight the black-scale pest in California. 2005 18 Dec. (Homefront section) 6/2 The stress of the long, dry season has resulted in many grass trees..becoming infested with black scale. 1756 T. Hale et al. xiv. iv. 705/2 The small brown Slug is the most destructive of Wheat and other Grain; the great black Slug of Pulse. 1878 2 85 The Black Slug.—Found in the neighbourhood of Horsham, Cowfold, and West Grinstead, where black, white and red specimens have been met with, though rarely. a1933 J. A. Thomson (1934) I. xv. 395 In the common black slug (Arion ater) there is not even a vestige [of a shell]. 1999 18 Apr. (Review Suppl.) 51/1 There are four main garden slugs: the grey field slug..; the garden slug..; the keeled slug..; and the black slug (Arion ater), which is usually black but can be red-brown if you're lucky. 1682 T. Amy 22 There are..the Red, the Grey, the Fox and Black Squirrels. 1742 J. Bartram (1992) 194 I have seen scores of black squirrels beyond ye mountains. 1842 XXII. 401/2 The black squirrels have been considered by some to be a variety of the Sciurus cinereus, or of the Sciurus vulpinus, and by others have been referred to Sciurus capistratus. 2007 7 May 3/2 The town's governing body in August 1972 passed legislation to protect the black squirrel and proclaim the animal as the town's official mascot. 1840 P. H. Gosse xii. 184 Another species, the Black Swallowtail (Papilio Asterius), is likewise found in Newfoundland and in the Southern States. 1930 A. H. Clark xiv. 141 In that restricted group of swallowtails which includes our common black or parsnip swallowtail..all of the species except three feed on umbelliferous plants. 2003 24 Aug. v. 1/2 She started..raising black swallowtail butterflies when she began noticing them laying eggs on her dill plants. the world > animals > mammals > order Cetacea (whales) > [noun] > unspecified and miscellaneous types of 1615 E. Grimeston tr. P. d'Avity 1101 Neere vnto this Island, about the exterior part, there are many blacke Whales seene, which commonly make warre together. 1744 A. Dobbs 74 They had seen many black Whales, and other Fish. 1788 T. Jefferson Memorandum Whale Fishery in (1958) XIV. 233 Brazil whale, or Black whale. Smallest of all. Found in same latitude with Spermaceti. 1831 in R. McNab (1913) i. 3 The black whales visit the bays and coasts of New Zealand for the purpose of calving. 1840 F. Marryat vi. 28 The sparmacitty don't take the harpoon quite so quietly as the black whale does. 1884 G. B. Goode in G. B. Goode et al. 11 Globicephalus svineval,..also called Black Whale, Social Whale. 1954 W. B. Rhodes Introd. p. xvi The pursuit in coastal waters of black whales was known as `bay whaling'. 1982 H. Morton 23 The Southern right whale—usually called the black whale by the British—migrated to calve in New Zealand..bays. the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Aranea > suborder Labidognatha or Dipneumones > family Theridiidae or genus Theridion > latrodectus mactans (black widow) 1830 193 I read an account of them in a book that papa looked out for me; they are called the black widow spiders, and though they do all this mischief the poor Cossacks think it a great crime to kill them. 1831 tr. H. A. Zwick 37 Millepedes,..tarantula,..and the still more poisonous scorpion-spider, which the Calmucs call the black widow, (belbussun chàrra) are every where to be met with, and are much dreaded. 1915 1 107 The not-infrequent occurrence of the notorious ‘black widow’ spider, Latrodectes mactans, in the vicinity of Stanford University. 1954 F. C. Lane 55 Once crushed between them, even the deadly black widow spider is doomed. 2001 N. Jones ii. 361 The brown recluse is responsible for more bites than the black widow in the USA. (d) In the names of plants and fungi. See also black ash n.1, black bean n., black birch n., black-gum n., etc.the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > birch and allies > [noun] > alder and allies 1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens vi. lxxviij. 758 The blacke Aller groweth not lyke a tree, neyther waxeth it very great, but it bringeth foorth many long straight roddes, whiche doo diuide them selues agayne in other small twigges. 1640 J. Parkinson xxxvii. 240 The black Aller or Alder tree, riseth seldome to be of any great bignesse, but for the most part abideth like a hedge, bush or tree, spreading into branches. 1758 T. Hale et al. (ed. 2) I. iv. xlix. 379 The black alder, whose berries are mixed among those of buckthorn at the markets, is a little shrub no way allied to the right alder, except in the shape of the leaf. 1803 A. F. M. Willich & J. Mease (Amer. ed.) IV. 332/1 at Prinos This tree is commonly called black alder, or Virginia winter-berry. It grows in moist places, generally sending up several slender stalks. 1882 July 178 The alder buckthorn, or black alder, as Rhamnus Frangula is more often called..gives off its branches alternately on either side of the stem. 1902 E. J. Parry & J. H. Coste 231 A similar but poorer green is prepared from the black alder (R. frangula) and the evergreen privet. 1973 Fall 44/1 Among shrubs and flowering plants within the swamp are mountain holly, withe rod, black alder..and starflower. 2008 B. Damrosch 634/2 One is winterberry (I. verticillata), also called black alder, which..bears bright red berries that remain on the twigs for a good part of the winter. 1824 J. E. Smith II. 253 A[rbutus] alpina. Black Bear-berry. 1899 J. A. Lees xvii. 292 The black bearberry by itself furnishes shades of every colour, from dark myrtle green..to blood-red crimsons. 1994 E. C. Pielou v. 153 The leaves are thicker and more wrinkled in black bearberry and stay on the plant for several years. 1771 A. Young II. 414 From the middle of April till June, the black bent was fed with sheep, by lodging them in it from a common. 1821 S. F. Gray II. 145 Vilfa nigra. Black bent. 1931 A. D. Hall (ed. 4) x. 361 On cultivated land, the ‘black-bent’ grass (Alopecurus agrestis) and field mint (Mentha arvensis) are difficult to deal with. 1991 R. H. M. Langer & G. D. Hill (ed. 2) iv. 85 Black bent or redtop (A. gigantea) is an arable weed in the main. 1995 21 July 69/1 Cereal growers on Wold land suspect they have herbicide-resistant blackgrass in early spring should take a closer look—chances are it's black bent. 1855 H. D. Wolff i. 28 They then prepare a supper of fish and herbs, amongst which it is indispensable that there should be some black cabbage and anchovies. 1883 Nov. 487/2 What a charm there is in old monastic gardens,—..in the datura growing with the black cabbage, in the clematis beside the bean-stalks! 1906 E. Nesbit i. 20 It looks more like a dripping-pan full of black cabbages. 1981 30 Sept. c6/2 He cooks with black cabbage, one of his risottos is made with clams. 2004 P. Mitchell 94 She recommends using more than one type of cabbage, including the traditional black cabbage, if available. the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > stone fruit > [noun] > cherry > types of the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > stone fruit > cherry > types of cherry the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular fruit-tree or -plant > [noun] > trees or plants bearing stone fruit > cherry tree > types of 1530 J. Palsgrave 198/2 Blacke chery, merise. 1598 A. M. tr. J. Guillemeau ix. vi. f. 48/2 Alsoe throughe any fruicte, as by cherryes, Blackecherryes, Plumbes, Peatches, Coucoumbres, Milions, & such like. a1674 J. Milton (1682) i. 21 Black-cherry, or divers other Berries. 1779 5 Aug. 4/1 A Lovely Girl,..in perfect Health, was seised after eating a Quantity of black Cherries (the small Kind) with a violent Pain at her Stomach. 1847 R. E. Griffith 486 A. belladonna... Common Names.—Deadly Nightshade, Dwale, Black Cherry, Nightshade. 