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Black vs Empty - What's the difference?

black | empty |

As a proper noun black

is .

As an adjective empty is

devoid of content; containing nothing or nobody; vacant.

As a verb empty is

(ergative) to make empty; to void; to remove the contents of.

As a noun empty is

a container, especially a bottle, whose contents have been used up, leaving it empty .

black

English

(wikipedia black)

Adjective

(er)
  • (of an object) Absorbing all light and reflecting none; dark and hueless.
  • Without light.
  • (sometimes capitalized) Of or relating to any of various ethnic groups having dark pigmentation of the skin.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=November 7, author=Matt Bai, title=Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds, work=New York Times citation
  • , passage=The country’s first black president, and its first president to reach adulthood after the Vietnam War and Watergate, Mr. Obama seemed like a digital-age leader who could at last dislodge the stalemate between those who clung to the government of the Great Society, on the one hand, and those who disdained the very idea of government, on the other.}}
  • (chiefly, historical) Designated for use by those ethnic groups which have dark pigmentation of the skin.
  • black''' drinking fountain; '''black hospital
  • Bad; evil; ill-omened.
  • * 1655 , Benjamin Needler, Expository notes, with practical observations; towards the opening of the five first chapters of the first book of Moses called Genesis. London: N. Webb and W. Grantham, page 168.
  • ...what a black day would that be, when the Ordinances of Jesus Christ should as it were be excommunicated, and cast out of the Church of Christ.
  • Expressing menace, or discontent; threatening; sullen.
  • He shot her a black look.
  • Illegitimate, illegal or disgraced.
  • * 1866 , The Contemporary Review , London: A. Strahan, page 338.
  • Foodstuffs were rationed and, as in other countries in a similar situation, the black market was flourishing.
  • (Ireland, informal) Overcrowded.
  • (of coffee or tea) Without any cream, milk or creamer.
  • Jim drinks his coffee black , but Ellen prefers it with creamer.
  • (board games, chess) Of or relating to the playing pieces of a board game deemed to belong to the "black" set (in chess the set used by the player who moves second) (qualifier, often regardless of the pieces' actual colour).
  • The black pieces in this chess set are made of dark blue glass.
  • (Germany, politics) Related to the .
  • After the election, the parties united in a black -yellow alliance.
  • (secrecy) Relating to a initiative whose existence or exact nature must remain withheld from the general public.
  • 5 percent of the Defense Department funding will go to black projects.

    Synonyms

    * (dark and colourless) dark * (without light) dark, gloomy, pitch-black

    Antonyms

    * (dark and colourless) white, nonblack, unblack * (without light) bright, illuminated, lit

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The colour/color perceived in the absence of light.
  • black colour:   
  • * Shakespeare
  • Black is the badge of hell, / The hue of dungeons, and the suit of night.
  • A black dye or pigment.
  • A pen, pencil, crayon, etc., made of black pigment.
  • (in the plural) Black cloth hung up at funerals.
  • * 1625 , Francis Bacon, "Of Death", Essays :
  • Groans, and convulsions, and a discolored face, and friends weeping, and blacks , and obsequies, and the like, show death terrible.
  • (sometimes capitalised) A person of African, Aborigine, or Maori descent; a dark-skinned person.
  • * 2004 , Anthony Joseph Paul Cortese, Provocateur: Images of Women and Minorities in Advertising (page 108)
  • Prize-winning books continue a trend toward increased representation of blacks , accounting for most of the books with exclusively black characters.
  • The black ball.
  • (baseball) The edge of home plate
  • (British) a type of firecracker that is really more dark brown in colour.
  • (informal) blackcurrant syrup (in mixed drinks, e.g. snakebite and black, cider and black).
  • In chess and similar games, the person playing with the black set of pieces.
  • At this point black makes a disastrous move.
  • Part of a thing which is distinguished from the rest by being black.
  • * Sir K. Digby
  • the black or sight of the eye
  • (obsolete) A stain; a spot.
  • * Rowley
  • defiling her white lawn of chastity with ugly blacks of lust

    Synonyms

    * (colour or absence of light) ** blackness * (person) ** (standard) African American (in the US), Afro-American (in the US), person of color (US) or person of colour (UK), person of African descent

