black 
Reside* the payment of Um-l,- mil. the commons nf Ire- 
lalld Were oppre-si-d by innumerable exacte 
BaffietU, Ireland under the Tndon. 
Black rot, rust, sec the nouns. Black silver. >" 
>t,- l ,l,ii,iit,: Black-spot, idlMMeofroM im-h. - ehara, 
ten/.ed liy diffuse, dark colored .-|>N mi tin- np|" 1 siirlacc 
of till' leaves. II is caused by a parasitic fillrjus. .{it'-i-miui 
Hutu: Black sugar, Spanish licorice. [Scotch.] Black 
tin. Sec //. Black ware, BemeMooaur (which 
sec, under iniMln- Black witch. Bee ant. |Kor :i IIMIH- 
U-r of compounds with I'lin-k as tlieir tlrst membl 
In-low ; in many of these eases it is -cucrally |irintt'il a-s a 
separate word.) 
II. H. 1. Black color; the darkest color, 
properly (lie negation of all color: the opposite 
of irliilc. rii,' darkness Hi' this color aii.ses from the 
circumstance that till' substances composing or proillli 'ill- 
it, as in a pigment or lv. absorb all tin' rays uf li^lit ami 
ri-tli-i't niiiu'. In heraldry this hue or tincture is termed 
unlil''. 
2. A Mark .lye or pigment: as. blacks and 
grays. 3. A black part of something, as that 
of tin- eye; sped lie-ally, the opening in the iris; 
the pupil : in opposition to the white. 
Tin: Mm* or sight <it the eye. Xi'r A'. Digby. 
4. Black clothing, especially when worn as a 
sign of mourning : as, to be in black : sometimes 
used in the plural. 
H has now put olf 
Tin' flllH-ral Muck your rich hi-ir wears with joy, 
When he pretends tu weep for his ih-ail father. 
Mrtrhft; Spanish Curate, I. 1. 
should I not put mi Mm /,.< when each one here 
Comes with his cypress and devotes a tear'.' 
ll?i-i-iek. Death of II. Lawcs. 
6. /*/. Funeral drapery, consisting of hangings 
of black cloth. 6t. A mute; one of the hired 
mourners at a funeral. 
I do pray ye 
To give me leave to live a little longer. 
You stand about me like my lilack*. 
t'li-tchff, MOMS. Thomas, iii. 1. 
7. A member of one of the dark-colored races ; 
a negro or other dark-skinned person. 8f. One 
with the face blacked or disguised; specifi- 
cally, a deer-stealer ; a poacher. 
The Waltham titaehi at length committed such enormi- 
ties, that government was forced to interfere, with that 
severe anil sanguinary act. eallrii the "Black Act." 
Gilbert White, ilist. of Selborue, vii. 
9. A small flake of soot ; smut: usually plural. 
A fox out of doors that tastes of Macks and smells of de- 
composed frost. Sir C. Young. 
Can I help U if the blacks will fly, and the things must 
lie rinsed again V 1). Jert-oitt, Caudle Lectures, xvil. 
10. A dark stain or smear. 11. pi. Ink used 
in copperplate printing, prepared from the 
charred husks of the grape and the residue of 
the wine-press. 12. In printing, any mark on 
the paper between the lines or letters caused 
by the rising of the leads, etc., to the level of 
the type: commonly in the plural. Aniline 
black, a i-olor produced liy dyers ilirertly upon the fiber 
itself, by the oxidation of the hydrochtohd of aniline with 
bichromate of potash. It is a very iiermanent dye. 
Animal black. Same as imnf-Maelt. Brunswick black. 
