Black Country

American

noun

a district in the English Midlands, around Birmingham: so called from the soot and grime produced by the many local industries.

Black Country British

noun

the formerly heavily industrialized region of central England, northwest of Birmingham

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Councillor Pete Lowe, Black Country Party member, said: "I am appalled at reading the report and the potential that this has been happening in our communities."

From BBC • Mar. 25, 2026

Amelia Kolpa, from Rowley Regis in the Black Country, is receiving palliative care for cancer and has been in and out of hospital since the age of two and a half.

From BBC • Mar. 3, 2026

The band performed alongside a loose crew of like-minded acts like Black Country, New Road, Shame and Squid who were experimenting with noise, free jazz and textured art-rock, centered around the Brixton venue the Windmill.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 12, 2026

For example, the whole of Birmingham and the Black Country, plus Staffordshire, Shropshire and Telford have an agreement between them.

From BBC • Jan. 2, 2026

Among the wakes of the Black Country none are richer in reminiscence of the old time forms of festivity than that of Willenhall.

From The Annals of Willenhall by Hackwood, Frederick William

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023