blackball

Also found in: Thesaurus, Idioms, Wikipedia.

black·ball

(blăk′bôl′)

1. A negative vote, especially one that blocks the admission of an applicant to an organization.

2. A small black ball used as a negative ballot.

tr.v. black·balled, black·ball·ing, black·balls

1. To vote against, especially to veto the admission of.

2. To shut out from social or commercial participation; ostracize or boycott.

black′ball′er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

blackball

(ˈblækˌbɔːl)

1. a negative vote or veto

2. a black wooden ball used to indicate disapproval or to veto in a vote

3. (Cookery) NZ a hard boiled sweet with black-and-white stripes

vb (tr)

4. to vote against in a ballot

5. to exclude (someone) from a group, profession, etc; ostracize

[C18: see sense 2]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

black•ball

(ˈblækˌbɔl)
v.t.

1. to vote against.

2. to exclude socially; ostracize.

3. a negative vote.

4. (formerly) a black ball placed in a ballot box signifying a negative vote.

[1760–70]

black′ball`er, n.

blackball

Past participle: blackballed
Gerund: blackballing

Imperative
blackball
blackball

Present
I blackball
you blackball
he/she/it blackballs
we blackball
you blackball
they blackball

Preterite
I blackballed
you blackballed
he/she/it blackballed
we blackballed
you blackballed
they blackballed

Present Continuous
I am blackballing
you are blackballing
he/she/it is blackballing
we are blackballing
you are blackballing
they are blackballing

Present Perfect
I have blackballed
you have blackballed
he/she/it has blackballed
we have blackballed
you have blackballed
they have blackballed

Past Continuous
I was blackballing
you were blackballing
he/she/it was blackballing
we were blackballing
you were blackballing
they were blackballing

Past Perfect
I had blackballed
you had blackballed
he/she/it had blackballed
we had blackballed
you had blackballed
they had blackballed

Future
I will blackball
you will blackball
he/she/it will blackball
we will blackball
you will blackball
they will blackball

Future Perfect
I will have blackballed
you will have blackballed
he/she/it will have blackballed
we will have blackballed
you will have blackballed
they will have blackballed

Future Continuous
I will be blackballing
you will be blackballing
he/she/it will be blackballing
we will be blackballing
you will be blackballing
they will be blackballing

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been blackballing
you have been blackballing
he/she/it has been blackballing
we have been blackballing
you have been blackballing
they have been blackballing

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been blackballing
you will have been blackballing
he/she/it will have been blackballing
we will have been blackballing
you will have been blackballing
they will have been blackballing

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been blackballing
you had been blackballing
he/she/it had been blackballing
we had been blackballing
you had been blackballing
they had been blackballing

Conditional
I would blackball
you would blackball
he/she/it would blackball
we would blackball
you would blackball
they would blackball

Past Conditional
I would have blackballed
you would have blackballed
he/she/it would have blackballed
we would have blackballed
you would have blackballed
they would have blackballed

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	blackball - the act of excluding someone by a negative vote or veto barring expulsion, riddance, ejection, exclusion - the act of forcing out someone or something; "the ejection of troublemakers by the police"; "the child's expulsion from school"
Verb	1.	blackball - expel from a community or group banish, cast out, ostracise, ostracize, shun, ban expel, kick out, throw out - force to leave or move out; "He was expelled from his native country"
	2.	blackball - vote against; refuse to endorse; refuse to assent; "The President vetoed the bill" negative, veto controvert, contradict, oppose - be resistant to; "The board opposed his motion" vote down, vote out, defeat, kill, shoot down - thwart the passage of; "kill a motion"; "he shot down the student's proposal"

blackball

verb remove, bar, ban, exclude, get rid of, veto, embargo, expel, throw out, oust, snub, vote against, force out, evict, disallow, shut out, repudiate, blacklist, ostracize, debar, drum out Members can blackball candidates in secret ballots.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

blackball

verb

1. To prevent or forbid authoritatively:

negative, turn down, veto.

Slang: nix.

Idiom: turn thumbs down on.

2. To exclude from normal social or professional activities:

blacklist, boycott, ostracize, shut out.

Translations

boykottieren

blackball

[ˈblækbɔːl]

A. VT (= vote against) → dar bola negra a, votar en contra de; (= exclude) → dejar fuera

B. N (= ball) → bola f negra; (= vote) → voto m en contra

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

blackball

[ˈblækˌbɔːl] vt to blackball sb → votare a sfavore di qn

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

They talked about little Rawdon a long time, for Becky only came home to dress and go out to dinner--and then he went off uneasily to drink tea with Lady Jane, and tell her of what had happened, and how little Rawdon went off like a trump, and how he was to wear a gown and little knee-breeches, and how young Blackball, Jack Blackball's son, of the old regiment, had taken him in charge and promised to be kind to him.

View in context

"But I applied for membership - I was blackballed."

View in context

He was very nearly blackballed at a West End club of which his birth and social position fully entitled him to become a member, and it was said that on one occasion, when he was brought by a friend into the smoking-room of the Churchill, the Duke of Berwick and another gentleman got up in a marked manner and went out.

View in context

Potential proprietors have to be first nominated by two current proprietors and then passed by the club's committee, who can blackball the applicant if they decide he or she is not ``a decent person'' -although this rarely happens in practice.

550 PROPRIETORS PAY FOR A STAKE IN TRADITION

LADBROKES and Hills were last night tipping up an all-Scottish final in the Embassy World Championship but back Ronnie O'Sullivan to blackball that notion, writes Steve Davies.

Rocket to blast into final

This was a shock maiden win which he added to a number of other titles in the Middlesbrough Central Blackball League.

Woodier hits the jackpot; cue sports

Davis, playing some of his finest snooker for years,dealt the Edinburgh professional two crushing blows by stealing frames four and five in blackball finishes, and now faces John Higgins in the last eight tomorrow night.

SNOOKER: DAVIS BLACK BALLS SMALL

CHRIS Gladwin from Tables just missed out on a clean sweep in the Middlesbrough Central blackball Pool League.

Chris so close to a clean sweep; POOL

But the young star - who was runner-up in this year's Under-23 European Blackball Pool Championship - showed his determination to take the tie into a decider, before keeping his cool to pull off a shock result and pick up the PS500 first prize.

Ged adds title to Euro silver; CUE SPORTS

The family moved to New Zealand from Govan, Glasgow, in 2005 and bought local firm the Blackball Salami Company a year later.

EXPAT HELD AFTER WIFE MURDERED; New Zealand horror

TEESSIDE was well represented in the European Blackball Pool Championships at Bridlington, with five local lads battling on the baize for their country.

Boyle hits a fine streak of winning form; POOL

Steve Woodier has now played in seven international finals from eight competitions in the past year after impressing for England's Blackball team in the European championships at Bridlington.