black box

2. A usually large, square room with black walls used as a space for theatrical performances.

a. A device or theoretical construct with known or specified performance characteristics but unknown or unspecified constituents and means of operation.

b. Something that is mysterious, especially as to function.

black′-box′ adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

black box

1. (Electronics) a self-contained unit in an electronic or computer system whose circuitry need not be known to understand its function

2. (Aeronautics) an informal name for flight recorder

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

black′ box′

1. any unit that forms part of an electronic circuit and has its function but not its components specified.

2. any small, usu. black, box containing a secret, mysterious, or complex mechanical or electronic device.

3. flight recorder.

[1940–45]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

black box - equipment that records information about the performance of an aircraft during flight

recorder, recording equipment, recording machine - equipment for making records

Translations

العُلبَةُ السَّوْداء

černá skříňka

Flugschreiber

musta laatikko

boite noireboîte noire

fekete doboz

flugriti, svartur kassi

scatola nera

ferdsskriver

чёрный ящик

čierna skrinka

kara kutu

装配在飞机上的电子自动记录仪器黑匣子

black box

n (Aer) → scatola nera

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

black

(blӕk) adjective

1. of the colour in which these words are printed. black paint.

2. without light. a black night; The night was black and starless.

3. dirty. Your hands are black!; black hands from lifting coal.

4. without milk. black coffee.

5. evil. black magic.

6. (often offensive. currently acceptable in the United States, South Africa etc) Negro, of African, West Indian descent.

7. (especially South Africa) coloured; of mixed descent (increasingly used by people of mixed descent to refer to themselves).

noun

1. the colour in which these words are printed. Black and white are opposites.

2. something (eg paint) black in colour. I've used up all the black.

3. (often with capital. often offensive: currently acceptable in the United states, South Africa etc) a Negro; a person of African, West Indian etc descent.

verb

to make black.

ˈblackness noun

ˈblacken verb

1. to make or become black. The sky blackened before the storm.

2. to make to seem bad. She blackened his character.

3. to clean with black polish. He blackened his boots.

black art/magic

magic performed for evil reasons. He tries to practise black magic.

ˈblackbird noun

a dark-coloured bird of the thrush family.

ˈblackboard noun

a dark-coloured board for writing on in chalk (used especially in schools).

black box

a built-in machine for automatic recording of the details of a plane's flight. They found the black box two miles away from the wreckage of the crashed plane.

the Black Death noun

the plague that killed large numbers of people in Europe in the 14th to 18th centuries.

black eye

an eye with bad bruising around it (eg from a punch). George gave me a black eye.

ˈblackhead noun

a small black-topped lump in a pore of the skin, especially of the face.

ˈblacklist noun

a list of people who are out of favour etc.

verb

to put (a person etc) on such a list.

ˈblackmail verb

to obtain money illegally from (a person), usually by threatening to make known something which the victim wants to keep secret.

noun

the act of blackmailing. money got by blackmail.

ˈblackmailer noun

Black Maria (məˈraiə)

a prison van. The policeman took the three suspects to the police station in a Black Maria.

black market

(a place for) the illegal buying and selling, at high prices, of goods that are scarce, rationed etc. coffee on the black market.

black marketeer

a person who sells goods on the black market.

ˈblackout noun

1. a period of darkness produced by putting out all lights. Accidents increase during a blackout.

2. a ban (on news etc). a blackout of news about the coup.

3. a period of unconsciousness. He has had several blackouts during his illness.

4. a brief, temporary loss of memory, as when an actor forgets his/her lines.

5. (also outage) a period of a general power failure.

6. (in the theatre) the putting out of the stage lights at the end of a scene etc.

black sheep

a member of a family or group who is unsatisfactory in some way. My brother is the black sheep of the family.

ˈblacksmith noun

a person who makes and repairs by hand things made of iron. The blacksmith made a new shoe for the horse.

black and blue

badly bruised. After the fight the boy was all black and blue.

black out

to lose consciousness. He blacked out for almost a minute.

in black and white

in writing or print. Would you put that down in black and white?