black boxnoun [ C ]
uk/ˌblæk ˈbɒks/us/ˌblæk ˈbɑːks/a small machine that records information about an aircraft during its flight, used to discover the cause of an accident:
Analysis of the black box recovered from the crash scene suggested pilot error was not the cause.
a piece of equipment placed in a car that records information about how well someone is driving:
They equipped all school buses with a black box.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Air travel: parts of aeroplanes
- -nosed
- aisle
- autopilot
- barf bag
- canopy
- fixed-wing
- flight recorder
- fuselage
- joystick
- nose
- nose cone
- propeller
- retrorocket
- rudder
- safety belt
- shell
- skid
- spoiler
- starboard
- wing
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Examples from literature
- The second, often described as the "black box", provided conclusive information concerning course, altitude, and other data relating to the flight and functioning of the aircraft at the relevant period of time.