† black jackn.1
Originally Scottish. Obsolete.
A black leather jerkin. See jack n.1
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > jerkin > types of
black jacka1522
jub1611
sailor top1913
tabard1923
a1522 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) viii. Prol. 99 Sum iarris with a ied staf to iag throu blak iakkis.
1820 W. Scott Monastery I. ix*. 283 With their glittering steel caps, and their black-jacks.
1841 Life & Times Dick Whittington ii. iii. 66 The speaker was a powerful-looking man, dressed, as were all the watchmen of the period, in a black-jack, or jerkin of proof.
1868 Dublin Univ. Mag. Nov. 526/1 His Irishman consisted of a black jack intended for the body,..and holding upright a tremendous-looking battle-axe.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
black jackn.2
/ˈblak dʒak/, U.S. /ˈblæk ˌdʒæk/ 1. A large, tar-coated leather jug for beer. Cf. black bowl n. at black adj. and n. Compounds 1e(a). Now historical.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > receptacle or container > vessel > flask, flagon, or bottle > [noun] > leather
bossc1375
buffyllec1425
black jackc1540
skina1549
budget1579
court-jack1631
pigskin1812
olpe1883
c1540 Inventorye of R. Croweley in Hereford Munic. MSS (transcript) (O.E.D. Archive) I. ii. 177 Itm a Blake Jacke & ij erthen Cuppes.
1591 ‘A. Foulweather’ Wonderfull Astrol. Prognostication 24 Cuppes, cannes, pots, glasses, and black iacks.
1619 Pasquils Palinodia sig. D4 The great black Iack well fild with Sack.
1645 J. Milton Colasterion 19 Hee runns to the black jack, fills his flagon, spreds the table, and servs up dinner.
1706 Observator 1–5 June A Black-Jack of October, two or three Pint Glasses.
1784 Parker's Gen. Advertiser 27 May The black-jack..filled, perhaps, with no better liquor than chandlers small-beer.
1822 W. Scott Fortunes of Nigel II. xi. 275 Ale, which he brought in a large leathern tankard, or black jack.
1854 C. M. Yonge Heartsease I. ii. 31 She was enchanted with St. Cross..in raptures at the black jacks, dole of bread and beer.
1921 O. Baker Black Jacks & Leather Bottells iii. 67 The black jack was..a kind of leathern pitcher or jug, always lined with pitch or metal.
1965 Harper's Bazaar 49 Black Jack jugs in two sizes, £4 7s. 6d. and 6 gns. (waterproof leather).
2003 M. Hook & A. MacGregor Eng. under Stuarts (Ashmolean Museum) 35/1 (caption) Blackjack or leather jug blazoned with the arms of the Joiners' Company of Oxford and dated 1712.
2. Mining. The mineral sphalerite or blende.
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the world > the earth > minerals > ore > [noun] > metal ore > zinc ore
calaminaris1577
calamine1601
calmy1658
calaminarya1661
mock ore1681
blende1683
lapis calaminaris1696
mock-leada1728
black jack1728
cadmia1753
cadmy1756
calamy1756
calmey1756
calamine stone1761
red zinc ore1781
zinc spar1796
zinc-blende1842
smithsonite1849
zincite1854
adamite1866
adamine1869
the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > sulphides and related minerals > [noun] > sphalenite group > zinc sulphide
mock ore1681
blende1683
mock-leada1728
black jack1728
zinc-blende1842
sphalerite1868
wurtzite1868
1728 J. Woodward Catal. Addit. Eng. Native Fossils 82 Mock-Lead, or Blend, found in small Quantities in the Veins of Lead, at Eskergallid, in Montgomeryshire... They call it black Jack.
1812 H. Davy Elements Chem. Philos. 373 Zinc is procured..from blende or black-jack.
1907 Proc. Old Bailey 18 Mar. 764 ‘Black Jack’ is a miner's term for zinc ore which is found with lead. They frequently occur in the same lode in close proximity. Mineralogists call it zinc blend.
1940 G. H. J. Adlam & L. S. Price Higher School Certificate Inorg. Chem. (ed. 2) xxxi. 249 Zinc blende..is usually coloured black or brown by iron, and is known to miners as ‘black Jack’.
1957 H. S. Zim & P. R. Shaffer Rocks & Minerals 46 Sphalerite, zincblende, or blackjack (ZnS) is the primary mineral.
2002 L. Smart & M. Gagan Third Dimension i. iv. 55 (caption) Crystals of sphalerite (Black Jack).
3. North American. More fully black jack oak. Any of several shrubby North American oaks; esp. Quercus marilandica, of central and south-eastern areas, which has rough, dark grey bark and is found on poor soils, often as a pioneer species. Also: the wood of any of these trees.
