- [uncountable] the very darkest colour, like night or coal
- the black of the night sky
- Everyone at the funeral was dressed in black.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- very
- all
- completely
- …
- deep
- jet
- pitch
- …
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- [countable, usually plural] (offensive) a member of a group of people who have dark skin, especially people who come from or whose ancestors came from Africa Using the noun black to refer a person is usually considered offensive, so it is better to use the adjective: black people • a Black man/woman Topics People in societyb2
colour
people
Word OriginOld English blæc, of Germanic origin.
Idioms
See black in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee black in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishbe in the black
- to have money, for example in your bank account
- The company has managed to stay in the black for the year ending December 31.
black and white
- having no colours except black, white and shades of grey (in photographs, on television, etc.)
- a film made in black and white
- black-and-white photos
(in) black and white
- in a way that makes people or things seem completely bad or good, or completely right or wrong
- It's a complex issue, but he only sees it in black and white.
- This is not a black-and-white decision (= where the difference between two choices is completely clear).
in black and white
- in writing or in print
- I never thought they'd put it in black and white on the front page.
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black