The Collaborative International Dictionary
Black \Black\ (bl[a^]k), a. [OE. blak, AS. bl[ae]c; akin to Icel. blakkr dark, swarthy, Sw. bl["a]ck ink, Dan. bl[ae]k, OHG. blach, LG. & D. blaken to burn with a black smoke. Not akin to AS. bl[=a]c, E. bleak pallid. [root]98.]
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Destitute of light, or incapable of reflecting it; of the color of soot or coal; of the darkest or a very dark color, the opposite of white; characterized by such a color; as, black cloth; black hair or eyes.
O night, with hue so black!
--Shak. -
In a less literal sense: Enveloped or shrouded in darkness; very dark or gloomy; as, a black night; the heavens black with clouds.
I spy a black, suspicious, threatening cloud.
--Shak. Fig.: Dismal, gloomy, or forbidding, like darkness; destitute of moral light or goodness; atrociously wicked; cruel; mournful; calamitous; horrible. ``This day's black fate.'' ``Black villainy.'' ``Arise, black vengeance.'' ``Black day.'' ``Black despair.''
--Shak.-
Expressing menace, or discontent; threatening; sullen; foreboding; as, to regard one with black looks.
Note: Black is often used in self-explaining compound words; as, black-eyed, black-faced, black-haired, black-visaged.
Black act, the English statute 9 George I, which makes it a felony to appear armed in any park or warren, etc., or to hunt or steal deer, etc., with the face blackened or disguised. Subsequent acts inflicting heavy penalties for malicious injuries to cattle and machinery have been called black acts.
Black angel (Zo["o]l.), a fish of the West Indies and Florida ( Holacanthus tricolor), with the head and tail yellow, and the middle of the body black.
Black antimony (Chem.), the black sulphide of antimony, Sb2S3, used in pyrotechnics, etc.
Black bear (Zo["o]l.), the common American bear ( Ursus Americanus).
Black beast. See B[^e]te noire.
Black beetle (Zo["o]l.), the common large cockroach ( Blatta orientalis).
Black bonnet (Zo["o]l.), the black-headed bunting ( Embriza Sch[oe]niclus) of Europe.
Black canker, a disease in turnips and other crops, produced by a species of caterpillar.
Black cat (Zo["o]l.), the fisher, a quadruped of North America allied to the sable, but larger. See Fisher.
Black cattle, any bovine cattle reared for slaughter, in distinction from dairy cattle. [Eng.]
Black cherry. See under Cherry.
Black cockatoo (Zo["o]l.), the palm cockatoo. See Cockatoo.
Black copper. Same as Melaconite.
Black currant. (Bot.) See Currant.
Black diamond. (Min.) See Carbonado.
Black draught (Med.), a cathartic medicine, composed of senna and magnesia.
Black drop (Med.), vinegar of opium; a narcotic preparation consisting essentially of a solution of opium in vinegar.
Black earth, mold; earth of a dark color.
--Woodward.Black flag, the flag of a pirate, often bearing in white a skull and crossbones; a signal of defiance.
Black flea (Zo["o]l.), a flea beetle ( Haltica nemorum) injurious to turnips.
Black flux, a mixture of carbonate of potash and charcoal, obtained by deflagrating tartar with half its weight of niter.
--Brande & C.Black Forest [a translation of G. Schwarzwald], a forest in Baden and W["u]rtemburg, in Germany; a part of the ancient Hercynian forest.
Black game, or Black grouse. (Zo["o]l.) See Blackcock, Grouse, and Heath grouse.
Black grass (Bot.), a grasslike rush of the species Juncus Gerardi, growing on salt marshes, and making good hay.
Black gum (Bot.), an American tree, the tupelo or pepperidge. See Tupelo.
Black Hamburg (grape) (Bot.), a sweet and juicy variety of dark purple or ``black'' grape.
Black horse (Zo["o]l.), a fish of the Mississippi valley ( Cycleptus elongatus), of the sucker family; the Missouri sucker.
Black lemur (Zo["o]l.), the Lemurniger of Madagascar; the acoumbo of the natives.
Black list, a list of persons who are for some reason thought deserving of censure or punishment; -- esp. a list of persons stigmatized as insolvent or untrustworthy, made for the protection of tradesmen or employers. See Blacklist, v. t.
Black manganese (Chem.), the black oxide of manganese, MnO2.
Black Maria, the close wagon in which prisoners are carried to or from jail.
Black martin (Zo["o]l.), the chimney swift. See Swift.
Black moss (Bot.), the common so-called long moss of the southern United States. See Tillandsia.
Black oak. See under Oak.
Black ocher. See Wad.
Black pigment, a very fine, light carbonaceous substance, or lampblack, prepared chiefly for the manufacture of printers' ink. It is obtained by burning common coal tar.
