blackout
/ˈblæk.aʊt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.58 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A large-scale power failure, and resulting loss of electricity to consumers.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
An intentional outage of a website or other online service, typically as a form of protest.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
The mandatory blocking of all light emanating from buildings, as well as outdoor and street lighting as a measure against aerial bombing or naval attack, as imposed during, e.g., World War II.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A mass murder committed, usually in an urban area, to eliminate potential witnesses of a previous crime.
Countable; Slang; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "“I mean, what is she even talking about? Got her pregnant at the Halloween party? What does that mean? I don't even remember that party. I was wasted.” “Yeah, me too. I browned out that evening.” “"browned out"? What's "browned out"?” “Oh, it's when you drink so much that everything goes brown. It's not as severe as a blackout, 'cause I remember bits and pieces. I like to call it "browning out."”"
- "The repairs at the Koeberg Power Station in the Western Cape were on schedule for completion in the third week of May. This follows huge blackouts related to the problems at the power supplier since November."
- "There have been several examples of space weather affecting power grids in the last few decades, notably blackouts caused by GICs [geomagnetically induced currents] in Canada in 1989 and Sweden in 2003."
- "media blackout"
- "According to a press release issued by the clinic staff, a blackout by the local press had kept the public uninformed about the clinic's harassment."
- "The protests have alarmed authorities, and on Thursday night, they shut off internet and mobile access in the country, cutting the Iranian people off from the rest of the world. Rights groups have accused the government of exploiting the media blackout to carry out a brutal crackdown against protesters."
Etymology
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈblæk.aʊt/