Same as japan lafijwr (which see, under jtifttin). Chem- 
ical black, a color formerly obtained in dyeing cotton hy 
boiling gallnuts in pyroligneous acid, adding " nitrate of 
iron" and flour. Chrome-black, a color produced in 
dyeing cotton or wool by mordanting with bichromate of 
potash and dyeing with logwood. Common black, a 
color produced hy dyeing with logwood, sumac, fustic, 
and a mixture of green and blue vitriol. Copperas- 
black, a color produced in dyeing inferior carpets, etc., 
hy mordanting with a mixture of ferrous sulphate and 
i ' ippcr sulphate and dyeing with logwood. Cork-black, 
a black obtained by burning cork in closed vessels. 
Drop-black, a better .u r rade of Imne-blaek ground in wa- 
ter and in this pasty state formed into drops and dried. 
Frankfort black, a pigment formerly made by burn- 
ing the lees of wine, but now merely a better grade of 
iMine-tilack. Also called tli'i-innn black. Gas-black, a 
species of lampblack obtained by burning natural gas in 
small jets against a revolving iron cylinder. German 
black. Same as Frankfort War*-. Hart's black, a 
black made from harts' horns. Hydrocarbon black. 
Same as Mf-itaei. - In black and white, (a) In writ- 
ing or print: as, to put a statement /;/ IJ'h-k nm/ :rt,ifi. 
(b) In the Hue arts, with no colors but black and white. 
The term is often extended to include (as in exhibitions 
of "works in black and white ) monochromes of any 
sort, as sepia drawings. Iron-black, a powder con.-i^i- 
ingof finely divided antimony obtained by precipitating 
it from its solution in an aeid by means of metallic zinc. 
Logwood-black, in ilii.in : i, a black obtained by mor- 
danting the cotton with a salt of iron and then dyeing 
with a decoction of logwood. -Mineral black. See 
mineral. Plate-black, a combination of lampblack and 
Itone-black in various proportions, used in plate-printing. 
-Sedan black, an intense Mark color produced l>y lir-t 
dyeing cloth bine with woad, thru washing it in water 
containing logwood and sumac, and boiling it lor several 
hours in a liquor to which a solution of iron sulphate is 
added. Spanish black, a black pigment obtained from 
bunitcork. Vine-black, same uNu*-Mwk,ik, i (See 
k. irurit lilni-k. l,in,j<lil'i<-l;, />e<u-A WiicA", and filati- 
571 
blacking and brushing them. 3. To blacken; 
stain; sully; defame. | Rare.] 
Thou Mil,-/,., // nail's charai NT. de\.,ured si 
bread. 8tmt, distrain Shandy, ill. 34. 
ToblackdOWn("""'-), totar and blaek(a ship's rigging). 
II. intrant. 1. To become black; take on a 
black color. 2f. To poach. See litack, n., ~. 
blackamoor (blak'a-mor), . [Also formerly 
blackuioor, lilnckit iiiiin . hliii-/.i limn , -moor, etc., 
8c. bliicki/inoref orig. and prop. blaekmoor, 
black Moor, < black + Mom: The inserted a 
is meaningless; of. blackarised.] A negro; a 
black man-or woman. 
I care not an she were a black-a-mottr. 
Skak., T. and C., 1. 1. 
I am sure I hated your poor dear uncle liefore marriage 
as if he d been a l>lacl[-a-moor. Shrridan, The Rivals, i. 2. 
blackavised (blak'a-visd), a. [8c., also blai-k- 
iirii-nl, btaekavifed; < Muck + K. rw, face, vis- 
age, + -V. The inserted a is meaningless ; 
cf. blackamoor.'] Dark-complexioned. 
I would advise her Uackamceil suitor to look out; if 
another comes with a longer or clearer rent-roll, he's 
dished. Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, \i\. 
blackback (blak'bak), u. 1. The great black- 
backed gull, Litrux niiirinus. Kingsley. Also 
called saddle-back, coffin-carrier, and cob. 2. 
A local Irish name (about Belfast) of the com- 
mon flounder. 
blackball (blak'bal), . 1. A blacking com- 
position used by shoemakers, etc. Also called 
heel-ball. 2. A name applied to both the smut 
and the bunt of wheat. 3. An adverse vote. 
