India ink

American  

noun

(sometimes lowercase)

1. a black pigment consisting of lampblack mixed with glue or size.

2. a liquid ink from this.

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Etymology

Origin of India ink

First recorded in 1655–65

Example Sentences

As Miss Charlotte Mortimer once told her favorite pupil, “No one’s fate is written in India ink.”

From Literature

Lotion tubes, squirt bottles, brushes, a honey bear, solo flip-flops, a Wiffle ball and a legless lawn flamingo now stained bone-white, all provide the canvas for Riley’s patterned mariner drawings in India ink.

From New York Times

The Victorian-era collections are true works of art, with purple, red, brown and green algae arranged in eye-catching patterns on sturdy white card and signed in flowing India ink.

From The Guardian

Circle-shaped watercolor and India ink images capture her vignettes’ drama, spotlighting the players.

From New York Times

Visitors can see the pencil lines beneath the India ink, and the white-out on top.

From Washington Post