<B>Blackpudlian, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or belonging to Blackpool, a city in northwestern England. <DD><I>noun </I> a native or inhabitant of Blackpool. </DL>
<A NAME="blackquarter">
<B>black quarter,</B> =anthrax.</DL>
<A NAME="blackracer">
<B>black racer,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a blacksnake of the eastern United States. </DL>
<B>black rat,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a species of rat, darker and somewhat smaller than the common brown rat. One kind of black rat is called the <I>roof rat.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="blackrod">
<B>Black Rod,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>In full, <B>Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod.</B> the officer responsible for maintaining order in administrative matters in the House of Lords, whose symbol of authority is a black rod. <DD><B> 2. </B>an usher (or sergeant at arms) in certain legislatures of the Commonwealth. </DL>
<A NAME="blackroot">
<B>blackroot, </B>noun. =Culver's root.</DL>
<A NAME="blackrot">
<B>black rot,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>any one of several diseases of cultivated plants, such as the sweet potato, apple, or grape. Fungi produce dark-brown spots in diseased plants. <DD><B> 2. </B>the fungus that causes any one of these diseases. </DL>
<A NAME="blackrust">
<B>black rust,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a disease of the leaves and stems of wheat and other cereals and grasses. <DD><B> 2. </B>a fungus with dark-colored spores that causes it. </DL>
<A NAME="blackscissorbill">
<B>black scissorbill,</B> =black skimmer.</DL>
<A NAME="blackshank">
<B>black shank,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a fungous disease of tobacco that causes the rotting of roots and stems. </DL>
<A NAME="blacksheep">
<B>black sheep,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a worthless member of a respectable family; scoundrel. </DL>
<A NAME="blackshirt">
<B>Black Shirt,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(formerly) a member of the Italian Fascist party. They wore black shirts as part of their uniform. <DD><B> 2. </B>a member of any similar fascist organization, especially one using black shirts. </DL>
<A NAME="blackskimmer">
<B>black skimmer,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the skimmer of North America, black on the upper part and white underneath. </DL>
<A NAME="blacksmith">
<B>blacksmith, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person who makes things out of iron by heating it in a forge and hammering it into shape on an anvil. Blacksmiths can mend tools and shoe horses. <DD><B> 2. </B>a man who makes and fits horseshoes. </DL>
<A NAME="blacksmithing">
<B>blacksmithing, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the practice or business of a blacksmith. </DL>
<A NAME="blacksmoker">
<B>black smoker,</B> =hot vent.</DL>
<A NAME="blacksnake">
<B>blacksnake, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1a. </B>a harmless black or dark-colored snake of North America, having smooth scales, and sometimes attaining a length of 6 feet. <DD><B> b. </B>a similar black, harmless snake, that has slightly ridged (keeled) and polished scales with white edges; pilot snake; mountain blacksnake. <DD><B> 2. </B>(U.S.) a long, heavy whip made of braided leather, used especially by mule drivers. </DL>
<A NAME="blacksnakeroot">
<B>black snakeroot,</B> =cohosh.</DL>
<A NAME="blackspot">
<B>black spot,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>any one of various plant diseases caused by fungi or by bacteria and characterized by black spots. <DD><B> 2. </B>(British.) a place where trouble or difficulty occurs or is likely to occur, such as a dangerous part of a road or an area of economic depression. <DD><B> 3. </B>an area in South Africa inhabited by blacks in midst of land inhabited by whites. </DL>
<A NAME="blackspruce">
<B>black spruce,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a North American evergreen tree of the pine family with persistent cones and dark-green needles. <DD><B> 2. </B>its light, soft wood. </DL>
<A NAME="blacksquall">
<B>black squall,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a squall of wind accompanied by a dark cloud. </DL>
<A NAME="blacksquirrel">
<B>black squirrel,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any variety of the gray squirrel or of the fox squirrel, having black fur. </DL>
<A NAME="blackstem">
<B>blackstem, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of various fungous diseases attacking the stems of plants and causing them to turn dark. </DL>
<A NAME="blackstemrust">
<B>black stem rust,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the telial stage of stem rust. </DL>
<A NAME="blackstork">
<B>black stork,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a shiny black-brown stork with white underparts, found in Europe and Asia. </DL>
<A NAME="blackstrap">
<B>blackstrap, </B>noun, or <B>blackstrap molasses,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a very thick, dark molasses. </DL>
<A NAME="blackstudies">
<B>black studies,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) college, university, or high school courses of black history and culture. </DL>
<A NAME="blacksumac">
<B>black sumac,</B> =dwarf sumac.</DL>
<A NAME="blackswallower">
<B>black swallower,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a deep-sea fish that can swallow other and larger fish whole by distending its stomach. </DL>
<A NAME="blackswallowtail">
<B>black swallowtail,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an American butterfly, black with yellow spots. </DL>
