What is "black sheep"

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.]

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

by 1822 in figurative sense of "member of some group guilty of offensive conduct and unlike the other members," supposedly because a real black sheep had wool that could not be dyed and was thus worth less. But one black sheep in a flock was considered good luck by shepherds in Sussex, Somerset, Kent, Derbyshire. Baa Baa Black Sheep nursery rhyme's first known publication is in "Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book" (c.1744).

n. 1 (&lit black sheep English) 2 (context idiomatic English) a nonconformist; an unusual or unconventional person 3 (context idiomatic English) a disliked person; one who is disfavored

1. n. a reckless and unprincipled reprobate [syn: scapegrace]

2. sheep with a black coat

Black Sheep is a 1996 comedy film directed by Penelope Spheeris, written by Fred Wolf and starring Chris Farley and David Spade. The film portrays a political contest in which a candidate for Governor of Washington deals with unwanted, incompetent, and publicly embarrassing help from his brother. The film also stars Tim Matheson, Christine Ebersole, and Gary Busey. Chris Owen and Wolf have cameo appearances, and Farley's real-life brothers Kevin and John appear as two security guards at an MTV Rock the Vote concert. It was the second collaboration between Farley and Spade, as well as the duo's second film with Paramount Pictures, following the 1995 film Tommy Boy. The film grossed $32.3 million during its U.S. theatrical run.

Black Sheep, a Rochester, New York-based 1970s United States rock music band, was one of vocalist Lou Gramm's early working bands (it followed Poor Heart, which broke up c. 1970). The group, which had released the single Stick Around in 1974, the album Black Sheep in 1975, and the album Encouraging Words in 1976, was no longer performing when Gramm was invited by Mick Jones to join the band Foreigner.

Black Sheep's bass player, Bruce Turgon played on Lou Gramm's solo albums in the late 1980s (which also featured contributions from another Black Sheep alumnus, guitarist Don Mancuso) and joined Gramm in one of Foreigner's later incarnations, in 1992. Gramm continues to tour, fronting the Lou Gramm Band, whose lineup for 2004-2006 included former Black Sheep guitarist Don Mancuso (guitar/bass), along with Ben Gramm (drums), Richard Gramm (guitar), and Andy Knoll (keyboards).

Black Sheep is a Regency romance novel by Georgette Heyer which was first published in 1966. The story is set in 1816/1817.

Black Sheep is a 2001 play by American playwright Lee Blessing. It is about a governor elect's brother who tries to help Al get elected, but fails.

Category:Plays by Lee Blessing Category:2001 plays

Black Sheep is a 2006 New Zealand made black comedy horror film written and directed by Jonathan King. It was produced by Philippa Campbell and stars Nathan Meister, Peter Feeney, Danielle Mason, Tammy Davis, Oliver Driver, Tandi Wright, Glenis Levestam, Nick Blake, Matthew Chamberlain, Nick Fenton, Eli Kent, and Sam Clarke. The special effects were done by Weta Workshop.

The film premiered at the TIFF on 10 September 2006 as part of their Midnight Madness series and was theatrically released on 29 March 2007 by The Weinstein Company in New Zealand.

Black Sheep received positive reviews from critics and grossed $4.9 million. It also received a Narcisse Award nomination for Best Feature Film.

Black sheep is an idiom used to describe an odd or disreputable member of a group, especially within a family.

Black sheep may also refer to:

Black Sheep is a 2008 double album by Julian Cope, former lead singer of The Teardrop Explodes, released on Head Heritage Records. Cope described the album as "a musical exploration of what it is to be an outsider in modern Western Culture"

"Black Sheep" is a song written by Danny Darst and Robert Altman, and recorded by American country music artist John Anderson. It was released in September 1983 as the first single from the album All the People Are Talkin'. "Black Sheep" was John Anderson's third number one on the country chart. "Black Sheep" went to number one for one week and spent a total of 14 weeks within the top 40.

Black Sheep is the debut studio album by American sibling duo Nat & Alex Wolff, released on October 11, 2011, by Saddleup Records. Looking to recreate the sound from their previous band releases, the Wolffs strived to create a more mature, rock sound.

Black Sheep are an English anarcho-folk band formed by singer/songwriter and counter-cultural activist Julian Cope. They are the most recent of Cope's ongoing side projects, which include Brain Donor and Queen Elizabeth.

"Black Sheep" is a song by Gin Wigmore from her album Gravel & Wine. It was released as a single on 26 September 2011.

In the English language, black sheep is an idiom used to describe an odd or disreputable member of a group, especially within a family. The term stems from the genetic effect in sheep whereby a recessive gene occasionally manifests in the birth of a sheep with black rather than white coloring; these sheep stand out in the flock and their wool was traditionally considered less valuable.

The term has typically been given negative implications, implying waywardness. It derived from the atypical and unwanted presence of other black individuals in flocks of white sheep.

In psychology, the black sheep effect refers to the tendency of group members to judge likeable ingroup members more positively and deviant ingroup member more negatively than comparable outgroup members.

Black Sheep is a rarities album by American rock band Ra, being their fifth release total, including their live album. It includes a collection of B-sides and demos that go back to 1994. Ra's newest single "Supernova" is featured on the album; "Supernova" was digitally released on June 9, 2009. Black Sheep was digitally released on iTunes, but was never released for physical purchasing in retail stores.

The only previously released song is "Crazy Little Voices". It was originally released in 1999 as part of The Rage: Carrie 2 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Rapping is prevalent in the album, especially in the songs "The Foundation", "Busted", "Chained to the Ground", and "Deliverance". The album's most straight-up, heavy metal song is "Baghdad"; this song is similar to "Parole" from Ra's debut album, From One. In the outro of "Chained to the Ground", the musicians play a part of Black Sabbath's " War Pigs".

Black Sheep is a 1935 American drama film directed by Allan Dwan and starring Edmund Lowe, Claire Trevor and Tom Brown.

The film's sets were designed by the art director Duncan Cramer.

Black Sheep is a hip hop duo from Queens, New York, composed of Andres "Dres" Titus and William "Mista Lawnge" McLean. The duo is from New York but met as teenagers in Sanford, North Carolina, where both of their families relocated. The group was an affiliate of the Native Tongues, which included the Jungle Brothers, A Tribe Called Quest, and De La Soul. After getting together in 1989, Black Sheep debuted in 1991 with the hit song "Flavor of the Month" and later released its first album, A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, which gained them praise and recognition in the hip-hop community for the album's unique rhythms and intelligent lyrics. After six years together, Black Sheep disbanded in 1995, but decided to reunite five years later.

Black Sheep, is a novella by English author Susan Hill, published in 2013 by Chatto & Windus.