1898 G. Pinchot 30 Black Cherry stands about midway in the scale of tolerance among the trees in the Park. 1918 Nov. 449/1 Belladonna, known as Black Cherry, Doft Berry, Deadly Nighshade, grows wild in Europe and Western Asia. 1999 May 88/1 To make kirsch, he and his godson..handpick sweet black cherries in the beginning of July, when the fruit is ripe. 2005 C. Fergus 86 Black cherry is the largest tree among the North American cherry species. the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines for specific purpose > preparations treating or preventing specific ailments > [noun] > for scurvy > plant-derived the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > medicinal trees or shrubs > [noun] > non-British medicinal trees or shrubs > Winter's bark tree 1584 A. Barlowe in R. Hakluyt (1589) iii. 729 The tree that beareth the rinde of blacke Sinamon, of which Master Winter brought from the Streights of Magellane, and many other of excellent smell, and qualitie. 1785 J. Adair Let. in A. Duncan 9 208 Canella Alba. This is called here black cinnamon, and is not the true winter's bark, but, as a pure aromatic stimulant, is, I think, preferable. 1834 R. M. Martin II. i. 64 The Black cinnamon is generally found about fifty feet in height and two feet in diameter, and delighting in arid and barren soils. 1901 2 141 A good specimen also represents Pimenta acris, the wild clove, or black cinnamon, a native of the West Indes [sic]. 1648 H. Hexham Roomsche Coriander, romaine Coriander, or black Cummine-seed. 1678 J. Phillips tr. J.-B. Tavernier Indian Trav. ii. x. 131 in tr. J.-B. Tavernier Cumin White, eight Mamoudi's. Cumin Black, three Mamoudi's. 1714 (Royal Soc.) 28 229 They smell to black Cummin-seed bruised and tyed up in a Nodule. 1878 R. W. Stevens (ed. 7) 563 Black cummin, the pungent seeds of the Nigella Sativa are used instead of pepper. 1906 6 Jan. 9/3 N. sativa (Black Cumin) is a tall-growing plant, with bluish flowers that have no involucre. 2002 P. Theroux (2003) v. 74 His boss had liked fruit juice, and preferred boiled black cumin to tea. 1801 9 358 The wood made use of is either alder, willow, or (black) dog-wood.] 1803 C. Hutton tr. J. Ozanam & J. E. Montucla III. x. i. 440 The charcoal found by experience to be fittest for the composition of gunpowder, is that made from the alder, willow, or black dog-wood. 1863 3 57 Piscidia Carthaginensis, L. (Bitch Wood, or Black Dogwood of Jamaica)... This is largely used in Jamaica for wheels and carriages. 1882 5 793 The underwood in this county is of considerable extent, and consists of hazel, ash, oak.., bird-cherry, or black dogwood (Prunus padus), copse elder, [etc.]. 1907 E. Step 92 The wood made into charcoal is said to be the best for the purposes of the gunpowder makers, who know it by the name of Black Dogwood. 2003 56 464/1 Ivy,..honeysuckle..and black dogwood (Frangula alnus); all of them are considered of high preference in herbivore diets. 2004 D. F. Austin 515/1 People call Piscidia the black mahoe (Trinidad, Tobago),..black dogwood (Jamaica), [etc.]. 1904 98 Vegetable products... Black fungus. 1979 J. Yueh 37 Dried Food Chinese mushrooms Tree ears (cloud ear or black fungus). 2006 7 Sept. 33/3 The mushrooms, including the king oyster, chestnut, black fungi, swiss brown..were rich in vitamin B. 1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens vi. xx. 682 The blacke Gooseberies are lyke to the aforesayde..sauing they be of a blacke colour... The second kinde is called Ribes nigrum, in English Blacke Gooseberies. 1732 R. Bradley 16 The Round Black Goosberry. This Kind makes a Bush about three Foot high, and was raised from Seed at Mr. Whitmill's. 1829 W. Cobbett vi. §271 I regret the almost complete disappearance of the little smooth black gooseberry, and of the little hairy red gooseberry. 1890 Dec. 50/2 We have an abundance of black and yellow currents [sic] and black gooseberries of good size and quality. 1947 A. G. Harvey 259 Ribes..divaricatum var. irriguum Rock or black gooseberry. 2002 C. Varner 103 Black gooseberry is an armed shrub to 2m in height... The small, dark purple berries are bristly and hang in clusters. 1766 R. Stevens 68 Surat Goods... Cotton Yarn, white. Black Gram. Indigo. 1863 V. 789/2 In some parts of India, one of the most esteemed kinds of pulse is the Moog, Moong, or Mungo..; in others, the Kala Moog, or Black Gram. 1908 3 236 For green and black gram (Phaseolus mungo), the best cultivators plough up the stubble, apply ashes, and secure a fine tilth before sowing the pulse crop. 2004 A. Green 41/1 Black gram beans are especially popular in northern India, where they are cooked with ginger, onions, and butter to make a rich creamy purée. the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > [noun] > hellebores or medicinal hellebores a1393 J. Gower (Fairf.) vii. l. 1336 His [sc. Argol's] herbe, which is him betake, Is hote Eleborum the blake.] a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvii. lv. 947 Þe blak elebor is moche more perilous. ?c1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac (Paris) (1971) 632 (MED) Of þe white elebre and of þe blacke. ?1550 H. Llwyd tr. Pope John XXI sig. X.vv Cut the beast & put into the wound pouder of blacke Hellebore which wyth his propertie draweth out poysoned humors. 1601 R. Chester 85 There is blacke Hellebore cald Melampodium. 1730 J. Bradstreet 20 I cut a Hole, and put in two or three Roots of black Hellebore, in the outside of the Thigh, about 7 or 8 Inches below the Round-bone. 1875 H. C. Wood (1879) 536 Black Hellebore has been used by some as a purgative emmenagogue, but is now very rarely if ever employed. 1959 P. O'Brian iii. 83 They browsed among the tinctures, linctuses and throches, mixing themselves small personal prescriptions—mandragora, opium, black hellebore. 2005 D. Burke 156/2 H. niger. The black hellebore. This name refers to the plant's black roots. It's flowers are white. 1538 T. Elyot Table Correct. sig. A.vv/1 Apiastrum, rede an herbe, whiche hath leaues lyke to blacke horehound, but greatter. ?1610 J. Fletcher ii. sig. D1 The Clote..And this blacke Horehound, both are very good. 1722 J. Miller 286 The Black Horehound grows taller, and more branched than the White, having square hairy Stalks, and larger darker Leaves. 1902 Nov. 59 Scattered along the lonely waste are plants of the black mullein, and the stinking black horehound. 2008 P. Taylor (2009) 67 They walked along a path of uneven concrete slabs where grass and clumps of black horehound had forced their way through the cracks. 1730 (Royal Soc.) 36 152 Of the true Ipecacuanha I have four Kinds, Black, Brown, Grey, and White.] 1812 J. Stokes I. 368 Black ipecacuanha. 1850 M. Kirby 16 P[olygala] glandulosa in China, is called black ipecacuanha, from its emetic powers. 1928 5 May 314/2 P. emetica is grown for its roots, which produce Black ipecacuanha, one of the many substitutes for the true Ipecacuanha drug. 1780 R. Weston 40 Sideroxylon..Black Ironwood. 1796 C. R. Hopson tr. C. P. Thunberg (ed. 3) II. 109 Black iron wood [Ger. das schwarze Eisenholz]..is hard and strong; it is used for axle-trees and the poles of waggons. 1868 R. J. Mann xx. 161 It is well worth considering whether it might not also be advisable to plant some of the more valuable kinds of native trees, such as the..black iron-wood, and red milk-wood. 1939 (Federal Writers' Project) iii. 328 On the keys grow 27 varieties of hardwood, some so heavy they will not float in water—notably, the madeira, tamarind,..and black ironwood. 2011 S. D. Jewell (ed. 4) 196/1 You'll see..black ironwood, Jamaica dogwood, and paradise-tree. 1990 30 May c1/3 Instead of grass, big florid clumps of Chinese giant red mustard grow next to the driveway, along with Italian black kale and mitsuba, a pungent Oriental green. 2003 (Nexis) 22 June 27 Bring a large pot of water to boil, drop in black kale and cook for five to six minutes. 1597 J. Gerard ii. ccxxxviii. 588 Matfellon or blacke Knapweede, is doubtlesse a kinde of Scabious. 1766 6 451 Common, or Black Knapweed... The root is hard, thick, and woody. 1853 A. Pratt II. 160 The Black Knapweed (Centaurea nigra) is an equally common flower, and is easily known by its smaller blossoms, which are also of a much less vivid purple colour. 1905 29 July 180/3 The black Knapweed, which raises its dark, ripening flowerheads above the short-stalked barley falls before the cutters with the crop which it infests. 