Black plate, sheet iron before it is tinned.
--Knight.Black quarter, malignant anthrax with engorgement of a shoulder or quarter, etc., as of an ox.
Black rat (Zo["o]l.), one of the species of rats ( Mus rattus), commonly infesting houses.
Black rent. See Blackmail, n., 3.
Black rust, a disease of wheat, in which a black, moist matter is deposited in the fissures of the grain.
Black sheep, one in a family or company who is unlike the rest, and makes trouble.
Black silver. (Min.) See under Silver.
Black and tan, black mixed or spotted with tan color or reddish brown; -- used in describing certain breeds of dogs.
Black tea. See under Tea.
Black tin (Mining), tin ore (cassiterite), when dressed, stamped and washed, ready for smelting. It is in the form of a black powder, like fine sand.
--Knight.Black walnut. See under Walnut.
Black warrior (Zo["o]l.), an American hawk ( Buteo Harlani).
Syn: Dark; murky; pitchy; inky; somber; dusky; gloomy; swart; Cimmerian; ebon; atrocious.
Bonnet \Bon"net\ (b[o^]n"n[e^]t), n. [OE. bonet, OF. bonet, bonete. F. bonnet fr. LL. bonneta, bonetum; orig. the name of a stuff, and of unknown origin.]
A headdress for men and boys; a cap. [Obs.]
--Milton.
--Shak.-
A soft, elastic, very durable cap, made of thick, seamless woolen stuff, and worn by men in Scotland.
And p?i?s and bonnets waving high.
--Sir W. Scott. A covering for the head, worn by women, usually protecting more or less the back and sides of the head, but no part of the forehead. The shape of the bonnet varies greatly at different times; formerly the front part projected, and spread outward, like the mouth of a funnel.
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Anything resembling a bonnet in shape or use; as,
(Fort.) A small defense work at a salient angle; or a part of a parapet elevated to screen the other part from enfilade fire.
A metallic canopy, or projection, over an opening, as a fireplace, or a cowl or hood to increase the draught of a chimney, etc.
A frame of wire netting over a locomotive chimney, to prevent escape of sparks.
A roofing over the cage of a mine, to protect its occupants from objects falling down the shaft.
In pumps, a metal covering for the openings in the valve chambers.
(Naut.) An additional piece of canvas laced to the foot of a jib or foresail in moderate winds.
--Hakluyt.The second stomach of a ruminating animal.
An accomplice of a gambler, auctioneer, etc., who entices others to bet or to bid; a decoy. [Cant]
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(Automobiles) The metal cover or shield over the motor; predominantly British usage. In the U.S. it is called the hood. [Brit.]
Bonnet limpet (Zo["o]l.), a name given, from their shape, to various species of shells (family Calyptr[ae]id[ae]).
Bonnet monkey (Zo["o]l.), an East Indian monkey ( Macacus sinicus), with a tuft of hair on its head; the munga.
Bonnet piece, a gold coin of the time of James V. of Scotland, the king's head on which wears a bonnet.
--Sir W. Scott.To have a bee in the bonnet. See under Bee.
Black bonnet. See under Black.
Blue bonnet. See in the Vocabulary.
Usage examples of "black bonnet".
She was wearing an old-fashioned black bonnet, and a black dress, and there was some kind of brooch on her chest that looked like it was carved out of ivory or something.
People were obviously at home in some of the dwellings, and once as she passed an open door, a woman in a black bonnet and dress actually looked up from her sewing and met Renie's eyes.
And she had on a black dress and black bonnet and no paint and really looked de.
The refuse was not wholly vegetable either, for I myself saw a shoe, a doubled-up saucepan, a black bonnet, and an umbrella, in various stages of decomposition, as I was looking out for the number I wanted.
She had on a red cloak and a black bonnet: or rather, a broad-brimmed gipsy hat, tied down with a striped handkerchief under her chin.
She had on a black bonnet with plumes not unlike the hats of the heralds-at-arms at the coronation of Charles X.
The woman was dressed in a black jacket and a black bonnet, Lawende recalled, and as bad as the lighting conditions were at the time, he was later able to identify these items of clothing at the police station as having belonged to the woman he saw at 1:30 A.
However, he caught sight of himself in the looking-glass over the hat-stand, with the rusty black bonnet perched rakishly over one eye, and he changed his mind and went very quickly and humbly upstairs to the Rat’.
The first thing she did was whip off the black bonnet and toss it carelessly onto the bed.
Undeterred even by the opening doors and the threatening shouts of the men scrambling out of the Wolseley, he jumped clear over its gleaming black bonnet.
However, it also was yellow, as they all were, but with a black bonnet and black piping around the doors.
She had on a red cloak and a black bonnet, or rather a broad-brimmed gipsy hat, tied down with a striped handkerchief under her chin.