<A NAME="blackswan">
<B>black swan,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an Australian swan, black except for a bar of white on each wing, and a whitebanded scarlet bill. </DL>
<A NAME="blacktail">
<B>blacktail, </B>noun. =mule deer.</DL>
<A NAME="blacktaileddeer">
<B>black-tailed deer,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a variety of the mule deer of the northwestern United States and British Columbia. </DL>
<A NAME="blacktea">
<B>black tea,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> tea which has been allowed to wither and ferment in the air before roasting. </DL>
<A NAME="blackthorn">
<B>blackthorn, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a thorny European shrub that has white flowers and very small, dark-purple fruit. Blackthorn belongs to the rose family. The fruit, and sometimes the shrub itself, is called <I>sloe.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a walking stick or club made from the stem of this shrub. <DD><B> 3. </B>any one of various American hawthorns. </DL>
<A NAME="blacktie">
<B>black tie,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a black bow tie such as is worn with a dinner jacket or tuxedo. <DD><B> 2. </B>evening dress that includes a black bow tie and dinner jacket or tuxedo. </DL>
<A NAME="blacktie">
<B>black-tie, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with a formal affair at which a black tie is worn. <BR> <I>Ex. The dinner was a black-tie affair.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="blacktongue">
<B>blacktongue, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a disease of dogs characterized by ulcers of the mouth, inflammation of the digestive tract, and blotches on the skin. It is caused by a nutritional deficiency, similar to pellagra. </DL>
<A NAME="blacktop">
<B>blacktop, </B>noun, verb, <B>-topped,</B> <B>-topping.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>asphalt mixed with crushed rock used as a pavement for highways, roads, and other surfaces. <DD><B> 2. </B>a surface covered with this substance. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to surface or pave (a road) with blacktop. </DL>
<A NAME="blacktupelo">
<B>black tupelo,</B> =black gum.</DL>
<A NAME="blackvelvet">
<B>black velvet,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an alcoholic drink composed of champagne and stout in equal parts. </DL>
<A NAME="blackvomit">
<B>black vomit,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1a. </B>a dark matter, consisting mainly of altered blood, vomited in the last stage of some cases of yellow fever. <DD><B> b. </B>the act of expelling this substance. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=yellow fever.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="blackvulture">
<B>black vulture,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a vulture of the southern United States and of Central and South America, smaller than the turkey vulture. </DL>
<A NAME="blackwages">
<B>black wages,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) wages higher than those provided for by a labor union contract, paid to attract nonunion workers because of a shortage of labor. </DL>
<A NAME="blackwallhitch">
<B>Blackwall hitch,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a kind of hitch, single or double, used for attaching a rope to a hook. </DL>
<A NAME="blackwalnut">
<B>black walnut,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a tall North American tree, valued for its dark-brown wood and its round, oily, edible nuts. <DD><B> 2. </B>its nut. <DD><B> 3. </B>its wood, often used for furniture, woodwork, and gunstocks. It is heavy, hard, and strong, is easily worked, and takes a high polish. </DL>
<A NAME="blackwatch">
<B>Black Watch,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a body of Scottish Highlanders organized in 1725 to maintain order in the Highlands and later incorporated (1751) into the British Army as a regiment. <DD><B> 2. </B>a tartan, or plaid, in the pattern worn by members of this regiment. </DL>
<A NAME="blackwaterfever">
<B>blackwater fever,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a severe type of malaria, chiefly tropical, characterized by bloody urine. </DL>
<A NAME="blackweed">
<B>blackweed, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the common ragweed. </DL>
<A NAME="blackwhale">
<B>black whale,</B> =blackfish.</DL>
<A NAME="blackwidow">
<B>black widow,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a poisonous, small spider with a glossy black body, the female of which has a reddish mark in the shape of an hourglass on its underside. </DL>
<A NAME="blackwillow">
<B>black willow,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a willow with rough, dark bark, used mainly in making boxes, crates, furniture, cabinetwork, caskets, and artificial limbs. </DL>
<A NAME="blackwood">
<B>blackwood, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the wood of a large leguminous tree of the East Indies. <DD><B> 2. </B>the wood of an acacia tree, the most valuable timber tree of Australia, noted for its hardness and durability. <DD><B> 3. </B>the black mangrove, in the West Indies and southern Florida, a small tree of seacoast marshes, with very heavy, hard, and dark-brown or nearly black wood. </DL>
<A NAME="blackwork">
<B>blackwork, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> iron forged or wrought by blacksmiths, not filed, burnished, or otherwise made bright. </DL>
<A NAME="blacky">
<B>blacky, </B>noun, pl. <B>blackies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) any black bird or animal. </DL>
