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blacking

American

[blak-ing] / ˈblæk ɪŋ /

noun

any preparation for producing a black coating or finish, as on shoes or stoves.

blacking British

/ ˈblækɪŋ /

noun

any preparation, esp one containing lampblack, for giving a black finish to shoes, metals, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of blacking

First recorded in 1590–1600; black + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Over the weekend she said she continued bleeding and suffering a lot of pain, even blacking out on her way to the bathroom at night.

From BBC • Nov. 17, 2025

"I was blacking out and fainting," Ms Davies, a tattoo artist, said.

From BBC • Mar. 17, 2024

He said it was the closest he had come to blacking out onstage.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 13, 2023

“I think the reason that you redact records like this, records that are just silly to redact in the first place, it’s about normalizing the blacking out of records,” he said.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 8, 2023

Before blacking out from pain, Stockdale heard the drone of American planes above.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023