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > oak and allies > [noun] > other oaks
red oakOE
cerre-tree1577
gall-tree1597
robur1601
kermes1605
live oak1610
white oak1610
royal oak1616
swamp-oak1683
grey oak1697
rock oak1699
chestnut oak1703
water oak1709
Spanish oak1716
turkey-oak1717
willow oak1717
iron oak1724
maiden oak1725
scarlet oak1738
black jack1765
post oak1775
durmast1791
mountain chestnut oak1801
quercitron oak1803
laurel oak1810
mossy-cup oak1810
rock chestnut oak1810
pin oak1812
overcup oak1814
overcup white oak1814
bur oak1815
jack oak1816
mountain oak1818
shingle-oak1818
gall-oak1835
peach oak1835
golden oak1838
weeping oak1838
Aleppo oak1845
Italian oak1858
dyer's oak1861
Gambel's Oak1878
maul oak1884
punk oak1884
sessile oak1906
Garry oak1908
roble1908
1765 J. Bartram Diary 31 July in Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. (1942) 33 17/1 Ye oaks black which is reconed ye best fire wood thay have they call them black Jacks seldom grow above A foot diameter.
1785 T. Jefferson Notes Virginia vi. 67 Black jack oak. Quercus aquatica.
1832 D. J. Browne Sylva Americana 269 In New Jersey and Pennsylvania it is called Barrens Oak, and Black Jack Oak in Maryland and the more southern states.
1856 F. L. Olmsted Journey Slave States 383 The gray beech, and the shrubby black-jack oak.
1879 A. W. Tourgée Fool's Errand xv. 75 The wide fire-place, in which the dry hickory and black-jack was blazing brightly.
1915 E. N. Lowe Mississippi (Mississippi State Geol. Soc.) 194 In the broken hills of the Hatchie, pines are the prevailing timber, with an admixture of post oak, black jacks, Spanish oak and chestnut.
1962 Rocky Mount (N. Carolina) Telegram 25 May 8 a/2 The plant will use only scrub hardwood, principally blackjack oak and hickory... Blackjack oak is considered otherwise non-marketable.
2006 A. M. Halpin Seascape Gardening v. 159/1 Blackjack oaks aren't widely sold in nurseries, although they are available.
a. The black caterpillar of the turnip sawfly, Athalia rosae (family Tenthredinidae). Obsolete.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Symphta or Phytophaga Sessiliventres > family Tenthredinidae > athalia centifolia (turnip-sawfly) > larva of
black jack1807
nigger1840
black caterpillar1848
nigger caterpillar1850
turnip-nigger1893
1807 R. Parkinson Experienced Farmer (rev. ed.) iii. xii. 370 There is a sort of black caterpillar called a black jack, which is seldom seen; but when they do come, they make terrible havock.
1840 J. O. Westwood in E. Blyth et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom 584 Athalia centifoliæ..is extremely destructive to turnips, its larva being known under the name of the Nigger, or Black Jack.
1888 Times 25 June 10/1 Professor Wrightson also writes to us calling attention to the large number of the parent forms of the black jack, nigger, or black caterpillar.
1904 Trans. Norfolk & Norwich Naturalists' Soc. 7 331 Sawflies were very scarce, the only one of note I took was a male, Athalia spinarum (‘black jack’), from a Tamarisk bush.
b. English regional (East Anglian). A mustard beetle (genus Phaedon). Obsolete.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Phytophaga or Chrysomeloidea > family Chrysomelidae > mustard beetle
black jack1883
mustard beetle1886
1883 E. A. Ormerod Rep. Observ. Injurious Insects 1882 74 Are you aware of the existence of a great pest in the shape of a beetle called by the farmer the Black Jack, that infests the Fen district between Peterborough and Ely?
1886 Standard 24 May 2/1 The mustard beetle (Phædon betulæ), commonly known as the Black Jack.
1904 F. V. Theobald Second Rep. Econ. Zool. ii. 138 The beetles referred to by the correspondent from Downham Market under the name of ‘Black Jack’ are the Mustard Beetle (Phædon betulæ).
