black·out
ˈblak-ˌau̇t 
1
a
: a turning off of the stage lighting to separate scenes in a play or end a play or skit
also
: a skit that ends with a blackout
b
: a period of darkness enforced as a precaution against air raids
c
: a period of darkness (as in a city) caused by a failure of electrical power
2
: a transient dulling or loss of vision, consciousness, or memory
an alcoholic blackout
3
a
: a wiping out : obliteration
b
: a blotting out by censorship : suppression
a news blackout
4
: a usually temporary loss of a radio signal
5
: the prohibition or restriction of the telecasting of a sports event
6
: a time during which a special commercial offer (as of tickets) is not valid
—usually used attributively
blackout dates
blacked out; blacking out; blacks out
1
2
: to envelop in darkness
black out the stage
3
: to make inoperative (as by a power failure)
4
: to impose a blackout on
blacked out the local game
1
: to become enveloped in darkness
2
: to undergo a temporary loss of vision, consciousness, or memory
Synonyms
Examples of blackout in a Sentence
Noun
the blackouts of World War II
She keeps flashlights and candles handy in case of a blackout.
He told his doctor he had been experiencing blackouts.
Verb
had spent most of her adulthood trying to black out memories of a wretched childhood
with the delivery of the knockout punch, the screen blacks out, and in the next scene the boxer wakes up in the hospital
Recent Examples on the Web
Lea Skene, Fortune, 15 May 2024
The gas industry warns these policies will hike customer bills and increase the possibility of electric blackouts.
—Bloomberg, The Mercury News, 13 May 2024
Intense solar activity sent bursts of radiation toward Earth, causing fluctuations in the upper atmosphere that led to disruptions in the power grid and radio blackouts, among other technologies and infrastructure.
—Passant Rabie / Gizmodo, Quartz, 13 May 2024
The tool describes current and future environmental disturbances of three types: geomagnetic storms, solar radiation storms and radio blackouts.
—Skyler Caruso, Peoplemag, 10 May 2024
Mexico City and several other regions in the country have faced blackouts, Milenio reported Thursday.
—Andrea Navarro / Bloomberg, TIME, 10 May 2024
The sale is not available for travel on Fridays or Sundays or during the blackout dates of Sept. 3 and Sept. 4.
—Alison Fox, Travel + Leisure, 6 May 2024
As batteries have proliferated, power companies are using them in novel ways, such as handling big swings in electricity generation from solar and wind farms, reducing congestion on transmission lines and helping to prevent blackouts during scorching heat waves.
—Brad Plumer, New York Times, 6 May 2024
An electricity crisis that has resulted in power blackouts that are devastating the country’s economy added to the party’s woes as businesses and homes are sometimes forced to go without electricity for up to 12 hours a day.
—Mogomotsi Magome, The Christian Science Monitor, 26 Apr. 2024
Gabrielle Rockson, Peoplemag, 9 May 2024
Spanish law enforcement officials were also able to identify the brand of spray paint David allegedly used to black out the security cameras in Ana's building and obtained footage of a man who appears to be Knezevich purchasing the spray paint from a store in Madrid, the affidavit states.
—Audrey Conklin, Fox News, 9 May 2024
Earlier this week, Comcast blacked out 15 regional sports networks under Bally Sports because of a contract dispute with distributor Diamond Sports Group.
2.
—Phil Thompson, Chicago Tribune, 6 May 2024
Follow more of our reporting on Reality Check for KC
Royals
Royals games are blacked out for Comcast/Xfinity subscribers.
—Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 4 May 2024
In new documents, prosecutors allege Eric took a bite of a sandwich left in his truck along with a note on that day, only to end up breaking out in hives and blacking out.
—USA TODAY, 28 Mar. 2024
The affidavits released to the public were redacted so some details, mostly names, have been blacked out.
—Robert A. Cronkleton, Kansas City Star, 21 Feb. 2024
Digital streaming viewers often use this VPN masking technology to access shows restricted in certain markets and blacked out sports events.
—Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 3 Apr. 2024
In response to a FOIA request by Capital & Main on these questions, the FBI sent a CD containing over 1,100 pages of documents largely dated in the late 2000s, of which almost 1,000 pages were deleted, and many of those that remained were duplicated or blacked out.
—Eli Cahan, Rolling Stone, 7 Mar. 2024
Noun
After the initial blackout caused by the closed exhaust damper, investigators say a backup generator automatically came on.
—Lea Skene, Fortune, 15 May 2024
The gas industry warns these policies will hike customer bills and increase the possibility of electric blackouts.
—Bloomberg, The Mercury News, 13 May 2024
Intense solar activity sent bursts of radiation toward Earth, causing fluctuations in the upper atmosphere that led to disruptions in the power grid and radio blackouts, among other technologies and infrastructure.
—Passant Rabie / Gizmodo, Quartz, 13 May 2024
The tool describes current and future environmental disturbances of three types: geomagnetic storms, solar radiation storms and radio blackouts.
—Skyler Caruso, Peoplemag, 10 May 2024
Mexico City and several other regions in the country have faced blackouts, Milenio reported Thursday.
—Andrea Navarro / Bloomberg, TIME, 10 May 2024
The sale is not available for travel on Fridays or Sundays or during the blackout dates of Sept. 3 and Sept. 4.
—Alison Fox, Travel + Leisure, 6 May 2024
As batteries have proliferated, power companies are using them in novel ways, such as handling big swings in electricity generation from solar and wind farms, reducing congestion on transmission lines and helping to prevent blackouts during scorching heat waves.
—Brad Plumer, New York Times, 6 May 2024
An electricity crisis that has resulted in power blackouts that are devastating the country’s economy added to the party’s woes as businesses and homes are sometimes forced to go without electricity for up to 12 hours a day.
—Mogomotsi Magome, The Christian Science Monitor, 26 Apr. 2024
Verb
Gracie Abrams is opening up about blacking out while performing with Taylor Swift.
—Gabrielle Rockson, Peoplemag, 9 May 2024
Spanish law enforcement officials were also able to identify the brand of spray paint David allegedly used to black out the security cameras in Ana's building and obtained footage of a man who appears to be Knezevich purchasing the spray paint from a store in Madrid, the affidavit states.
—Audrey Conklin, Fox News, 9 May 2024
Earlier this week, Comcast blacked out 15 regional sports networks under Bally Sports because of a contract dispute with distributor Diamond Sports Group.
2.
—Phil Thompson, Chicago Tribune, 6 May 2024
Follow more of our reporting on Reality Check for KC
Royals
Royals games are blacked out for Comcast/Xfinity subscribers.
—Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 4 May 2024
In new documents, prosecutors allege Eric took a bite of a sandwich left in his truck along with a note on that day, only to end up breaking out in hives and blacking out.
—USA TODAY, 28 Mar. 2024
The affidavits released to the public were redacted so some details, mostly names, have been blacked out.
—Robert A. Cronkleton, Kansas City Star, 21 Feb. 2024
Digital streaming viewers often use this VPN masking technology to access shows restricted in certain markets and blacked out sports events.
—Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 3 Apr. 2024
In response to a FOIA request by Capital & Main on these questions, the FBI sent a CD containing over 1,100 pages of documents largely dated in the late 2000s, of which almost 1,000 pages were deleted, and many of those that remained were duplicated or blacked out.
—Eli Cahan, Rolling Stone, 7 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'blackout.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near blackout
Cite this Entry
“Blackout.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blackout. Accessed 18 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
blackout
noun
black·out
ˈblak-ˌau̇t
1
: a period when lights are kept off to guard against enemy airplane attack in a war
2
: a period when lights are off as a result of an electrical power failure
3
: a temporary dulling or loss of vision or consciousness
black out
verb
-ˈau̇t
Medical Definition
blackout
1 of 2 noun
black·out
ˈblak-ˌau̇t
black out
2 of 2 intransitive verb
: to cause to black out
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