See blackball, r. t. 
blackball (blak'bal), r. t. To reject (as a can- 
didate for election to membership or office in 
any club, society, etc.) by placing black balls 
in the ballot-box; exclude or defeat by ad- 
verse vote ; also, simply to vote against. See 
ballafl, ., 3. 
If you do not tell me who she Is directly, yon shall never 
get into White's. I will blackball you regularly. 
Duraeli, Young Duke, II. ii. 
blackballing (blak'bal-ing), n. [Verbal n. of 
blackball, r.J The act of rejecting or voting 
against a candidate by the use of black balls. 
Your story of the blackballiwj amused me. 
Lamb, Letter to B. Barton. 
blackband (blak'band), it. In mining and 
metal. ^a kind of iron ore, which consists essen- 
tially of carbonate of iron intimately mixed 
with coal. It Is a very important oreof iron, especially 
in Scotland, where Its true nature was discovered about 
the beginning of the present century. Often called black- 
batul ironstone. 
black-bass (blak'bas'), n. 1. A centrarchoid 
American fish of the genus Microuterus. The body 
is oblong ; the dorsal tin is low, especially the spinous por- 
tion of it, which is separated from the soft part by an emar- 
ginatiou ; the anal flu is shorter than the soft part of the 
dorsal, with three small spines ; and the caudal tin is emar- 
ginatc. The color is dark, and the cheeks and opereules 
are crossed hy three dark oldiqiie stripes. Two species are 
known, the large-mouthed black-bass, Micropter\t mlino- 
/'/'x, extending from Canada and the great lakes south- 
west into Texas and southeast into Florida, ami the small- 
mouthed black-bass, ilicroi>terug dvloinieu, ranging from 
black-brush 
blackberry (bluk'bcr i), .: pi. iilnckberriet 
(-iz). [< AIK. llal.lii i-ii', lilnl, //;(/-,< AS. blac- 
ln /-a . prop, written apart, I'luc In /''. pi. blact 
lii-rinn . sc-i' lilncl; anil /;///'. | 1. The fruit of 
those species of Kuliux in which the reci-pta 
cle becomes juicy ami falls utT with the drupe- 
lets, in distinction from the raspberry. The 
In ii . i],al Knropcaii -juries is 11. /ruticomf*. In the 
nilid Mai.'.- time aiv -e\i nil kinds, as the high black- 
berry, /(. viltoxun, some varieties of whieh ale extensively 
cultivated; the low blackberry or dewlieny. A'. Caiiadeu- 
*i'*; the bush-blackberry, it. lnn>il>*. of the Southern 
; the running swamp-blacklH-rry, ti. h I'x/w/tw ; and 
I In -and-lilacklicm. R.CUnt\foUu In M-otland generally 
called bramble, and in the est oi >i.itLind !,lnrk /,i/i/ or 
black-lnde. 
2. In some parts of England, the black currant, 
minx nil/rum. 
blackbeirr3,ing (blak'ber*i-ing), w. [< blackberry 
+ -ij/l, as if from a verb blackberry. See the 
quot. from Chaucer, below.] The gathering of 
blackberries Oo a blakeberyed', a doubtful phrase 
oecurring once in Chaucer in the Pardoner's Tale: 
I rckke never, whan that ben heryed, 
Though that her sullies {/ a Uakcbrrycd. 
(Skeat explains blaktbtryal. apparently a past participle, 
as a verbal substantive, and the whole phrase as meaning 
"go a blackberrying," that is, go where they please. The 
grammatical explanation is doubtless correct : but the 
context seems to show that the phrase is a humorous eu- 
phemism for "go to hell. "| 
blackbird (blak'berd), . 1. The English 
name of a species of thrush, Merula merula, 
Turdus nicrula, or Merula tulgaris, common 
throughout Europe. U is larger than the common or 
. 
black (blak), c. [< ME. blacken. blaken : < black. 