2007 S. Falconer 48 The wildflower meadow has developed over the years, with a profusion of black knapweed, red campion.., and ox-eye daisies catching the breeze. the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > conifers > larch and allies > [noun] 1752 P. Miller (ed. 6) at Larix There are two Varieties of the Larch-tree: one of them is brought from North America, and is called the Black Larch; the other came from Archangel. 1838 H. Colman (Mass. Agric. Surv.) 116 The Larch..there called the German Larch, is the common or White Larch (Larix Communis), and resembles our Hackmetack or Black Larch (Larix Pendula) in the value of its timber and bark. 1885 C. Y. Michie (new ed.) i. 2 The Larix pendula, or black larch, is not so generally known in this country as it ought to be. 1917 13 342 Our commonest form is the American larch or tamarack, also called hackatack, black larch and red larch. 2007 (Nexis) 1 July g2 [The tamarack is] sometimes referred to as the Eastern larch, black larch, American larch, red larch or as biologists so fondly call it, Larix laricina. 1792 H. Toulmin 75 The soil is deep and black, and the natural growth, large walnuts, honey and black locust, poplar, elm, hickory, sugar tree, &c. 1822 J. Flint 229 The black locust is strong, heavy, not much subject to warping. 1861 2 Feb. 401/2 This is the black locust; mark the fruit hanging down in great black pods, like enormous scarlet-runners gone to seed. 1908 9 731 Black locust is a hard wood, durable in contact with the soil. 2005 C. Tudge ix. 186 Best known is R. pseudacacia, otherwise known as the false acacia or black locust, which was introduced to Europe in the 1700s and selected for the navy. the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > stalk vegetables > alexanders or horse-parsley 1548 W. Turner sig. G.iiij Smyrnium..maye be called in englishe blacke Louage. 1918 19 Oct. 155/2 The various competitors for sharing the name..Sea Lovage, or Scotch Parsley, Ligusticum scoticum; Black Lovage, or Alexanders, Smyrnium Olusatrum; [etc.]. 1936 E. S. Rohde viii. 98 The seeds when ripe are almost black and hence the popular name, Black Lovage. 1982 K. N. Sanecki (ed. 3) 17 Smyrnium olusatrum (Umbelliferae) Alisanders, black lovage, black pot herb... The mop heads of flowers resemble those of angelica so strongly that sometimes the two plants are confused. the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > [noun] > mangroves > Avicennia mangroves 1697 W. Dampier iii. 54 The black Mangrove is the largest Tree. 1762 I. at Roca Islands The east end of the island is overgrown with black mangrove trees. 1871 C. Kingsley II. xiii. 211 The common Rhizophoras, or black mangroves. 1880 5 58 I have never seen the black Mangrove (Avicennia tomentosa) grow to a greater size and height than along Jupiter Narrows. 1907 J. E. Rogers liii. 402 The Black Mangrove (Avicennia nitida, Jacq.) is an ever-blooming tree, with inconspicuous white flowers. 2010 D. Wells 206 Black mangroves grow in shallower waters farther inland than red mangroves. The bark of a mature black mangrove is black. 1751 12 145 Sugar-maple, Sugartree, Sugarwood, Black maple, Hard maple. 1836 Apr. 178/2 The black-maple flourishes in more southern and warmer climates, and is found on the banks of the Ohio and Mississippi. 1919 N. C. Brown 379 In Vermont the black maple is commonly considered superior to the sugar maple as a producer of high quality as well as large quantity of sap. 2007 341 117/2 Vegetation on ridgetops and hillslopes was dominated by deciduous trees including sugar maple (Acer saccharum), black maple (Acer nigrum), American beech (Fagus grandiflora). 1633 T. Johnson (new ed.) ii. cccxxii. 873 It is called by those of Alexandria and Marscilles Ialapium or Gelapum: and of those of Marseilles it is thought the blacke or male Mechoacan. 1687 tr. P. Barbette (ed. 4) 8 Medicines that purge Phlegm. The Roots of Asarum, Mechoacan white and black, Hellebore, Colocinth, Myrabolani, [etc.]. 1708 Apr. 215 Mr. Linder puts also in this rank Gumma-gutta, Euphorbium, Scammony.., the Plant named the Passion-flower, or black Mechoacan, commonly called Jalap. 1874 F. A. Flückiger & D. Hanbury i. 398 Thus jalap which at that period used to be imported cut into transverse slices, was termed from its darker colour, Black Mechoacan. 1911 J. U. Lloyd 52 Owing to this confusion between the two bulbs, one was called black mechoacan, while the other was known as white jalap. the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Compositae (composite plants) > [noun] > medicks 1756 J. Hill 312/2 (heading) Black-fruited Medick.] 1778 W. Hudson (rev. ed.) I. 331 Anglis, black Medick, or Nonesuch. 1864 M. Plues (ed. 2) 83 The Black Medick (Medicago lupulina)..grows abundantly among low herbage, and about the entrance of corn fields. 1948 G. D. H. Bell xii. 97 Quick-growing annuals occupy the place of a catch crop and can be used for folding or cutting green as with black medick and crimson clover. 2006 Apr. 18/1 Black medic..and clover thrive in nitrogen-poor soils. the world > plants > particular plants > moss > [noun] > Spanish moss 1709 J. Lawson 206 The black Moss that hangs on the Trees in Carolina..is sometimes above six Foot long. 1857 A. Gray v. 34 We have two or three flowering air-plants in the Southern States,..one of them is..the Long-Moss, or Black Moss, so called. 1904 38 99 Tillandsia usneoides, popularly called ‘long moss’, ‘black moss’, or ‘Spanish moss’, is the most widely distributed representative of the..family Bromeliaceae. the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Solanaceae (nightshade and allies) > [noun] 1607 E. Topsell 682 The blacke night-shade is present destruction vnto them. 1783 X. 8204/2 The common black nightshade grows wild in gardens, fields, and dunghills, in this country; and becoming a troublesome weed, is rarely cultivated. 1843 27 May 200/1 The Black Nightshade (Solanum nigrum) also springs up wherever a spot of ground is suffered to become waste. 2009 (Nexis) 13 Mar. (Gardening section) 12 The plant that is the subject of most inquiries to the National Poison Centre is the black nightshade; in particular, its berries. 1634 W. Wood i. v. 16 Of Oakes there be three kindes, the red Oake, white, and blacke.] 1659 in A. Perry & C. S. Brigham (1901) 377 Fortie fower acres of land..bounded..with a littel black Oake. 1709 J. Lawson 92 The next is Black Oak, which is esteem'd a durable Wood, under Water. 1882 II. 105 Some regular post-oak flats..covered with post oak and black jack, and a few black-oak. 2005 C. Fergus 193 Black Oak can be difficult to distinguish from northern red oak, with which it freely hybridizes. 1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens iii. lxii. 404 Dryopteris nigra, Blacke Oke Ferne. 1597 J. Gerard ii. cdliii. 975 This is called of divers of the later Herbarists Drypoteris nigra, or blacke Oke Ferne, of the likenes that it hath with Drypoteris, which we haue called in English Oke Ferne. 1710 W. Salmon I. cclx. 354/2 The third [kind of oak fern], or Black Oak Fern, is both Male and Female. c1200 in A. H. Smith (1967) I. 49 Blachateridding. 1450 in K. Cameron (1959) II. 435 Blakeoteacre. ?1523 J. Fitzherbert f. ix There be .iii. maner of otes, that is to say red otes, blake otes, and rough otes. ?1609 G. Chapman tr. Homer v. sig. L Two horse to euery one, That eat white Barley and blacke Otes, and do no good at all. 1744 W. Ellis Feb. xiii. 74 Nor does the Black-oat peel the Ground, so much as the White-oat does. 1880 A. J. Warden iv. xii. 182 In former times the bearded variety, commonly called black oats, was most largely sown, but they have been supplanted..by the common oats. 1910 F. L. Stevens & J. G. Hall 350 In California black oats are reputed to be less subject to rust than white oats. 2001 3 Feb. 17/2 They fight weeds by planting winter crops such as black oats. the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular fruit-tree or -plant > [noun] > trees or plants bearing stone fruit > olive tree > types of 1567 H. G. tr. G. Boccaccio iv. f. 19 The dry bough began to waxe greene, and within a while after to beare leaues, & not long after,..it was laden with blacke Olives. 1617 F. Moryson i. ii. ii. 106 I remember wee had blacke Oliues, which I had neuer seene before, and they were of a most pleasant taste. 