HomeServicesBlogDictionariesContactSpanish Course
← Back to search

Meaning of blackout | Babel Free

Noun CEFR C1 Standard
ˈblæk.aʊt

Definitions

  1. A temporary loss of consciousness.
    countable, uncountable
  2. A temporary loss of consciousness
  3. A temporary loss of memory.
    countable, uncountable
  4. A temporary loss of memory
  5. A large-scale power failure, and resulting loss of electricity to consumers.
    countable, uncountable
  6. A large-scale power failure, and resulting loss of electricity to consumers
  7. An instance of censorship, especially a temporary one.
    countable, uncountable
  8. An instance of censorship, especially a temporary one
  9. An intentional outage of a website or other online service, typically as a form of protest.
    Internet, countable, uncountable
  10. An intentional outage of a website or other online service, typically as a form of protest
  11. The mandatory blocking of all light emanating from buildings, as well as outdoor and street lighting as a measure against aerial bombing or naval attack, as imposed during, e.g., World War II.
    countable, historical, uncountable
  12. The blocking out of as much light as possible.
    attributive, countable, uncountable
  13. A mass murder committed, usually in an urban area, to eliminate potential witnesses of a previous crime.
    countable, rare, slang, uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

““I mean, what is she even talking about? Got her pregnant at the Halloween party? What does that mean? I don't even remember that party. I was wasted.” “Yeah, me too. I browned out that evening.” “"browned out"? What's "browned out"?” “Oh, it's when you drink so much that everything goes brown. It's not as severe as a blackout, 'cause I remember bits and pieces. I like to call it "browning out."””
“The repairs at the Koeberg Power Station in the Western Cape were on schedule for completion in the third week of May. This follows huge blackouts related to the problems at the power supplier since November.”
“There have been several examples of space weather affecting power grids in the last few decades, notably blackouts caused by GICs [geomagnetically induced currents] in Canada in 1989 and Sweden in 2003.”
“media blackout”
“According to a press release issued by the clinic staff, a blackout by the local press had kept the public uninformed about the clinic's harassment.”
“The protests have alarmed authorities, and on Thursday night, they shut off internet and mobile access in the country, cutting the Iranian people off from the rest of the world. Rights groups have accused the government of exploiting the media blackout to carry out a brutal crackdown against protesters.”
“the 2012 English Wikipedia blackout”
“A group of Redditors, many of whom are moderators, organized a temporary boycott, with participating subreddits going private or restricted for 48 hours starting on Monday. A Twitch stream tracking the blackout claimed that nearly 8,500 subreddits, some with tens of millions of subscribers, had gone dark by Tuesday afternoon.”
“In co-operation with the Government departments, the British railway companies prepared their stations, offices, docks, hotels, trains, and other premises for the necessary blackout of lighting that it was realised would be required in a state of emergency, and in the case of the experimental voluntary blackouts which took place in July and August the railway companies concerned co-operated in every way possible.”
“During the "blackout", many real cars and lorries had their front wings painted white, in order to avoid accidents.”
“blackout blinds; blackout curtains”

CEFR level

C1
Advanced
This word is part of the CEFR C1 vocabulary — advanced level.
See all C1 English words →

See also

Learn this word in context

See blackout used in real conversations inside our free language course.

Start Free Course

Know this word better than we do? Language is a living thing — help us keep it growing. Collaborate with Babel Free