5. Originally and chiefly U.S. A short, flexible lead-filled truncheon; (also) an improvised weapon resembling this. Now in form blackjack.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > blunt weapons other than sticks > [noun] > flail or black-jack
flailc1475
wapper1481
scorpion1541
threshel1688
swingle1818
life-preserver1833
black jack1848
slung-shot1848
neddy1851
slingshot1891
slogger1892
Jack1911
nunchaku1969
nunchuck1970
1848 L. Waugh Candid Statem. Methodist Episcopal Church South vi. 37 They did not feel safe to begin their ‘black jack’ work.
1867 W. J. Mullen 13th Ann. Rep. 21 The prisoner..put a billy or black-jack in his pocket.
1895 Denver Times 5 Mar. 8/5 During the scuffle Miss Alderfer..saw the ‘black jack’ up his sleeve,..and as a result, swore out the concealed weapons charge.
1904 N.Y. Evening Post 10 Mar. 1 This position..was not such as the body would have taken had Newman been struck with a blackjack or other weapon.
1934 J. M. Cain Postman always rings Twice iv. 25 She was to..clip him from behind with a blackjack I had made for her out of a sugar bag with ball bearings wadded down in the end.
1973 W. Henderson King of Gorbals vii. 44 He would take great pleasure in clouting him behind the ear with the blackjack he kept in his pocket for special occasions.
2009 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 8 Oct. 33/3 A three-thousand-man private army that..attacked employees suspected of union sympathies with guns, whips, blackjacks, and other ‘persuaders’.
6. Caramel; burnt sugar.
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the world > food and drink > food > additive > sweetener > [noun] > sugar > caramel or burnt sugar
rameales1564
caramel1725
black jack1851
1851 Lancet 15 Mar. 304/2 Burnt sugar, familiarly known in the grocery trade as ‘black Jack’, is also prepared wholesale for the adulteration of chicory and coffee.
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products 40/1 Black Jack,..caramel or burnt sugar, which is used to colour spirits, vinegar, coffee, etc.
1910 Temperance Caterer 15 July 999/3 (heading) How to make ‘black jack’ (caramel).
1998 N. Whittaker Sweet Talk (1999) 19 At 161° the syrup yellows, turning into barley sugar... But any more boiling and the stuff becomes black jack—useless for anything.
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the world > food and drink > food > dairy produce > butter > [noun] > types of butter
May-butter?a1425
clarified butter1562
pot-butter1616
manteca1622
grass butter1648
green butter1654
drawn butter1661
cacao butter1662
ghee1665
rowen1673
ruskin1679
orange butter1696
whey-buttera1722
rowen butter1725
fairy butter1747
grease1788
Cambridge butter1830
stubble-butter1856
black jack1858
maître d'hôtel butter1861
Normandy butter1868
creamery butter1881
pound butter1888
renovated butter1888
samn1888
process butter1898
pool butter1940
garlic butter1942
yak butter1962
Normandy1973
cannabutter1994
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products 40/1 Black Jack,..a trade name for adulterated butter.
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the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > rum > [noun] > kinds of rum
Jamaica1775
white rum1816
New England1827
black jack1863
dark rum1864
black rum1872
light rum1872
Nelson's blood1905
Bacardi1921
pinga1928
navy1946
screech1946
anejo1983
1863 ‘E. Kirke’ My Southern Friends ix. 112 ‘Then he does pray better for a little whiskey?’ ‘Yes; a mug of “black jack” helps him amazingly.’
1880 Scribner's Monthly June 293/1 [His] sole object in life was to vie with his neighbors in the consumption of ‘black jack’ and corn whisky.
1903 Daly's Bartender's Encycl. 34 (heading) Black jack... 1 wine glass of St. Croix or Jamaica rum. 1 teaspoonful of black molasses.
9. South African. The needle-like, awned black seed of the plant Bidens pilosa (family Asteraceae ( Compositae)); (also) this plant, native to tropical America and widely naturalized in tropical and subtropical climates, sometimes as a troublesome weed of pasture and cultivated land and sometimes used as a source of food.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Compositae (composite plants) > [noun] > bur-marigold
agrimony1578
water agrimony1597
black jack1876
bur-marigold1879
1876 M. A. Barker Evening Hours 296/1 An innocent-looking plant..bearing a most aggravating tuft of little black spires, which lose no opportunity of sticking to one's petticoats in myriads. They are familiarly known as ‘black jacks’.
1931 O. Letcher Afr. Unveiled 39 The burrs and black-jacks had been carefully picked out of the neatly rolled putties.
1981 Fair Lady 9 Sept. 242 The herbaceous border is well under control and there's never a dandelion or blackjack in sight.
2002 C. Slaughter Before Knife (2003) vii. 128 When I opened it, we drove down a rutted track overgrown by weeds and blackjacks.
