the extinguishing or concealment of all visible lights in a city, military post, etc., usually as a precaution against air raids.
a period during a massive power failure when the lack of electricity for illumination results in utter darkness except from emergency sources, as candles.
Theater.
the extinguishing of all stage lights, as in closing a vaudeville skit or separating the scenes of a play.
Also called blackout skit .a skit ending in a blackout.
Pathology.
temporary loss of consciousness or vision: She suffered a blackout from the blow on the head.
a period of total memory loss, as one induced by an accident or prolonged alcoholic drinking: The patient cannot account for the bizarre things he did during his blackout.
a brief, passing lapse of memory: An actor may have an occasional blackout and forget a line or two.
complete stoppage of a communications medium, as by a strike, catastrophe, electrical storm, etc.: a newspaper blackout; a radio blackout.
a stoppage, suppression, or obliteration: a news blackout.
a period during which a special sales offer, fare rate, or other bargain is not available: The airline's discount on fares does not apply during the Christmas week blackout.
Radioand Television. a prohibition that is imposed on the broadcasting of an event and has the purpose of encouraging or ensuring ticket sales.
Origin of blackout
First recorded in 1910–15; noun use of verb phrase black out
WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH blackout
blackout , brownout
Words nearby blackout
black oak, black olive, black-on-black, black op, black opal, blackout, black pad, Black Panther, Black Panthers, blackpatch, black pepper
Last year, when California’s utilities first began carrying out widespread blackouts like this, some homes and businesses were left in the dark for days.
California faces widespread power cuts after weeks of destructive wildfires|kdunn6|September 8, 2020|Fortune
In the past few years, India has imposed hundreds of internet blackouts in different parts of the country, sometimes just for hours, sometimes for months.
Podcast: How a 135-year-old law lets India shutdown the internet|Anthony Green|September 2, 2020|MIT Technology Review
India has imposed hundreds of internet blackouts in different parts of the country over the past few years, including cutting off connectivity throughout the disputed state of Kashmir for six months.
Podcast: How a 135-year-old law lets India shutdown the internet|Anthony Green|September 2, 2020|MIT Technology Review
Home to over 12 million people, the region has suffered tremendously as a result—unemployment has spiked and over $1 billion in economic losses have been attributed to the blackout.
Podcast: How a 135-year-old law lets India shutdown the internet|Anthony Green|September 2, 2020|MIT Technology Review
In Kashmir, the blackout meant that switching schools—and businesses to the internet—was a nonstarter.
How India became the world’s leader in internet shutdowns|Katie McLean|August 19, 2020|MIT Technology Review
But Barney, the stick-man who'd felt my Blackout, caught on a lot quicker.
Vigorish|Gordon Randall Garrett
A Blackout is quite effective—it's hard to hit what you can't see.
Vigorish|Gordon Randall Garrett
I picked her up in my arms and carried her to the same sawdust-strewn private dining room where I'd given Barney the Blackout.
Vigorish|Gordon Randall Garrett
Well, he certainly wasn't much of a perceptive, or he would have been able to handle the Blackout himself.
Vigorish|Gordon Randall Garrett
My Blackout victim was reaching out, trying to find something he could use to raise himself to his feet.
Vigorish|Gordon Randall Garrett
British Dictionary definitions for blackout
blackout
/ (ˈblækaʊt) /
noun
the extinguishing or hiding of all artificial light, esp in a city visible to an enemy attack from the air
a momentary loss of consciousness, vision, or memory
a temporary electrical power failure or cut
electronicsa temporary loss of sensitivity in a valve following a short strong pulse
a temporary loss of radio communications between a spacecraft and earth, esp on re-entry into the earth's atmosphere
the suspension of radio or television broadcasting, as by a strike or for political reasons
verbblack out(adverb)
(tr)to obliterate or extinguish (lights)
(tr)to create a blackout in (a city etc)
(intr)to lose vision, consciousness, or memory temporarily
(tr, adverb)to stop (news, a television programme) from being released or broadcast
Obliterate with black, as in crossing out words on a page or print on a screen. For example, They have blacked out all the obscene words in the subtitles to make this movie suitable for youngsters. This usage may be derived from an earlier meaning, “to stain or defame,” which dates from the 15th century (and probably alludes to “blackening” a person's reputation). [Mid-1800s]
2
Extinguish all lights. For example, The whole town was asleep, as blacked out as London during the war. In the early 1900s this expression alluded to the lights in a theater, but from about 1940 on it meant darkening an entire city to hide it from enemy bombers.
3
Lose consciousness, faint; also, experience a temporary loss of memory. For example, I couldn't remember a single note of the music; I blacked out completely, or The accused man claims he blacked out after his first drink. This usage is thought to have originated with pilots, who sometimes fainted briefly when pulling out of a power dive. It soon was transferred to other losses of consciousness or memory. [c. 1940]
The complete loss of electrical power in a particular area. Blackouts can result from a natural disaster, a manmade catastrophe, or simply from an excess of energy demand over supply. (Compare brownout.)
notes for blackout
Rolling blackouts to match supply and demand have become increasingly common in the United States.