Astronomy. a theoretical massive object, formed at the beginning of the universe or by the gravitational collapse of a star exploding as a supernova, whose gravitational field is so intense that no electromagnetic radiation can escape.
a deep, immeasurable space into which people or things vanish; an abyss.
I use earphones every day, but hate digging around for them in my black hole of a purse.
Also called Black Hole of Calcutta. a small prison cell in Fort William, Calcutta, in which, in 1756, Indians are said to have imprisoned 146 Europeans, only 23 of whom were alive the following morning.
(lowercase) any usually wretched place of imprisonment or confinement.
an object in space so dense that its escape velocity exceeds the speed of light
any place regarded as resembling a black hole in that items or information entering it cannot be retrieved
An extremely dense celestial object whose gravitational field is so strong that not even light can escape from its vicinity. Black holes are believed to form in the aftermath of a supernova with the collapse of the star's core.
See also event horizon See more at star
A wretched prison cell or other place of confinement. For example, The punishment is solitary confinement, known as the black hole . This term acquired its meaning in 1756 with the event known as the Black Hole of Calcutta. On the night of June 20, the ruler of Bengal confined 146 Europeans in a prison space of only 14 by 18 feet. By morning all but 23 of them had suffocated to death. Although historians since have questioned the truth of the story, it survives in this usage.
A great void or abyss. For example, Running a single small newspaper ad to launch a major campaign is useless; it amounts to throwing our money into a black hole . This usage alludes to a region, so named by astronomers, whose gravitational field is so intense that no electromagnetic radiation can escape from it. [Late 1970s]
When a very massive star ends its life in a supernova explosion, the remaining matter collapses in upon itself. If there is enough mass in this collapsed star, it becomes a black hole. A black hole is so dense that its gravitational forces are strong enough to prevent anything that comes close enough to the region known as the event horizon from escaping. Even light cannot escape, since the escape velocity (the velocity needed for an object to escape some larger object's gravitational field) necessary to escape a black hole is greater than the speed of light. Black holes are extremely dense: for the Sun, which has a diameter of about 1,390,000 kilometers (862,000 miles), to be as dense as a black hole, its entire mass would have to be squeezed down to a ball fewer than 3 kilometers (5 miles) across. Some theorists postulate that the material in a black hole may be compressed to a single point of infinite density called a singularity. Because astronomers cannot directly observe a black hole, they infer its existence from the effects of its gravitational pull. For example, when a black hole results from the collapse of one star in a binary star system, it attracts material from the remaining star. This material forms an accretion disk, which compresses and heats up until it emits detectable x-rays. Black holes are thought to reside in the centers of many galaxies, including our own Milky Way.
Figuratively, the term black hole is used to refer to a total disappearance: “They never saw the man again — he might as well have fallen into a black hole.”
First recorded in 1940–45 black hole for def. 2; 1960–65 black hole for def. 1
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Cole’s Tyler acts practically while collapsing into a black hole of cynicism.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
Researchers described the star as being "torn up" as the immense gravity of the black hole pulled it apart and consumed its material piece by piece.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
He told the conference: "We discovered what we think is a black hole merging with a massive companion star, shredding it into a disk that feeds the black hole. It's a rare and awe-inspiring phenomenon."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
Naidu and his colleagues were not originally searching for a black hole star.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026
The curvature goes off to infinity because the black hole takes up zero space; the star has torn a hole in space-time.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
"It looks almost that you cannot escape the critical point if you entered it, almost like a Black Hole," says Robin Tyburski, researcher in Chemical Physics at Stockholm University.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 29, 2026
Thackray's new track, Black Hole, which features Reggie Watts, is out now.
From BBC ● Dec. 28, 2024
While listening to Soundgarden’s 1994 hit Black Hole Sun 2 years ago, he contemplated a curious question: Might itty-bitty black holes from the dawn of time be lurking in the hearts of giant stars?
From Science Magazine ● Dec. 13, 2023
The company announced the remasters of Advance Wars and Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising at E3 2021, and Nintendo says they’re “reimagined and rebuilt from the ground up.”
From The Verge ● Oct. 22, 2021
For most of them I might as well have been living in the Black Hole of Calcutta.
From "Hole in My Life" by Jack Gantos
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