1756 P. Browne ii. ii. 221 This tree is called the Black-Olive in Jamaica. 1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore I. 177/2 The Olive-bark, or Black Olive of Jamaica, produces wood which is valuable on account of its not being liable to the attacks of insects. 1939 27 Mar. 17/4 Serve with crisp toast and a salad of shredded celery and black olives. 2007 (Nexis) Nov. (Iconoclast section) 94 Other popular trees, such as the Black Olive, have low wind resistance. the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Umbelliferae (umbellifers) > [noun] > stone-parsley the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > non-British shrubs > [noun] > African 1562 W. Turner f. 139v Sison..is called of som black perselye. 1827 R. Sweet 190 Melanoselinum. H. Black-parsley. 1861 A. Pratt III. 3 A shrubby plant of this Order is now introduced into our gardens, called the Black Parsley. 1905 XV. at Thapsia T. decipiens is the black parsley of Madeira, with a thick umbrella, or palm-like, crown of finely-cut foliage three or four feet across. 2007 B. P. Lawton viii. 125 Melanoselinum decipiens (black parsley)... This biennial native of Madeira grows up to 8 feet..tall or more. 1666 J. Evelyn (ed. 2) 45 Black-pear of Worcester Surrein. 1755 H. Glasse (ed. 5) xxi Yellow late Pear, Black Pear, White Nutmeg late Pear. 1876 21 Dec. 556/3 The Black Pear of Worcester and Verulam are also often used for stewing and preserving. 2003 (Nexis) 6 Sept. 48 The Worcester Pearmain, as famous in its time as Worcester's own black pears. the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > conifers > [noun] > pines and allies 1683 J. Pettus Ess. Metallick Words at Pitch, in ii The white Pine yieldeth a white Gum, the Pitch or black Pine, a black Gum. 1788 T. Jefferson Let. 9 Aug. in (1999) 140 Pinus picea. Black pine or pitch pine. 1851 28 June 6 The timber in [the groves] is chiefly Kaikatea, (white pine), Mahi, (black pine), Remu, (red pine)..and Totara. 1900 A. H. Kent (new ed.) 383 Pinus Thunbergi... Japanese black pine. 1914 Mar. 15/2 The Austrian, or black pine of Europe does well on the prairies and is the best looking hardy pine. 1987 K. Rushforth (1990) 191/2 Japanese black pine..is more tolerant than most trees of sea spray. 2005 C. Tudge v. 119 The matai is better for timber—known to the timber trade as ‘black pine’, and to botanists as Prumnopitys taxifolia. the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > prunus trees or shrubs > [noun] the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > stone fruit > plum > other types of 1629 J. Parkinson iii. xiii. 576 The Barberry plum is a great early blacke plum. 1709 J. Lawson 106 The English large black Plum thrives well, as does the Cherry, being grafted thereon. 1837 W. Darlington (ed. 2) 287 Numerous varieties of this [sc. Prunus domestica] are cultivated, here; but, with the exception of the Damascene, or black plum, the crop of fruit is very uncertain. 1855 7 Dec. 34/2 For spokes, poles, &c.—cargillia Australis (black plum). 1902 13 Nov. 47/2 The ‘black plum’ of Lord Howe Island..is shown to be new and described under the name Cryptocarpa Gregsoni. 1922 (Ontario Dept. Agric.) 47 The Black Plum, Prunus nigra, which is a common arborescent bush, or small tree in northern Ontario, is a beautiful object in bloom. 1993 G. Williams & T. Evans 163/1 Yellow Persimmon or Black Plum Diospyros australis (Ebenaceae), is widely distributed in all rainforest types within the Manning. the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > poplars and allies > [noun] 1542 T. Elyot Populus, a tree callyd a popular, wherof one is callyd whyte poplar, whose stemme is long and playne.., the other is callyd blacke poplar, whyche hathe the barke rough, and fewer leaues than the whyte. 1597 W. Langham 504 The leaues & yong buds of blacke Poplar, stampt & applied, swageth the paine of the gout. 1670 J. Evelyn (ed. 2) xviii. §1. 80 The Black Poplar is frequently pollar'd when as big as ones arm, eight or nine foot from the ground. 1786 56 i. 456 They make corks of the parenchyma, the second bark of the black poplar. 1859 W. S. Coleman 76 Early in spring, when the branches of the Black Poplar are yet leafless, they are loaded with..a profusion of deep red catkins. 1952 P. Mann ii. 140 Black Poplar may reach a height of 100 feet. 1996 R. Mabey 134/1 Once you have an eye for them, it is hard to believe that mature black-poplars could ever have been mistaken for any of their characterless hybrids. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add.) f. 242 Of the commune [popy], som is whyte, and..sum is blak..blak popy is good..in medicynes. c1450 Med. Recipes (BL Add. 33996) in F. Heinrich (1896) 230 (MED) Tak burgenus of popeler..blak pope, & leues of mandrake, [etc.]. 1575 J. Banister sig. Oiii Opium, The iuyce of black Poppie dried, colde and drie in the fourth degree, stupefactiue, and mortificatiue. 1662 J. A. Comenius xii. 21/1 The head of a black poppy being wounded (gasht) distilleth Opium, which hath the power to make men sleep. 1742 C. Owen i. vii. 21 The Turks take Opium..without any Preparation, it being merely the Juice of black Poppy, dried in the Sun, without any purification. 1878 22 59 The plants I saw were not the black poppy, but variously coloured, red, purple, &c., and apparently very healthy plants. 1998 (Nexis) 21 Nov. Last year, out of 15 square metres of black poppies, there was not one seedhead left at the end of the season. 1629 J. Parkinson 463 For the blacke Reddish..the nature thereof is to runne vp to seede more speedily then the other. 1731 P. Miller I. at Raphanus Great round black Radish, commonly call'd The Spanish Radish. 1869 S. Robinson I. v. 492 For winter use, the Spanish, or Black radish, of a sort called Rose-colored China, is sown in the fall, and gathered before freezing. 1919 U. P. Hedrick 487 Round Black Radish. This is a turnip-rooted or round form of a black radish. 2000 Dec. 155/2 His carpaccio of venison with black radishes and lemon oil has a perfect balance of gaminess and tang. the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > berry > [noun] > raspberry > types of 1759 J. Bartram (1992) 452 We have four kinds of ye Rubus beside our common black rasberry. 1860 R. Hogg 262 Black Cap... This is the Rubus occidentalis, called Black Raspberry or Thimbleberry by the Americans. The fruit has a fine brisk acid flavour, and is much used in America for pies and puddings. 1930 Aug. 257/1 Fruit growers are interested in a wild variety of black raspberry which was found in the Oregon woods. 1998 (Nexis) 28 Oct. 3 Unlike their musical friends, their jam sessions typically result in the real thing—jars and jars of homemade black raspberry, strawberry and peach jams. 1528 T. Paynell tr. Arnaldus de Villa Nova in Joannes de Mediolano sig. Pij And speciallye suche as haue moche huske, as beanes and blacke ryce. Also the huske of them all norysheth worse than the pithe within. 1701 J. Collier tr. L. Moréri (ed. 2) II. at Onor Here is Pepper much heavier than the common, and black Rice that is far better than the white. 1837 5 97 Krishen Sall—this is a coarser description of rice, and rather dark. It is called the black rice, and sells about twenty-two seers for the rupee. 1923 (U.S. Dept. Agric.) 26 Black rice, much liked as a breakfast food by the Europeans in Chiengmai. When boiled it is deep purple and has a very fine nutty flavor. 2008 M. Simmons v. 165 Black rice can be short grain with a sticky texture or medium grain and not sticky. the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > non-British plants or herbs > [noun] > American or West Indian 1709 W. Byrd 13 Feb. (1941) 4 I sent him some blackroot..for the gripes. 1843 T. Talbot 8 Sept. (1931) 45 We traded some Kooyah or Black root,..a black, sticky, suspicious looking compound, of very disagreeable odor. 1851 C. Cist 211 Concentrated extracts of vegetable medical articles..such as..leptandrin or black-root extracts. 1917 July 6 Very heavy rain on June 27th, land nearly all flooded, corn very small, sugar beets have blackroot. 