1
: a usually complicated electronic device whose internal mechanism is usually hidden from or mysterious to the user
broadly
: anything that has mysterious or unknown internal functions or mechanisms
2
: a crashworthy device in aircraft for recording cockpit conversations and flight data
3
: a device in an automobile that records information (such as speed, temperature, or gasoline efficiency) which can be used to monitor vehicle performance or determine a cause in the event of an accident
: being or containing a warning of a serious or life-threatening side effect (such as stroke or muscle damage) that is highlighted by a black border on a prescription drug's label or accompanying literature
Examples of black box in a Sentence
Noun
The black boxes were recovered from the crash site and provided useful information about the cause of the crash.
Recent Examples on the Web
Eric E. Harrison, arkansasonline.com, 14 Apr. 2024
The dog, now named Bear, was seen running around with a black box stuck on his head, evading Alabama rescuers for months, McClatchy News reported.
—Olivia Lloyd, Miami Herald, 8 Mar. 2024
The decision to do away with the news conference reflects the dire economic conditions China is facing and the leadership’s growing tendency to put the country into a black box.
—Li Yuan, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2024
The Oscars are like a mystical black box — AMPAS never spills the beans on who voted for what.
—Clayton Davis, Variety, 28 Feb. 2024
However, there is something of a chasm between simply having access to 80 billion documents of raw data and feeding it into a black box, compared to strategically using AI to stay ahead of market trends and customer needs.
—Adrian Bridgwater, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024
And so Hughes' organization was thought to be the perfect black box.
—Kathryn Fink, NPR, 5 Apr. 2024
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board recovered the black box on Wednesday.
—Lawrence Richard, Fox News, 28 Mar. 2024
Against the deep black backdrops around them — the game is staged like a piece of black box theater — this lack of contrast surrounds the players with digital halos, as if they’d been awkwardly pasted into the space.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 20 Mar. 2024
Brian Cheung, NBC News, 13 Mar. 2023
Since then, most dating app companies take a black box approach and don’t talk publicly about what factors into their algorithms.
—WIRED, 14 Feb. 2023
The surround-sound production in Amphibian Stage’s black box theater is the first the play has received since its Off-Off-Broadway premiere three years ago.
—Dallas News, 10 Feb. 2023
The uniqueness of Disney’ government, where building inspectors examine black box structures holding thrill rides instead of office buildings, also complicates matters.
—Mike Schneider, Fortune, 7 Feb. 2023
The uniqueness of Disney' government, where building inspectors examine black box structures holding thrill rides instead of office buildings, also complicates matters.
—Mike Schneider, ajc, 7 Feb. 2023
The Theater Offensive signed a letter of intent in 2020 with Scape North America, developers of the residential and retail project at 1252-1270 Boylston St. that includes a black box theater.
—Terry Byrne, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Jan. 2023
ProPublica spent months trying to crack open Google’s black box ad business.
—Craig Silverman, ProPublica, 21 Dec. 2022
Binance itself has been a black box, offering little information about its financials or even where it is based, the Journal has previously reported.
—Patricia Kowsmann, WSJ, 8 Feb. 2023
Noun
The results will show up onstage, 7 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday, in the Rep’s second-mezzanine black box theater.
—Eric E. Harrison, arkansasonline.com, 14 Apr. 2024
The dog, now named Bear, was seen running around with a black box stuck on his head, evading Alabama rescuers for months, McClatchy News reported.
—Olivia Lloyd, Miami Herald, 8 Mar. 2024
The decision to do away with the news conference reflects the dire economic conditions China is facing and the leadership’s growing tendency to put the country into a black box.
—Li Yuan, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2024
The Oscars are like a mystical black box — AMPAS never spills the beans on who voted for what.
—Clayton Davis, Variety, 28 Feb. 2024
However, there is something of a chasm between simply having access to 80 billion documents of raw data and feeding it into a black box, compared to strategically using AI to stay ahead of market trends and customer needs.
—Adrian Bridgwater, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024
And so Hughes' organization was thought to be the perfect black box.
—Kathryn Fink, NPR, 5 Apr. 2024
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board recovered the black box on Wednesday.
—Lawrence Richard, Fox News, 28 Mar. 2024
Against the deep black backdrops around them — the game is staged like a piece of black box theater — this lack of contrast surrounds the players with digital halos, as if they’d been awkwardly pasted into the space.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 20 Mar. 2024
Adjective
The 200-person company, which operates physical locations resembling old-school general stores that also include black box theater spaces, rolled out a sweeping discount offer to pull in cash, founder and CEO Ben Kaufman said.
—Brian Cheung, NBC News, 13 Mar. 2023
Since then, most dating app companies take a black box approach and don’t talk publicly about what factors into their algorithms.
—WIRED, 14 Feb. 2023
The surround-sound production in Amphibian Stage’s black box theater is the first the play has received since its Off-Off-Broadway premiere three years ago.
—Dallas News, 10 Feb. 2023
The uniqueness of Disney’ government, where building inspectors examine black box structures holding thrill rides instead of office buildings, also complicates matters.
—Mike Schneider, Fortune, 7 Feb. 2023
The uniqueness of Disney' government, where building inspectors examine black box structures holding thrill rides instead of office buildings, also complicates matters.
—Mike Schneider, ajc, 7 Feb. 2023
The Theater Offensive signed a letter of intent in 2020 with Scape North America, developers of the residential and retail project at 1252-1270 Boylston St. that includes a black box theater.
—Terry Byrne, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Jan. 2023
ProPublica spent months trying to crack open Google’s black box ad business.
—Craig Silverman, ProPublica, 21 Dec. 2022
Binance itself has been a black box, offering little information about its financials or even where it is based, the Journal has previously reported.
—Patricia Kowsmann, WSJ, 8 Feb. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'black box.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Black box.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/black%20box. Accessed 27 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
black box
adjective
: being or containing a warning of a serious or life-threatening side effect (as stroke, muscle damage, or suicidal tendencies) that is highlighted by a black border on a prescription drug's label or accompanying literature
A "black box" warning is the most serious warning placed in the labeling of a prescription medication.—Johnathan D. Rockoff, The Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram
Johnathan D. Rockoff, The Fort Worth (Texas) Star-TelegramLove words? Need even more definitions?
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