black light

American  

noun

1. invisible infrared or ultraviolet light.

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black light British  

noun

1. the invisible electromagnetic radiation in the ultraviolet and infrared regions of the spectrum

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black light Scientific  

1. Invisible ultraviolet radiation. Black light causes certain fluorescent materials to emit visible light.

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Etymology

Origin of black light

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

When they shine a black light on the coral, organic compounds in the coral cause it to fluoresce.

From Science Daily • Mar. 18, 2024

One gallery in the Haring exhibition will be entirely bathed in black light, mimicking a show Haring held in the basement of New York’s Tony Shafrazi Gallery in 1982.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 12, 2022

“If the item is glass, and fluoresces neon green under a black light, it contains uranium dioxide 100 percent of the time.”

From Washington Post • Oct. 11, 2022

Ms. Califf of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum said she had to travel to the desert to find more bark scorpions, which she hunts at night with a black light because they glow in the dark.

From New York Times • May 3, 2022

But not bright—instead a black light with a violet and white core.

From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton