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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

black spot en · NOUN

Meanings

  1. (uncountable) A fungal disease among plants, particularly roses, that results in black spots on the leaves.
    • In areas where black spot is only a problem after heavy rain or later in the season, restrict spraying to these times, or if yellowing or spotted foliage is detected. 2006, Mary Moody, Mary Moody's Roses, Allen & Unwin, →ISBN, page 20:
  2. (countable, uncountable) A section of roadway that has been designated as being particularly accident-prone.
    • Indian Queens is a hamlet just off the A30, a well-known traffic black spot, and Yellowknife was Margo Kidder's hometown in Canada. 2019, Will Birch, Cruel To Be Kind: The Life and Music of Nick Lowe, Hachette UK, →ISBN:
  3. (broadly, countable, uncountable) A dangerous place or area.
  4. (countable, uncountable) A location with poor radio signal reception, e.g. for mobile phones.
    • What if—like so many rural parts of the county—this was a mobile black spot? That was easily tested. No, she had no problem dialling her own home number. 2013, Judith Cutler, Life Sentence, Allison & Busby, →ISBN:
  5. (countable, figuratively, uncountable) A subject or area about which little or no information is available.
    • Historians began to reanimate elements of the national historical memory partially destroyed by Soviet power. The closed book-shelfs^([sic]) and archives were (at least partially) opened, and “black spots” and taboos could now be tackled by national historians. 2003, Andreas Kappeler, “The Russian Empire and Its Nationalities in Post-Soviet Historiographies”, in Hayashi Tadayuki, editor, The Construction and Deconstruction of National Histories in Slavic Eurasia, Sapporo: Slavic Research Center, Hokkaido University, →ISBN, page 38:
    • Near-synonyms: black hole, blind spot
  6. (countable, uncountable) A fictional judicial device among pirates, consisting of a black circle indicating condemnation.
    • I went down on my knees at once. On the floor close to his hand there was a little round of paper, blackened on the one side. I could not doubt that this was the black spot; and taking it up, I found written on the other side, in a very good, clear hand, this short message: “You have till ten to-night.” 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part I (The Old Buccaneer), page 31:
  7. (countable, uncountable) The spot on a snooker table where the black ball is normally placed.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
blackspot alternative lexicographic
black spots Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

citrus black spot

Synonyms

accident blackspot