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Black Panther

American  
[blak pan-ther] / ˈblæk ˈpæn θər /

noun

  1. a member of a militant African American organization Black Panther party active in the 1960s and early 1970s, formed to work for the advancement of the rights of Black people, often by radical means.


Black Panther British  

noun

  1. (in the US) a member of a militant Black political party founded in 1965 to end the political dominance of White people

"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

Etymology

Origin of Black Panther

First recorded in 1960–65; the party was founded in Oakland, California, by political activists Huey P. Newton (1942–89) and Bobby Seale (born 1936), who modeled it on the Lowndes County Freedom Organization, an activist group in Alabama that had adopted a black panther as its symbol

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.

See Examples For:

On “Me Against the World,” that came in the form of “Dear Mama,” an adoring tribute to his mother, the activist and former Black Panther Afeni Shakur.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 21, 2026

Boseman, who rocketed to fame in 2018's "Black Panther," died in 2020 at the age of 43 as a result of colon cancer.

From Barron's Jul. 26, 2026

He is best remembered for playing the lead role of T'Challa, king of Wakanda, in Oscar-winning 2018 Marvel blockbuster Black Panther.

From BBC Jul. 24, 2026

He was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer in 2016, the same year he made his debut as comics superhero T’Challa, a.k.a. the Black Panther, in “Captain America: Civil War.”

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 23, 2026

Like, what if the Black Panther was just a kid in this school, he said.

From "Harbor Me" by Jacqueline Woodson

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