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

Due to these mind-bending sizes and the resulting complexity of simulating black hole accretion, previous models have used shortcuts to simplify the problem of radiation flows. —Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 4 Dec. 2025

Similarly, time passes more slowly close to a black hole because the gravitational field is much stronger than on Earth. —Keith Cooper, Space.com, 2 Dec. 2025

This just feels like a black hole. —Liz Weston, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Nov. 2025

Clues from string theory, black hole physics and other places have led to a widespread belief that space-time should unravel into stranger stuff at some submicroscopic scale. —Quanta Magazine, 17 Nov. 2025

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