black hole

noun

1

: a celestial object that has a gravitational field so strong that light cannot escape it and that is believed to be created especially in the collapse of a very massive star

2

: something resembling a black hole: such as

a

: something that consumes a resource continually

a financial black hole

b

: an empty space : void

… the archives of the past few years are a black hole.

—David Herman

c

: a dark and seemingly inescapable state or situation

the black hole of depression

Synonyms of black hole

• emptiness
• vacancy
• void
• blank

Examples of black hole in a Sentence

discovered that there was a black hole in the library's collection with regard to her topic

Recent Examples on the Web

About 30 percent of the galaxies emit radio waves, a sign that their central black holes are active. —Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 10 Jan. 2026

However, black holes are messy eaters, and some of this ex-stellar matter is blasted out from around them in parallel jets. —Robert Lea, Space.com, 8 Jan. 2026

Hawking’s work on the physics of black holes helped reshape the scientific understanding of the universe, even after being diagnosed with a motor neuron disease also known as ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, early in life that gradually paralyzed him. —Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com, 8 Jan. 2026

She had been disappeared into the black hole of the detention system. —Mike Hellgren, CBS News, 8 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1963, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for black hole

• bankroll
• bedroll
• borehole
• cajole
• catchpole
• charcoal
• condole
• control
• dipole
• downhole
• enroll
• extol

Kids Definition

black hole

noun

: an invisible region believed to exist in space having a very strong gravitational field and thought to be caused by the collapse of a star