blackball
to vote against (a candidate, applicant, etc.).
to exclude socially; ostracize: The whole town blackballed them.
to reject (a candidate) by placing a blackball in the ballot box.
a negative vote, especially in deciding on an applicant or candidate.
a black ball placed in a ballot box signifying a negative vote.
Origin of blackball
1Other words for blackball
Other words from blackball
- blackballer, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use blackball in a sentence
Haynes did say he thought all the players were “kind of marked,” but none of them were blackballed.
Should the Clippers Just Quit? Lessons From 1965’s Football Strike Against Jim Crow | Evan Weiner | April 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTDoubtless, some enemy he had made along the way blackballed him.
Gallery: Blackballed Politicians, Celebrities, and Journalists Fox will undoubtedly go haywire over the dismissal.
He was actually blackballed by the Bush White House in 2006 for writing a caustic Washington Post op-ed.
The Grill enjoys the distinction of having blackballed, without political prejudice, a Prime Minister of each party.
In the Fog | Richard Harding Davis
"Just like Beecham being blackballed at the club," said the doctor, with a sarcastic bitterness all his own.
The Knight Of Gwynne, Vol. I (of II) | Charles James LeverI have voted whenever I knew anything about the person in question, and I have never blackballed but once.
Smith College Stories | Josephine Dodge DaskamThe three who had been blackballed sat sulking on the ground with their backs toward him.
Moni the Goat Boy and Other Stories | Johanna SpyriIt was in vain to muse upon any plan for having Ball blackballed, or for rebelling against Bell.
British Dictionary definitions for blackball
/ (ˈblækˌbɔːl) /
a negative vote or veto
a black wooden ball used to indicate disapproval or to veto in a vote
NZ a hard boiled sweet with black-and-white stripes
to vote against in a ballot
to exclude (someone) from a group, profession, etc; ostracize
Origin of blackball
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for blackball
A rejection of an applicant's membership in a private organization, such as a club or fraternity. The term is derived from the traditional practice of members voting anonymously on admitting new members, using either a white marble (acceptance) or a black marble (denial). Acceptance must be unanimous; therefore, one black marble in the ballot box is enough to keep the applicant out of the organization.
Notes for blackball
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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