1933 J. K. Small 1400 Pterocaulon... Black-root... The thick black root gives this plant its common name. 1988 R. Mabey 112/3 Veronicastrum virginicum... Black root... This is a bitter root which when dried acts as a gentle laxative and liver tonic. 2003 G. Loebenstein & G. Thottappilly xvii. 428 ‘Black root’ is a lethal systemic necrosis that affects common bean cultivars. the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular tree or plant yielding useful gum or resin > rubber trees or plants > [noun] 1887 C. A. Moloney 90 The black-rubber vine, known to the natives as ‘Duah Kurrie’, grows in even greater profusion than the white, but its juice is not collected. the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > conifers > [noun] > other conifers 1864 35 Nageia (Podocarpus) spicata, Br. Black Rue of New Zealand. Tree 80 feet high; wood pale, soft, close and durable. 1871 27 May 5/1 The black rue pine (Podocarpus spicata) is another useful timber tree. the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > cultivated or ornamental trees and shrubs > [noun] > cordia 1750 G. Hughes vi. 159 (heading) The Black Sage-bush.] 1759 W. Hillary 313 If the Humours are carried to and affect the Head, bathing their Feet in a warm Decoction of Viburnium (called black Sage here) and Vesicatories must be applied. 1874 Dec. 524/2 The ridges between these dry washes are..covered more thickly with the aromatic bitter Indian wormwood, or black sage. 1917 1 Jan. 20/2 Salvia Mellifera—Black Sage.., found as far north as San Francisco, southward and southern California. 1985 J. Carew in S. Brown & J. Wickham (1999) 102 A pair of bluesakees were playing mating games in a low thicket of black sage and ants bush. 2001 D. Weintraub 78 On a sandy, rocky track cross a hillside of coastal scrub, mostly black sage. 1872 (U.S. Navy Dept.) 120 The black sapote is a delicious fruit, resembles the apricot, except that its skin is of a rusty color, and the central seed is very large and black. 1920 W. Popenoe xi. 370 In the Mexican lowlands the black sapote, if grown on deep, rich, and moist soil, becomes a large and handsome tree. 2007 (Nexis) 10 Mar. 13 What sets the black sapote apart from any other fruit I know is its light but distinct chocolate flavor. the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Compositae (composite plants) > [noun] > medicks 1763 J. Mills III. 343 The smaller kind of this, commonly called none-such, or black-seed, is the Trifolium luteum, lupulinum, minimum. 1863 R. C. A. Prior 24 Black-seed, the Nonesuch, from its black head of legumes. 1922 28 71 Perhaps..‘black nonesuch’ and ‘black grass’ may refer to its disreputable qualities though ‘black-seed’ seems to put the emphasis elsewhere. 1698 G. Thomas 19 There grows also in great plenty the Black Snake-Root, (fam'd for its sometimes preserving, but often curing the Plague). 1751 J. Hill xxxv. 611 Snakeroot is frequently..adulterated with the Roots of the Plant call'd Virginian Asarum or black Snakeroot, but this is easily discovered, the Roots of that Plant being black. 1755 S. Johnson at Ducksfoot Black snakeroot, or Mayapple. 1858 R. Hogg 380 Sanicula marilandica, called in the United States Black Snakeroot. 1900 N. Blanchan 224 The Sanicle or Black Snakeroot..lifts spreading, two to four rayed umbels of insignificant-looking but interesting greenish-white florets. 2002 T. Boland et al. (rev. ed.) 110/1 For handsome foliage and lofty flowers, black snakeroot, Cimicifuga racemosa, is a dramatic choice. the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > pulses or plants producing pulses > [noun] > bean > soya bean the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > pulse > [noun] > bean > soya bean 1895 (Agric. Soc. Japan) i. 5 Glysine hispida, Moench, Black soy-bean..; an annual leguminous plant cultivated in ordinary dry land... The beans have a black skin. 1976 16 Sept. d8/4 The review will also have a colonial garden in which flax, open pollinated corn and black soybeans grown in the early days of America have been planted. 2004 R. Rosedale & C. Colman vi. 90 Black soybeans are a type of soybean that is especially high in fiber and protein. 2008 27 Oct. 54/2 We had high hopes for kuromame—a black soybean-flavored candy—but nobody liked it. 1777 S. Robson 286 Asplenium Trichomanes... Black Spleenwort. English black Maidenhair. Leaves pinnate... On moist rocks and old walls. 1840 E. Newman (1844) 255 The Black Spleenwort..occurs on rocks as a native habitat. 1901 17 271 In the moist crevices a profusion of Aspenium trichomanes, the black spleenwort. Nowhere have I seen more beautiful forms of this elegant fern. 1995 5 Dec. i. 12/7 The black spleenwort (Asplenium adiantum-nigrum)..gets its name from the black stalks that can often be as long as the leafy fronds. the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > conifers > [noun] > spruces 1741 P. Collinson Let. 25 Feb. in J. Bartram (1992) 151 Look out sharp for the Balm of Gilead Firs, & Black, Red & White Spruce as Mr. Dudley Calls them. 1838 J. C. Loudon IV. cxiii. 2313 The branches spread more in a horizontal than in a drooping direction, like those of the Norway spruce; and, consequently, the black spruce..has not the gloomy aspect of the European tree. 1900 H. L. Keeler 472 The Black Spruce is essentially a Canadian tree growing abundantly in the Labrador peninsula and forming great forests in Manitoba. 2003 D. Bennet & T. Tiner 284/1 Black spruce can make-do-with-less better than all the trees which crowd it out in good soils. 1831 J. Holbrook et al. I. 203 Black Sugar Maple. A tree somewhat resembling the sugar maple..grows in Virginia. 1897 Dec. 233/1 The Acer nigrum, or Black Sugar Maple, has the leaves of a dark green color on both sides. 2006 E. Small (ed. 2) 89 This distinctive form of sugar maple is known as black maple and black sugar maple, and is often recognized as a separate species. the world > plants > particular plants > algae > seaweed > [noun] > fucus seaweeds > bladder-wrack and allies 1796 J. Sinclair XVII. 233* The sea-oak (Fucus vesiculosus, Lin.), which we denominate black tang. 1874 6 64 Sea wrack (F. vesiculosus), known by the name of ‘sea oak’, or ‘black tang’, is found a little above low-water mark. 1978 A. Fenton viii. 64 The types of seaweed preferred for kelp were the wracks, Fucus and Ascophyllum, known by such names as, for example, yellow, black and prickly tang. 1702 J. K. tr. F. Massialot 202 The Breasts of the Partridges, or other Fowls, must be cover'd with Slices of black Truffles, and all dispos'd of in good order. 1838 15 Dec. 8/2 (advt.) The nobility and gentry are respectfully informed, that a weekly supply of the fresh Black Truffle is received at Morel's. 1917 J. Y. Norton ii. 305 The black truffle has the highest repute and its consumption is enormous. 2007 G. Brennan iii. 99 The object of their desire is the black truffle... It looks like a lump of coal or a large dog's nose, dark and rough to the touch. 1979 G. Kibby 23 Many other edible fungi can also be recommended among which the best are..the Black Trumpets, or Horn of Plenty, Craterellus cornucopioides. 1996 26 June 18/2 Tasty mushrooms tend to be given romantic names, such as chanterelles, summer boletes, black trumpets and hens of the woods. 2008 D. Waltuck & A. Friedman 177 Black trumpets are thought of as a poor man's truffle in Europe, but I've always liked their earthy, nutty flavor. the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > edible nuts or nut-trees > [noun] > walnut > walnut-tree > types of 1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus iii. 137 Such slippers as are accounted most fine and costly are made of blacke and white mulberie-tree, of blacke walnut-tree, and of the Iujubatree. 1612 R. Johnson sig. B3 They cut downe wood for wanscot, blacke walnut tree, Spruce, Cedar & Deale. 1754 M. Catesby & G. Edwards (rev. ed.) I. 67 The Black Walnut. Most parts of the Northern Continent of America, abound with these Trees, particularly Virginia and Maryland. 1857 A. Gray (1866) 153 Heart-wood..is generally of a different color,..brown in Black-Walnut, black in Ebony, etc. 1910 W. L. Jepson 195 The California Black Walnut and Eastern Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) are often grown near each other in cultivation, especially as street trees. 