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society > travel > aspects of travel > a journey > [noun] > luggage > travelling boxes
trussing coffera1387
lode-malea1400
gardeviance1459
trussing mail1485
trussing chest1540
trunk1609
portmanteau trunk1683
hair-trunk1693
mail-trunka1726
trunkie1728
trunk-mail1771
imperial1773
cedar chest1775
Noah's Ark1803
wardrobe trunk1815
dress case1819
yakdan1824
pitara1828
bullock-trunk1844
dress basket1857
Saratoga trunk1857
Saratoga1863
black jack1885
innovation trunk1912
1885 Birmingham Daily Post 4 Mar. 8/5 Burton bought another portmanteau—what was called in the trade a ‘Black Jack’, a shorter one than the other.
11. A gambling card game in which players try to acquire cards with a face value totalling 21 and no more; = vingt-et-un n., pontoon n.2 Now in form blackjack.
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society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > other card games > [noun] > vingt-et-un, etc.
vingt-et-un1772
macao1778
twenty-one1790
macco1809
Van John1853
black jack1899
pontoon1917
vingty1936
1899 R. C. Kirk Twelve Months Klondike iv. 94 Black-jack is a game played with cards, and is known sometimes as ‘twenty-one’.
1900 M. Tyrwhitt-Drake Queen v. Petrie in Canad. Criminal Cases Annotated III. 444 The game of black jack is described as played by two or more persons... Two cards are dealt to each, the object being to obtain twenty-one.
1917 A. G. Empey Over Top 304 Pontoon, a card game, in America known as ‘Black Jack’ or ‘Twenty One’. The bank is the only winner.
1931 Kansas City (Missouri) Star 28 Dec. 16 The governor knows his politics and is too poor a black jack player to mingle with gobs, anyway.
1954 Encounter Oct. 8/1 Roulette and dice and blackjack were available.
1987 B. A. Powe Ice Eaters ii. viii. 146 The place was designed to rake in the money from blackjack..and a high-stakes poker game called ‘Texas Hold 'Em’.
2006 D. G. Schwartz Roll Bones xvii. 404 In blackjack, previous hands have a direct bearing on future draws.
12. South African slang (derogatory). During apartheid: a member of a police force composed of black officers and operating in the townships. Also with capital initials. Now historical.
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1966 Post (Johannesburg) 30 Jan. (Drum Suppl.) 16/1 There are the municipal cops who the township wits call Black Jacks.
1983 K. W. Grundy Soldiers without Politics vii. 148 Despite the deserved reputation for brutality of the black police,..there is some evidence that all black policemen do not conform to this image of a bloodthirsty ‘Black Jack’.
1989 Sunday Times 29 Jan. 7 The blackjacks quickly earned a reputation for ruthlessness and bad manners. Scores of deaths in the Vaal Triangle alone were attributed to blackjack and kitskonstabel guns.
2007 Business Day (S. Afr.) (Nexis) 25 June 10 It is too soon to forget how the Blackjacks of the old Bantu Administration Boards treated fellow blacks as subhuman beings.
2016 T. Noah Born a Crime ii. 30 There were also the blackjacks, black people who worked for the police.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
black jackn.3
/ˈblak dʒak/, U.S. /ˈblæk ˌdʒæk/ Now rare.
A pirate's black ensign; = black flag n. 1. Cf. jack n.4Now usually called Jolly Roger (Jolly Roger n.) or skull and crossbones (skull n.1 1d).
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society > communication > indication > insignia > standard > [noun] > flag > naval or merchant > pirate
Jolly Roger1724
Jolly Hodge1821
black jack1846
skull and crossbones1924
1846 G. P. R. James Step-mother II. ix. 98 A schooner with the black jack flying.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Black-Jack, the ensign of a pirate.
1911 E. B. Dewing Big Horse to Ride ii. 18 Her presence was confusing, and as much an emblem of hazard as the piratical Black Jack and scarlet knotted kerchief.
1915 Boys' Life Sept. 17/1 All pirates..had a ‘Black Jack’ to hoist in the time of battle, the old black flag with the skull and crossbones.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1a1522
n.2c1540
n.31846- mean streak
- mean street
- mean sun
- mean temperature
- mean term
- mean time
- mean tone
- mean way
- mean what one says
- mean white
- mean-apparelled
- mean-born
- mean-conditioned
- mean-dressed
- mean-faced
- mean-gifted
- megalocephalies
- megalocephalous
- megalocephaly
- megalochirous
- megalocyte
- megalocytes
- megalocytic
- megalocytosis
- megalodon