black pepper

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Multiple Entries:
  black    rat  

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
black/blak/

▶adjective

• 1 of the very darkest colour due to the absence of or complete absorption of light.

  ■ (of coffee or tea) served without milk.

• 2 relating to or denoting a human group having dark-coloured skin, especially of African or Australian Aboriginal ancestry.

• 3 characterized by tragedy, disaster, or despair.

  ■ (of humour) presenting tragic or harrowing situations in comic terms.

  ■ full of anger or hatred.

• 4 Brit. dated (of goods or work) not to be handled or undertaken by trade union members, as an expression of solidarity with an industrial dispute elsewhere.

• 5 (of a ski run) of the highest level of difficulty.

• 6 of or denoting the suits spades and clubs in a pack of cards.

▶noun

• 1 black colour or pigment.

  ■ black clothes or material, worn as a sign of mourning.

  ■ (Black) the player of the black pieces in chess or draughts.

• 2 a member of a dark-skinned people, especially one of African or Australian Aboriginal ancestry.

• 3 Brit. informal blackcurrant cordial.

▶verb

• 1 make black, especially by the application of black polish or make-up.

• 2 (black something out) make a room or building dark by extinguishing lights, covering windows, etc.

  ■ obscure something completely.

  ■ (of a television company) decide not to broadcast a controversial programme.

• 3 (black out) undergo a sudden and temporary loss of consciousness.

• 4 Brit. dated refuse to deal with (goods or people) or undertake (work), as a form of industrial action.

– phrases
black someone's eye hit someone in the eye so as to cause bruising.
in the black not owing any money.
in someone's black books informal in disfavour with someone.
look on the black side informal take a pessimistic view of a situation.

– derivatives
blackish adjective,
blackly adverb,
blackness noun.

– origin OE blæc, of Gmc origin.

usage: Black has been used to refer to African peoples and their descendants since the 14th century, and it is the most widely used and generally accepted term in Britain today. In the US the currently preferred term is African American.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
rat/rat/

▶noun

• 1 a rodent resembling a large, long-tailed mouse, typically considered a serious pest. [Rattus norvegicus (brown rat), R. rattus (black or ship rat), and many other species.]

• 2 informal a despicable person.

  ■ an informer.

• 3 N. Amer. informal a person who is associated with or frequents a specified place: a mall rat.

▶exclamation (rats) informal expressing mild annoyance. ▶verb (rats, ratting, ratted)

• 1 hunt or kill rats.

• 2 informal desert one's party, side, or cause.

  ■ (rat on) break (an agreement or promise).

• 3 (rat on or N. Amer. also rat someone out) informal inform on (someone).

– derivatives
ratting noun.

– origin OE ræt, prob. of Romance origin; reinforced in ME by OFr. rat.