1942 E. Ferber (new ed.) i. 5 They say the tube and the loo and the washstand are all boxed in black walnut. 2002 19 Dec. 82/2 Summer visitors sit under a magnificent black walnut, Juglans nigra, admirable as a shade-caster. the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > acacia trees > [noun] 1802 D. Collins II. ix. 88 A similar timber was called the Black Wattle. 1863 3 5 The gum of the black wattle (Acacia mollissima, Willd.)..is very inferior to it [sc. that of the silver wattle]. 1955 P. White 206 Sometimes in stormy weather gulls came..and glided and dipped above the black wattles. 2006 S. Unwin (rev. ed.) 26 Another significant threat comes from the steady advance of invasive alien plants, such as the Australian black wattle (Acacia mearnsii). the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > willow and allies > [noun] > other types of willow 1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny I. xvi. xxxvii. 485 In Asia, they make account of three sorts of Willows: the blacke, which they employ to wind and bind withall, so tough and pliant it is: the white..: as for the third, it is the shortest of all other, and they call it Helix, or Helice.] 1670 J. Evelyn (ed. 2) xx. 90 The black Willow is Planted of stakes of three years growth. 1794 J. Hodskinson 29 In gaps and decayed places [in hedges],..where there is not a sufficency of live stuff for stakes and plashers, make use of black willow or sallow stakes. 1841 W. A. Leighton 485 Salix Pentandra, Linn. Sweet Bay-leaved Willow... Much sought after by the Irish harvestmen, who call it ‘the black willow’, and cut it for their shillelahs. 1980 No. 89. 23/1 For basket-weaving the ‘black-willow’ was preferred. 2002 C. Fergus 59 Ragged, rugged black willow (Salix nigra) slouches on the banks of streams in farming country. 1707 J. Mortimer (Monthly Kal., July) Fruits in prime and yet lasting... Pears... Black Worcester (baking). 1859 Sept. 419 The most common and hardy old pear trees we see around us, are the old ‘Iron’, or ‘Black Worcester’ variety. 1908 21 Nov. 361 The Black Worcester Pear is one of the best that can be planted for forming a standard tree. 2008 12 Sept. 12/7 Rare fruit varieties under threat include: the Arlingham Schoolboy apple, the black Worcester pear..and the Denbigh plum. the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > [noun] > comfrey 1597 J. Gerard ii. 661 It is called..in English Comfrey..of some Knit backe, and Blackwoort. 1611 R. Cotgrave at Asne Oreille d'asne, th' hearbe Comfrey, knit-backe, knit-wort, blacke-wort. a1760 C. Alston (1770) I. xlv. 526 Comfrey.., Bone-set, Blackwort.—This has a larger branched and wrinkled root, of a black colour on the outside, white within. 1837 B. H. Barton & T. Castle I. 212 In rural dialects it has also the names of Consound, Knit-back, Bone-set, and Black-wort. 2006 S. Foster & R. Johnson (2008) 115/1 Comfrey roots have a black exterior and fleshy whitish interior that exudes a slimy, mucilaginous juice (hence the common names ‘blackwort’ and ‘slippery root’). C2. Compounds of the noun. a. Instrumental (esp. in sense B. 2). Some of the following could be construed as parasynthetic compounds of the adjective: compare Compounds 1a.1458 Ipswich Probate Registry Bk. ii. f. 5, in at Blak My Black lynnyd gownd. 1784 July 41/2 He was buried in the Isle of Enlli..where there was a college of Black Cowled Monks. 1846 J. H. Ingraham 17 The engine was set in motion—our black cloaked passenger took the wheel, which at his touch, became a wheel of fire. 1977 ‘J. le Carré’ iii. xvi. 362 Jerry was admitted to the presence of a tiny, very senior black-suited Cambodian sent by Phnom Penh to handle noisome correspondents. 2004 A. Greig (2005) 122 Hoodie craws sat on fenceposts by the sea like black-cloaked sinister ministers. (b) the world > matter > colour > named colours > black or blackness > [adjective] > having black edge 1774 111 On a white marble, black bordered, is this inscription. 1839 C. Dickens i. 2 A black-bordered letter to inform him how his uncle..was dead. 1998 R. Stone i. 5 Black-bordered photographs of young martyrs, slain far away in the Azerbaijani war. 1596 W. Warner (rev. ed.) x. lvi. 250 The black-clad Scaffold. a1672 A. Bradstreet (1678) 223 I heard the merry grashopper then sing, The black clad Cricket, bear a second part. 1870 W. Morris I. i. 375 Her friends black-clad and moving mournfully. 1942 L. Brackett in Feb. 46/2 He had a needle gun in his hand, and six or seven black-clad policemen just behind him. 2006 16 Mar. 141/1 Those black-clad misfits in '80s teen movies. the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > [adjective] > wearing specific coloured clothing 1800 J. Rennell v. 87 Tamerlane found in the mountains of Kawuck..a tribe who are named by his historian Sherefeddin, Sia-poshians, or black clothed. 1873 W. Cory (1897) 322 Our parson bends his black-clothed back in the sun. 1998 G. Lynds (1999) iii. 33 The black-clothed thief expertly swiveled and fired into the forehead of the driver. the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > [adjective] > covered > with or as with (specific) textile 1845 A. Marsh 19/1 The teams of black-draped horses, tossing their plumes, with necks gravely arched, as if aware of the solemn part they had to play. 1898 28 May 10/1 The bowed, black-draped figure passing sadly from the shadows in the Abbey. 1904 8 Dec. 3/2 The black-draped scaffold at Whitehall. 2002 S. Mackey x. 349 Black-draped women begging for water in southern Iraq raised little sympathy in the United States. the world > matter > colour > named colours > black or blackness > [adjective] > having black edge 1706 J. Petiver 85 Yellow black edged Luzon Butterfly. 1865 C. M. Yonge I. i. 5 Hurry to the drawing-room, and tear open the black-edged letter. 2002 J. Maxwell i. v. 37 Chris..looked up to discover an ominous sky through the big windows, with black-edged clouds rolling in off the ocean. 1808 Oct. 57 Alas! we have received no black-margined summons to attend his funeral. 2006 (Nexis) 6 Apr. 22 She touches a tapestry of plants on the shelves—some with furrowed and ridged leaves, shiny, smooth, olive or blue-green,..curled, black-margined, velvety. the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > [adjective] > wearing specific coloured clothing the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > [adjective] > wearing clothing for body (and limbs) > wearing loose clothing > wearing a robe or gown > of specific kind > types of 1673 W. Penn vii. 109 For this blessed Testimony we must be thus abused, defamed, and set at nought by the Black-robed-Rabbies of this World. 1786 H. Lee I. lxii. 212 How the black robed gentry of Doctors Commons rave at the precedent. 1863 M. L. Whately iv. 23 Her black-robed female relatives support her on each side. 1997 W. Dalrymple (1998) v. 318 A hover of black-robed archbishops and metropolitans conducted me into a tall, vaulted reception room. the world > matter > colour > named colours > black or blackness > [adjective] > having black edge 1704 Nat. Hist. vi, in L. Wafer (ed. 2) 216 The Black-rimm'd Butterfly. 1922 J. Joyce ii. vii. [Aeolus] 125 Staring through his blackrimmed spectacles. 2003 1 Sept. 5/5 He wears black-rimmed metal glasses and has a Manchester accent. 1773 J. Robertson (rev. ed.) 8 Oh, what a black-stain'd marble heart. 1888 R. Kipling (1899) II. iii. 99 The black-stained staircase that leads to an upper chamber. 1939 C. W. Towne 114 Butte prospectors had located quartz on a black-stained reef. 2001 2/2 Decoration comes in the form of ‘waisted’ front legs and black-stained architectural uprights set in threes into the back. 1959 8 Aug. 4/6 The UANM head explained his group's ‘Buy Black’ policy,..which entails buying first from black owned business. 1965 July 152/2 A large number of Negro staff members..say the organization must be ‘black-led, black-controlled, and black-dominated’. 1977 3 Nov. 11/2 Black-led churches are the only institutions offering unrestricted leadership possibilities to black people. 