    Antonyms

    * white

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make black, to blacken.
  • * 1859 , Oliver Optic, Poor and Proud; or, The Fortunes of Katy Redburn, a Story for Young Folks [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/ot2www-pubeng?specfile=/texts/english/modeng/publicsearch/modengpub.o2w&act=surround&offset=506735625&tag=Optic,+Oliver:+Poor+and+proud;+or,+The+fortunes+of+Katy+Redburn,+a+story+for+young+folks,+1859&query=+black+your&id=OptPoor]
  • "I don't want to fight; but you are a mean, dirty blackguard, or you wouldn't have treated a girl like that," replied Tommy, standing as stiff as a stake before the bully.
    "Say that again, and I'll black your eye for you."
  • * 1911 , Edna Ferber, Buttered Side Down [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/ot2www-pubeng?specfile=/texts/english/modeng/publicsearch/modengpub.o2w&act=surround&offset=302756157&tag=Ferber,+Edna:+Buttered+Side+Down,+1911&query=+black+your&id=FerButt]
  • Ted, you can black your face, and dye your hair, and squint, and some fine day, sooner or later, somebody'll come along and blab the whole thing.
  • * 1922 , John Galsworthy, A Family Man: In Three Acts [http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC00645065&id=vw6G-rbudVUC&pg=PA93&lpg=PA93&dq=%22black+his+eye%22&as_brr=1]
  • I saw red, and instead of a cab I fetched that policeman. Of course father did black his eye.
  • To apply blacking to something.
  • * 1853 , Harriet Beecher Stowe, The Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/ot2www-pubeng?specfile=/texts/english/modeng/publicsearch/modengpub.o2w&act=surround&offset=600775507&tag=Stowe,+Harriet+Beecher:+The+Key+to+Uncle+Tom's+Cabin,+1853&query=+black+his&id=StoKeyu]
  • ...he must catch, curry, and saddle his own horse; he must black his own brogans (for he will not be able to buy boots).
  • * 1861 , George William Curtis, Trumps: A Novel [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/ot2www-pubeng?specfile=/texts/english/modeng/publicsearch/modengpub.o2w&act=surround&offset=160888866&tag=EAF538&query=+black+your&id=eaf538]
  • But in a moment he went to Greenidge's bedside, and said, shyly, in a low voice, "Shall I black your boots for you?"
  • * 1911 , Max Beerbohm, Zuleika Dobson [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/ot2www-pubeng?specfile=/texts/english/modeng/publicsearch/modengpub.o2w&act=surround&offset=91865750&tag=Beerbohm,+Max,+Sir,+1872-1956:+Zuleika+Dobson,+1911&query=+black+your&id=BeeZule]
  • Loving you, I could conceive no life sweeter than hers — to be always near you; to black your boots, carry up your coals, scrub your doorstep; always to be working for you, hard and humbly and without thanks.
  • (British) To boycott something or someone, usually as part of an industrial dispute.
  • Synonyms

    * (make black) blacken, darken, swarten * (boycott) blackball, blacklist

    Derived terms

    * black alder * blackamoor * black-and-blue * black-and-tan * black and white * black arts * black bag job * blackball * black bean * black bear * black belt * blackberry * black bile * blackboard * black body * black book * black bottom * black bottom pie * black box * black bread * black bread mold * black bun * blackbutt * blackcap * black cherry * black coffee * black cohosh * black comedy * black cow * blackcurrant * blackdamp * Black Death * black diamond * black dwarf * black economy * blacken * black-eyed * black-eyed bean * black-eyed pea * black-eyed Susan * black-faced * blackfish * black flag * blackfly * Black Forest * Black Forest cake, Black Forest gateau * black frost * black game * blackguard * black gum * blackhead * black-hearted * black hole * black humor, black humour * black ice * blackjack * black knight * black-lead * blackleg * black letter * black light * black list * black-list * blackly * black lung * blackmail * black magic * black man * Black Maria * black mark * black market * black mass * black measles * black money * black mustard * blackness * black nightshade * black out * blackout * Black Panther * black pepper * blackpoll * black powder * Black Power * black propaganda * black pudding * black racer * black raspberry * Black Rod * black rot * Black Sea * black shale * black sheep * black-sick * black skimmer * blacksmith * black spot * black stork * blackstrap * black stump * black swan * black tea * blackthorn * black tie * blacktop * Black Tuesday * black up * black velvet * Black Virgin * black walnut * blackwater * black widow * blackwood * blackwork * carbon black * coal black * ivory black * Large Black * long black * nonblack * penny black * pitch-black * platinum black * short black * slate black * television black

    See also

    * monochrome * *

    Statistics

    * 1000 English basic words ----

    empty

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Devoid of content; containing nothing or nobody; vacant.
  • an empty''' purse; an '''empty''' jug; an '''empty stomach
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=October 23 , author=Phil McNulty , title=Man Utd 1 - 6 Man City , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=United's stature is such that one result must not bring the immediate announcement of a shift in the balance of power in Manchester - but the swathes of empty seats around Old Trafford and the wave of attacks pouring towards David de Gea's goal in the second half emphasised that City quite simply have greater firepower and talent in their squad at present.}}
  • (computing, programming) Containing no elements (as of a string or array), opposed to being null (having no valid value).
  • (obsolete) Free; clear; devoid; often with of .
  • * Milton
  • that fair female troop empty of all good
  • * Shakespeare
  • I shall find you empty of that fault.
  • Having nothing to carry; unburdened.
  • * Shakespeare
  • an empty messenger
  • * Bible, Exodus iii. 21
  • When ye go ye shall not go empty .
  • Destitute of effect, sincerity, or sense; said of language.
  • empty words, or threats
  • * Cibber
  • Words are but empty thanks.
  • Unable to satisfy; hollow; vain.
  • empty pleasures
  • * Alexander Pope
  • pleas'd in the silent shade with empty praise
  • Destitute of reality, or real existence; unsubstantial.
  • empty dreams
  • (obsolete) Producing nothing; unfruitful; said of a plant or tree.
  • an empty vine
  • * Bible, Genesis xli. 27
  • seven empty ears blasted with the east wind
  • Destitute of, or lacking, sense, knowledge, or courtesy.
  • empty''' brains; an '''empty coxcomb
  • * Shakespeare
  • that in civility thou seem'st so empty

    Synonyms

    * (devoid of content) unoccupied, clear, , toom, clean

    Antonyms

    * full

    Derived terms

    * empty-handed * emptiness * empty product * empty set * empty sum

    Verb

  • (ergative) To make empty; to void; to remove the contents of.
  • to empty a well or a cistern
    The cinema emptied quickly after the end of the film.
  • * Bible, Eccl. xi. 3
  • The clouds empty themselves upon the earth.

    Antonyms

    * fill

    Derived terms

    * empty the tank

    Noun

    (empties)
  • A container, especially a bottle, whose contents have been used up, leaving it empty.
  • Put the empties out to be recycled.

    Derived terms

    * emptiness * run on empty