black·out
ˈblak-ˌau̇t 
1
a
: a turning off of the stage lighting to separate scenes in a play or end a play or skit
also
: a skit that ends with a blackout
b
: a period of darkness enforced as a precaution against air raids
c
: a period of darkness (as in a city) caused by a failure of electrical power
2
: a transient dulling or loss of vision, consciousness, or memory
an alcoholic blackout
3
a
: a wiping out : obliteration
b
: a blotting out by censorship : suppression
a news blackout
4
: a usually temporary loss of a radio signal
5
: the prohibition or restriction of the telecasting of a sports event
6
: a time during which a special commercial offer (as of tickets) is not valid
—usually used attributively
blackout dates
blacked out; blacking out; blacks out
1
2
: to envelop in darkness
black out the stage
3
: to make inoperative (as by a power failure)
4
: to impose a blackout on
blacked out the local game
1
: to become enveloped in darkness
2
: to undergo a temporary loss of vision, consciousness, or memory
Synonyms
Examples of blackout in a Sentence
Noun
the blackouts of World War II
She keeps flashlights and candles handy in case of a blackout.
He told his doctor he had been experiencing blackouts.
Verb
had spent most of her adulthood trying to black out memories of a wretched childhood
with the delivery of the knockout punch, the screen blacks out, and in the next scene the boxer wakes up in the hospital
Recent Examples on the Web
Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 6 Apr. 2024
Around this time, the pilot association dispatcher contacted the Maryland Transportation Authority duty officer about the blackout, according to transit authority data.
—Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN, 28 Mar. 2024
The bridge collapse was caught on video, where viewers could see a total blackout on the ship.
—Janice Gassam Asare, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024
Those efforts got more urgent after an unusual cold snap on Christmas Eve in 2022 nearly tapped out the power grid and could have led to rolling blackouts.
—Jeffrey Collins, Quartz, 27 Mar. 2024
This contributes to blackouts and short-term memory lapses when drinking.
—Amanda MacMillan, Health, 26 Mar. 2024
However, with no blackout dates to note, this promotion offers a great discount on an early summer trip for Memorial Day or Father’s Day.
—Staff Author, Travel + Leisure, 25 Mar. 2024
Residents of Bayamo walked through the city streets in darkness amid a blackout, singing the national anthem, a gesture carrying a strong symbolism as the town is believed to have been the place where independence fighter Perucho Figueredo wrote its lyrics and music in the late 1860s.
—Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 26 Mar. 2024
But Russian air strikes and bombing across the country through October and November 2022 hit major civilian infrastructure, including the power grid, causing widespread blackouts in Lviv.
—Rebecca Cairns, CNN, 25 Mar. 2024
Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 3 Apr. 2024
In response to a FOIA request by Capital & Main on these questions, the FBI sent a CD containing over 1,100 pages of documents largely dated in the late 2000s, of which almost 1,000 pages were deleted, and many of those that remained were duplicated or blacked out.
—Eli Cahan, Rolling Stone, 7 Mar. 2024
Benedict said the girls pounced and were beating them up when Benedict blacked out.
—USA TODAY, 2 Mar. 2024
Power plants across the eastern U.S. throttled back, blacking out homes in multiple states.
—Tom Winter, NBC News, 4 Feb. 2024
Commissioner Larry Scott, who tried to play tough guy with DirecTV and many other satellite and cable systems, so millions of possible viewers were blacked out to this very day.
—Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2024
As the stream happened, Swifties noticed that the official Taylor Swift webstore was blacked out.
—Ashley Iasimone, Billboard, 2 Mar. 2024
In addition, travel to international destinations, Hawaii, and San Juan is blacked out on March 26 and March 27 for outgoing trips, and blacked out from March 26 to April 3 for incoming trips.
—Alison Fox, Travel + Leisure, 13 Mar. 2024
His video monitor had gone blurry at first, the landscape of shattered trees and shell craters barely visible, before blacking out completely.
—Yurii Shyvala, New York Times, 12 Mar. 2024
Noun
Charter set the tone last year with its 12-day blackout of Disney channels including ESPN and ABC.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 6 Apr. 2024
Around this time, the pilot association dispatcher contacted the Maryland Transportation Authority duty officer about the blackout, according to transit authority data.
—Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN, 28 Mar. 2024
The bridge collapse was caught on video, where viewers could see a total blackout on the ship.
—Janice Gassam Asare, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024
Those efforts got more urgent after an unusual cold snap on Christmas Eve in 2022 nearly tapped out the power grid and could have led to rolling blackouts.
—Jeffrey Collins, Quartz, 27 Mar. 2024
This contributes to blackouts and short-term memory lapses when drinking.
—Amanda MacMillan, Health, 26 Mar. 2024
However, with no blackout dates to note, this promotion offers a great discount on an early summer trip for Memorial Day or Father’s Day.
—Staff Author, Travel + Leisure, 25 Mar. 2024
Residents of Bayamo walked through the city streets in darkness amid a blackout, singing the national anthem, a gesture carrying a strong symbolism as the town is believed to have been the place where independence fighter Perucho Figueredo wrote its lyrics and music in the late 1860s.
—Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 26 Mar. 2024
But Russian air strikes and bombing across the country through October and November 2022 hit major civilian infrastructure, including the power grid, causing widespread blackouts in Lviv.
—Rebecca Cairns, CNN, 25 Mar. 2024
Verb
Digital streaming viewers often use this VPN masking technology to access shows restricted in certain markets and blacked out sports events.
—Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 3 Apr. 2024
In response to a FOIA request by Capital & Main on these questions, the FBI sent a CD containing over 1,100 pages of documents largely dated in the late 2000s, of which almost 1,000 pages were deleted, and many of those that remained were duplicated or blacked out.
—Eli Cahan, Rolling Stone, 7 Mar. 2024
Benedict said the girls pounced and were beating them up when Benedict blacked out.
—USA TODAY, 2 Mar. 2024
Power plants across the eastern U.S. throttled back, blacking out homes in multiple states.
—Tom Winter, NBC News, 4 Feb. 2024
Commissioner Larry Scott, who tried to play tough guy with DirecTV and many other satellite and cable systems, so millions of possible viewers were blacked out to this very day.
—Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2024
As the stream happened, Swifties noticed that the official Taylor Swift webstore was blacked out.
—Ashley Iasimone, Billboard, 2 Mar. 2024
In addition, travel to international destinations, Hawaii, and San Juan is blacked out on March 26 and March 27 for outgoing trips, and blacked out from March 26 to April 3 for incoming trips.
—Alison Fox, Travel + Leisure, 13 Mar. 2024
His video monitor had gone blurry at first, the landscape of shattered trees and shell craters barely visible, before blacking out completely.
—Yurii Shyvala, New York Times, 12 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'blackout.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near blackout
Cite this Entry
“Blackout.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blackout. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
blackout
noun
black·out
ˈblak-ˌau̇t
1
: a period when lights are kept off to guard against enemy airplane attack in a war
2
: a period when lights are off as a result of an electrical power failure
3
: a temporary dulling or loss of vision or consciousness
black out
verb
-ˈau̇t
Medical Definition
blackout
1 of 2 noun
black·out
ˈblak-ˌau̇t
black out
2 of 2 intransitive verb
: to cause to black out
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