1986 P. Benson Pref. p. xi South Africa's first black-written, black-edited, black-run literary and artistic review, The Classic. 1994 6 Oct. a22/1 Compton long has boasted of being the largest black-run city west of the Mississippi. 2000 28 Jan. 1/2 The Competition Tribunal has approved the purchase of 100% of black-owned oil company Zenex's shares by SA oil company Engen. b. Objective in sense B. 1. ?1881 (?1885) 58 Dye, Paint manufacture... Black Maker. 1921 (1927) §158 Black maker, a colour mixer..preparing black pigments or paints from charcoal, graphite, calcined ivory or horn, carbon black, drop black, etc. 1995 (Nexis) 16 Jan. 13 Black makers were plagued by growing raw material prices and a tight supply in 1994. c. 1895 1 166 Is it not just the social repugnance to black-white marriages? 1935 4 309 Many are the non-scientific solutions for the problem of black–white race relations. 1969 34 891/2 The problematic power disparities which are general concomitants of such black-white interaction. 2001 H. Gilbert 14/1 Such a romanticised vision is seen to simplify post-contact history into a reductive black-white dichotomy, an inadequate formulation for understanding the complexities of contemporary South Africa. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022). blackv. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: black adj. Etymology: < black adj. Compare blacken v., and also bleck v., bletch v.On form variation see discussion at black adj. and n. As in the case of the adjective, the forms of the verb show some overlap with those of blake v., and some examples (as e.g. quots. a1500 at sense 1, c1440 at sense 2a) may instead show that word. the world > matter > colour > named colours > black or blackness > making or becoming black > become black [verb (intransitive)] c1225 (?c1200) (Bodl.) l. 447 (MED) [Iuliene] bond bihinden his rug ba twa his honden, þet him wrong euch neil ant blakede of þe blode. c1380 (1879) l. 2388 (MED) Wanne þe nyȝt gynt blake. a1400 (a1325) (Vesp.) l. 24414 (MED) Þe aier [a1400 Fairf. wedder] gun durken and to blak. tr. Palladius (Duke Humfrey) (1896) iii. 601 (MED) When thayre sedys blake [L. cum niger color seminis fuerit], That thay rype beth of that a signe is take. c1440 (?a1400) (1930) l. 688 Now sone..sall wee see Whose browes schall blakke. a1500 (a1460) (1994) I. xiii. 141 So my browes blakys, To the dowore wyll I wyn. 1866 W. Gregor (Philol. Soc.) 217 Black, to grow black. 2. the world > matter > colour > named colours > black or blackness > making or becoming black > make black [verb (transitive)] c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham (1902) 148 Þe wyte hyt þe vayrer makeþ, And [hym] selue more hyt blakeþ. c1405 (c1375) G. Chaucer (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 133 Til þt his flessh was for the venym blaked. c1440 (?a1400) (1930) l. 1056 (MED) Þare he and þe sowdan sall mete, His browes to blake [rhyme take]. 1532–3 i. §6 Every coriar shall well and sufficiently corie and blacke the said Lether tanned. 1569 T. Blague 102 I dare not least my wife taunt me for blacking my shirt. 1639 G. Plattes xi. 49 The Tiffany will be a little blacked. 1676 J. Moxon 12 By Redding or Blacking the Backside of your Paper. 1749 B. Franklin (1751) 32 The paper will be blacked by the smoke. 1781 J. Byng Diary 15 June in (1934) I. 19 Those men here who are not black'd by coals and furnaces are redded by the iron ore. 1823 J. Badcock 49 Crown-glass, blacked on one side. 1842 Ld. Tennyson St. Simeon Stylites in (new ed.) II. 56 I lay..Black'd with thy branding thunder. 1915 ‘B. M. Bower’ xii. 147 ‘I'm glad you are going to double in that ride down the bluff, anyway,’ Muriel declared, while she blacked Jean's brows and put shadow around her eyes. 1963 L. Meynell ii.20 She had very large eyes and used to black her eyelashes. 2008 K. G. Seidel xiii. 235 I touched my finger to my eye. It came back blacked with mascara. the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > cleaning shoes > clean shoes [verb (transitive)] > clean shoes with blacking 1568 T. North tr. A. de Guevara (rev. ed.) iv. i. f. 112 O vnhappy courtier, that spendith the most parte of his myserable life, in..varnishing his sword & dagger, blacking his bootes. 1631 (ed. 7) III. Contin. 43/1 Causing his shooes to be blacked. 1667 A. Wood (1892) II. 102 To Rich for blacking my russet shoes. 1703 in A. W. C. Hallen (1894) 321 To Jon Patersones man to drink for blaiking my bruised leather shoes. 1712 J. Browne tr. P. Pomet et al. I. viii. §56. 212/1 They melt black Pitch, and afterwards dip a Wick of Flax, Hemp, or the like, in it, which we sell by the Name of Links, and is us'd sometimes to black Shoes withal. 1785 F. Grose at Black guard A term said to be derived from a number of dirty tattered and roguish boys, who attended at the horse guards..St. James's park, to black the boots and shoes of the soldiers. 1812 H. Smith & J. Smith 8 My uncle's porter, Samuel Hughes, Came in at six to black the shoes. 1896 W. Cather in Jan. 69/2 Mary was on her knees, blacking the stove. 1907 J. Conrad i. 11 Stevie was put to help wash the dishes..and to black the boots of the gentlemen patronising the Belgravian mansion. 1957 J. Agee iii. xvii. 24 She cleaned their nails and combed and brushed their hair and..blacked their shoes. 1980 W. Valgardson viii. 83 While he waited for his uncle to appear, Eric rubbed down the stove with steel wool and blacked it. 2009 E. Rutherfurd 601 When he blacked the boots of the rich businessmen by day, they were friendly enough. society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > the staging of a theatrical production > stage [verb (intransitive)] > make up 1579 T. North tr. Plutarch 529 Sixteene of them in consort together, that one night blacked their faces all with soote, &..set vpon this Romane Captaine. 1598 in S. Ree (1908) II. 69 [They] haid claythis dammaskit about thame and thair faces blaikit. a1648 Ld. Herbert (1649) 177 Here then was proposd how he might escape; which was at last resolv'd, by changing cloathes with a Negro..and blacking his face with Cole-dust. 1699 B. E. at Gypsies A Counterfeit Brood of wandering Rogues and Wenches..Disguising themselves with Blacking their Faces and Bodies, and wearing an Antick Dress. 1782 F. Burney I. ii. iii. 202 Mr. Briggs had saved himself any actual mask, by merely blacking his face with soot. 1845 J. Kinnard in Oct. 332 A ‘buckra gemman’ of great imitative powers, who accordingly learned their poetry, music and dancing, blacked his face, and made his fortune by giving to the world his counterfeit presentment of the American national opera. 1863 H. Cullwick 14 Oct. (1984) 138 Massa told me to black my face like it was that night I clean'd after the coalmen. 1938 X. Herbert 36 Once a man went combo he could never again look with pleasure on a white woman unless he blacked her face. 1999 (Nexis) 5 Jan. 14 By the 1930s Plough Jagging in Alkborough had shrunk to being a group of youths blacking their faces, knocking on doors and begging. the world > matter > colour > named colours > black or blackness > black [verb (transitive)] > to drape or cover with 1664 J. Lamont 25 Nov. (1830) 174 The isle being blacked—with a number of dependants on the pall of black velvet. the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > injure [verb (intransitive)] > bruise 1811 Oct. 47/1 His daddles he used with such skill and dexterity, Winning each mill, Sirs, and blacking each eye. 1859 Jan. 249/2 You don't regard him with favorable eyes; especially since he blacked yours, Will! 1902 E. Nesbit viii. 203 The baker's boy blacked his other eye. 1950 G. Greene ii. 26 I'd rather make you look the fool you are than black your bloody eye. 2009 (Nexis) 26 Oct. He blacked her eyes, cracked her teeth, beat her 'til she had bruises all over her. 3. the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disrepute > damage to reputation > sullying or staining of reputation > stain or sully [verb (transitive)] ?c1425 T. Hoccleve Jonathas (Durh.) l. 75 in (1970) i. 218 The wantonnesse Of lyf of many a womman þat is nakid Of honestee and with deshonour blakid. 