Black Friday

noun

US

: the Friday immediately following Thanksgiving Day that is considered by retailers to mark the beginning of the holiday shopping season

Note: The origin of Black Friday in this sense is not known for certain. The day was allegedly so named either in reference to traffic congestion in central cities on the day after Thanksgiving or to the supposed fact that retailers' accounts shifted from red to black with the beginning of the shopping season.

Examples of Black Friday in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Chicago Bears will play Green Bay Packers on Saturday before Christmas — and Philadelphia Eagles on Black Friday After a two-year hiatus, the Chicago Bears-Green Bay Packers rivalry is returning to prime time — and the Bears also will be playing on Black Friday. —Arnie Stapleton, Chicago Tribune, 13 May 2025

The defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles will take on the Chicago Bears on Black Friday, November 28. —Dade Hayes, Deadline, 12 May 2025

In the great tradition of Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Amazon Prime Day, Amazon has expanded these savings extravaganzas to the pet tech sphere. —Molly Higgins, Wired News, 9 May 2025

For instance, according to one source, Visa Europe utilized a digital twin of its payments network during a 2023 cloud outage, rerouting transactions instantly and avoiding Black Friday downtime. —Murugan Lakshmanan, Forbes.com, 8 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1961, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for Black Friday

• untidy
• tidy

Kids Definition

Black Friday

noun

: the Friday immediately following Thanksgiving that is considered by some retailers to mark the beginning of the holiday shopping season