.] I. trans. 1. To make black; blacken or put 
a black color on ; soil: stain: a s. to bid clone's 
hands. 2. To clean and polish (shoes, etc.) by 
Small-mouthed Black-hass {\ticroflerus folomitu). 
the great lakes southward to South Carolina anil Arkansas. 
Both are highly esteemed for their game qualities, but the 
small-mouthed is regarded by most anglers as superior. 
The sexes during the breeding season consort In pairs, 
clear a subcircular sinit near the shore for a nest, and 
guard the eggs till hatched. Both species, but especially 
the small-mouthed, have received the attention of pisci- 
culturists and lieen introduced into foreign countries. In 
some parts of the state of New York the small-mouthed is 
specifically called the black-bass and the large-mouthed 
the llswego or green bass. Other names given U> one or 
iMith species are trout, in the south, and, locally, cAud, 
nun/" >. nift-nt-batty, and Welshman. 
2. A local name, along portions of the Pacific 
coast of the United States, of a scorpsenoid 
fish. flMMttcUtni Hiclunops, or black rock-fish. 
black-beetle (bfak'be'tl), An English name 
of the common cockroach of Great Britain, 
Blatta (I'eriiilaueta) orientalist, a large black 
orthopterous insect, of the family Bla ttidte. See 
cut under Illtittiila: 
blackbelly (blak'bel'i), . A local name in 
Massachusetts of a variety of the alewife, 
European Blackbird \.\ftrtt/a merula). 
song thrush ; the male is wholly black, except the bill and 
the orbits of the eyes, which are yellow ; the female is dark 
rusty-brown. The male has a fine, rich, mellow note, but 
its song has little compass or variety. Also called mtrle 
and ouzel. 
2. In America, a bird of the family Jcteridte 
(which see). These birds have no relation to the Euro- 
pean blackbird, but are nearer the old-world starlings. 
There are very many species of the family, to several of 
which, as the bobolink, the oriole, and the meadow. lark, 
the term blackbird ia not specifically applied. The lead- 
ing species are the several crow-blackbirds, of the genera 
(juixcalu* and Scttlecoithaijvx, and the marsh-blackbirds, 
Afjebxus and Xanthacefthalttjt. The common crow-black- 
bird is Q. purpurfwt ; the common red-winged marsh- 
blackbird, A. prueniceiu ; the yellow-headed blackbird, .V. 
icterocfphalii*. See cut under Atfeltritux. 
3. In the West Indies, the ani, Crotoiihana ani, 
of the family Cuctilitl<t, or cuckoos; the sa- 
vanna-blackbird. See cut under ani. 4. A 
cant term on the coast of Africa for a slave. 
blackboard (blak'bord), ii. 1. A board painted 
black, used in schools, lecture-rooms, etc., 
for writing, drawing, or ciphering with chalk. 
Hence 2. Any prepared surface, as of plaster 
or slate, used for the same purpose. 
blackbonnet (blak'bon'et), . One of the 
names of the reed-bunting. [Local, Scotland.] 
blackboy (blak'boi), n. The common name 
of the Australian grass-tree, .\antliorrlttca ar- 
borea, etc., a juncaceous plant with a thick 
blackened trunk and a terminal tuft of wiry, 
grass-like leaves. The different species yield an 
abundance of fragrant resin, either red, Known as black- 
'. or yellow, called acaroid gvtn. 
blackbreast (blak'brest), . 1. A name of the 
red-backed sandpiper, Tringa alpina, variety 
tnnericana. 2. A local name in the United 
States of the black-bellied plover, Squatarola 
In If tii-ii. 
black-browed (blak'broud), a. Having black 
eyebrows; gloomy; dismal; threatening: as, 
"a black-broicetl gust," Dryden. 
black-bmsh (blak'brush), a. A term used only 
in the phrase black-brush iron ore, a brown 
hematite or limonite, found in the Forest of 
Dean. England, and used chiefly for making 
tin-plate. 