1605 E. Sandys sig. I 2v These men in blacking the lives and actions of the reformers, have partly devised matter of..notorious vntruth. 1640 J. Fletcher & J. Shirley ii. sig. E2v Thy other sinnes which blacke thy soule. 1683 D. A. 16 To black his repute. 1841 T. Hood Tale of Trumpet iii, in Sept. 157 Not that elegant ladies..ever detract, Or lend a brush when a friend is black'd. 1876 G. B. Joring xix. 283 If you are going to black yourself for the sake of blacking him, it seems to me you'll come out at the little end of the horn. 1909 A. E. Barr iv. 80 There have been hours, Annie, when I would have liked well to have horsewhipped the dastard who blacked our name. 1984 23 June 48/1 Mr Percy blacked his name with the Jewish-American lobbies when he supported the sale of Awacs reconnaissance aircraft to Saudi Arabia. 2000 21 131 Even now I've blacked my name they still send me leaflets about credit cards. society > occupation and work > working > labour relations > participate in labour relations [verb (transitive)] > summon (workers) to strike > break (strike) > label as strike-breaker 1958 20 Jan. 5/4 The firm's 1,500 employees are ‘blacking’ work in the fettling shop. 1961 11 Dec. 11/6 (heading) Equity ‘blacks’ TV programme. 1983 July 126/3 Moby tried for a fresh start: ‘Why are all trucks blacked from cartin' to th' cannery?’ 1990 C. Jenkins iv. 56 We asked that Tavistock not enter into a dispute situation, but it did and we subsequently blacked them for years because we thought that their attitude had not been responsible. the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > stealing animals > [verb (intransitive)] > poach 1789 G. White 17 As soon as they began blacking, they [sc. the deer] were reduced to about fifty head. society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > painting and drawing > drawing > draw [verb (transitive)] > in specific manner 1840 R. Browning iv. 374 The grim, twynecked eagle, coarsely blacked With ochre on the naked wall. 1922 Nov. 17/1 All studies of elevation put before him..should have all the openings—doors and windows—blacked in solid with ink. 1991 S. Black (film script) 82 (stage direct.) She has blacked out the top sheet with graphite, leaving an impression of the address Jimmy wrote. society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > illegal payment or exaction > [verb (transitive)] > blackmail 1928 E. Wallace xxx. 244 If I ‘blacked’ you after this I should be cutting my own throat. 1964 G. Sims xxiii. 124 He..took naughty photos of them and then blacked them. Phrasal verbs to black out the mind > mental capacity > memory > effacement, obliteration > efface, obliterate [verb (transitive)] > by covering with liquid 1850 R. Browning viii. 95 If He blacked out in a blot My brief life's pleasantness. 1856 Gen. Gordon 18 Nov. (1884) 121 The Russian censor who blacks out all matter that is displeasing to the Government. 1905 2 Mar. 10/2 A memorial..urging that betting news should be ‘blacked out’ from the newspapers in the libraries... Ultimately the Committee decided to ‘black-out’ horse-racing news. 1993 19 Sept. iv. 16/1 When documents are declassified, key passages are often blacked out, on the pretext of protecting sources and methods. 2004 12 Aug. 40/1 Receiving enormous amounts of cash from a notorious empresario , or rich businessman, whose face was blacked out on the film. the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > make dark [verb (transitive)] > quench (light) the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > become dark [verb (intransitive)] > go out or be extinguished 1913 L. J. Vance xxv. 246 Every light in the house other than the red ‘exit’ lamps was ‘blacked out’. 1934 15 Aug. 4/6 There will be a burst of music, and the lights will ‘black out’. This will form the prelude to the pageant. 1939 12 Sept. 5/3 It took about three visits from courteous wardens before my house was properly blacked out. 1940 377 In many countries the lamps of science were dimmed, and in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Finland they were blacked out. 1965 in M. McLuhan & Q. Fiore (1967) 149 The largest power failure in history blacked out nearly all of New York City. 1986 J. Bauman (1991) iii. 39 All windows were thoroughly blacked out, so that after the early sunset of winter the streets were pitch dark. 2001 4 Feb. 9/4 Space weather also can blow out industrial power grids. (In 1989, it blacked out all of Quebec for several hours.) the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > physical insensibility > unconsciousness > lose consciousness [verb (intransitive)] > faint or swoon 1925 J. Dos Passos ii. vii. 254 Everything was blacking out. She grabbed at two bright buttons on the policeman's coat and fainted.] 1935 May 706/2 One might hear a test pilot say: ‘Well, I guess I'd better tape myself up to try out that new job. I don't want to black out.’ 1940 196 449/1 The blood in his head seeks to fly outwards, and..runs towards his legs and drains from behind his eyes, so that he becomes temporarily blind, or ‘blacks out’. 1958 P. Mortimer vii. 36 The child, dizzy with speed, was blacking out. 1970 E. Kübler-Ross (1973) x. 178 I got real sick one day and fell down the stairs and felt real weak and was blacking out. 1989 N. Cave ii. ii. 108 Ah went unner, blacked out, and when ah awoke ah could smell the piss all over me. 2002 17 Aug. 15/7 Then a guy in the front row blacked out. the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > injure [verb (transitive)] > injure by striking > bruise 1821 A. N. Royall Let. 10 July in (1969) xlv. 228 Not content with blacking up his eyes, they overturned his tin-cart, and scattered his tins to the four winds. 1830 R. Sharp 9 Jan. (1997) 242 Some of the Heroes of So. Cave true to their breeding, abused him a good deal. But he blacked up Cottam's face in a superior manner. 1893 W. C. Russell 12 Another waterman..whipped off his coat like lightning, and in five minutes blacked up both his opponent's eyes. 1922 P. K. Fitzhugh v. 26 The first time I see yer on Main Street I'll black up both yer eyes fer yer, d'yer see? 1959 V. S. Naipaul x. 111 Black up their eye and bruise up their knee And then they love you eternally. 2007 L. Goodison 219 Every time he black-up my eye, he would swear up and down how he would never hit me again. 2. Originally U.S.society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > the staging of a theatrical production > stage [verb (transitive)] > make up 1877 W. R. Alger I. 109 He blacked himself up and rigged his costume quite to his content. 1925 J. H. Taber xiii. 135 We lined up about dusk, blacked up our faces, and then the lieutenant tells all about what kind of a patrol it is. 1949 J. Thurber 6 Apr. (2002) 458 It goes on to tell how this lady blacked me up and dressed me in women's clothes, and the ending is at once comical and sad. 1988 M. Warner xxi. 226 Her plump feet were bare and blacked up with shoe polish. 2008 R. R. Kingsbury 42 On the night of the dry run the platoon blacked up our faces to blend well with the jet-black night. society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > the staging of a theatrical production > stage [verb (intransitive)] > make up 1890 B. Hall 197 They barely had time to get back to the theater to black up for the evening performance. 1934 P. G. Wodehouse xv. 212 Old Glossop isn't blacking up? 1987 E. Walker i. xvii. 181 Jake pulled on dark trousers and a dark poloneck jumper... ‘We ought to black up.’ 1999 27 Aug. i. 26/4 It was such an accepted convention that when the great ‘coloured’ vaudevillian Bert Williams appeared in the world-famous Ziegfeld Follies, even he blacked up—because the producer thought Williams's skin was too light. Compounds the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > cleaning shoes > [noun] > one who 1725 22 May A Carpenter at the New Admiralty Office, having kill'd a Black-Shoe Boy, is fled. 1752 H. Fielding 29 Aug. f. 1v A Rebuke given by a Blackshoe Boy to another. 1845 N. W. Wraxall (new ed.) Add. 506 Very strange, surely, in a black-shoe-boy, for such he was. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022). <  adj.n.eOE v.c1225 |
