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

• 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

Like a black hole instant that reroutes damage somewhere else, or tap a mountain and Bender shoots fire for one damage. —Curtis Silver, Forbes.com, 14 Aug. 2025

Instead, the black hole began devouring the star, which eventually sparked a supernova after its debris collided with the surrounding gas. —Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 14 Aug. 2025

The extreme gravitational stress from the black hole caused the supernova explosion. —Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 14 Aug. 2025

Over time, the black hole's gravity could have destabilized the star, pushing it to collapse. —Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 13 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1964, 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