What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Old vs Black - What's the difference?

old | black |

As a noun old

is age.

As a proper noun black is

.

old

English

(wikipedia old)

Adjective

(en-adj)
  • Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time.
  • :
  • *
  • *:They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so perfect. And why else was he put away up there out of sight?—and so magnificent a brush as he had too.
  • #Of a living being, having lived for most of the expected years.
  • #:
  • #Of a perishable item, having existed for most, or more than its shelf life.
  • #:
  • Of an item that has been used and so is not new (unused).
  • :
  • Having existed or lived for the specified time.
  • :
  • :
  • (lb) Of an earlier time.
  • #Former, previous.
  • #:
  • #*
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8 , passage=The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; for, even after she had conquered her love for the Celebrity, the mortification of having been jilted by him remained.}}
  • #*1994 , Michael Grumley, Life Drawing
  • #*:But over my old life, a new life had formed.
  • #That is no longer in existence.
  • #:
  • #Obsolete; out-of-date.
  • #:
  • #Familiar.
  • #:
  • Tiresome.
  • :
  • Said of subdued colors, particularly reds, pinks and oranges, as if they had faded over time.
  • A grammatical intensifier, often used in describing something positive. (Mostly in idioms like good old, big old and little old, any old and some old.)
  • :
  • (lb) Excessive, abundant.
  • *1599 , (William Shakespeare), (Much Ado About Nothing) , :
  • *:URSULA: Madam, you must come to your uncle. Yonder's old coil at home: it is proved, my Lady Hero hath been falsely accused, the prince and Claudio mightily abused;
  • Synonyms

    * (having existed for a long period of time) ancient, long in the tooth * (having lived for many years) aged, ageing / aging, elderly, long in the tooth, on in years * (having existed or lived for the specified time) aged, of age * (former) erstwhile, ex-, former, one-time, past * (out-of-date) antiquated, obsolete (words) * See also

    Antonyms

    * (having existed for a long period of time) brand new, fresh, new * (having lived for many years) young * (former) current, latest, new

    Derived terms

    * age-old * any old * big old * good old * little old * old age * old-age * Old Akkadian * Old Armenian * Old Assyrian * old as the hills * Old Babylonian * Old Blighty * Old Bulgarian * Old Church Slavic * Old Church Slavonic * old college try * old country * Old Czech * Old Dutch * olden * Old Egyptian * Old English * old fart * old-fashioned * old flame * Old Flemish * old fogey * old franc * Old Franconian * Old Frankish * Old French * Old Frisian * Old Glory * old gold * old growth * old guard * old hand * old hat * Old High German * Old Icelandic * oldies * Old Indic * Old Indo-Aryan * Old Ionic * Old Iranian * Old Irish * old lace * old lady * Old Latin * Old Low Franconian * Old Low Frankish * Old Low German * old maid * old man * old money * Old Nick * Old Norse * Old North French * Old Norwegian * old penny * Old Persian * * Old Prussian * old regime * Old Russian * olds * old salt * old saw * Old Saxon * Old Scandinavian * old school * Old Slavic * Old Slavonic * old sweat * Old Testament * old-time * old-timer * Old Welsh * old woman * Old World * old-world * over-old * same old same old * same old story * some old * you can't put an old head on young shoulders

    Noun

    (usually used as plural)
  • People who are old; old beings; the older generation; usually used with the .
  • A civilised society should always look after the old in the community.

    Statistics

    *

    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 ----