black box

noun

1. any unit that forms part of an electronic circuit and that has its function, but not its components, specified.

2. any comparatively small, usually black, box containing a secret, mysterious, or complex mechanical or electronic device.

3. Aeronautics.,  an electronic device, such as a flight recorder, that can be removed from an aircraft as a single package.

4. Automotive.,  a device in an electronic ignition system that generates electrical pulses.

black box

noun

1. a self-contained unit in an electronic or computer system whose circuitry need not be known to understand its function

2. an informal name for flight recorder

black box

1. A crash-resistant steel container that holds instruments that record performance data in airplanes. The data are used to analyze the causes of accidents.

Word History and Origins

Origin of black box¹

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

Yugandhar said India was a proud country and touted its new lab for reading black boxes in Delhi.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The budget watchdog’s models, data and assumptions are too important to leave hidden in a bureaucratic ‘black box.’

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

They often operate as “black boxes”—we can see the results but not the precise reasoning behind them.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Investigators have recovered the flight data and cockpit voice recorders -- the plane's black boxes -- which have been brought to Ankara for examination, the ministry said.

Read more on Barron's

How individual firms connect to the bigger picture of aggregate productivity growth has long been something of a black box for policymakers.

Read more on Barron's