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• black and white
  black and white

  noun

  black.
• black-and-white
  black-and-white

  adjective

  displaying only black and white tones; without color, as a picture or chart.

black and white

¹ American  

noun

1. black.

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black-and-white ² American  

[blak-uhn-hwahyt, -wahyt] / ˈblæk ənˈʰwaɪt, -ˈwaɪt /

adjective

1. displaying only black and white tones; without color, as a picture or chart.

   a black-and-white photograph.

2. partly black and partly white; made up of separate areas or design elements of black and white.

   black-and-white shoes.

3. of, relating to, or constituting a two-valued system, as of logic or morality; absolute.

   To those who think in black-and-white terms, a person must be either entirely good or entirely bad.

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black-and-white British  

noun

1. 1. a photograph, picture, sketch, etc, in black, white, and shades of grey rather than in colour

   2. ( as modifier )

      black-and-white film

2. the neutral tones of black, white, and intermediate shades of grey Compare colour

3. 1. in print or writing

   2. in extremes

      he always saw things in black and white

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black and white Idioms  

1. A monochromatic picture, drawing, television image, computer monitor, or film, as opposed to one using many colors, as in Photos in black and white fade less than those taken with color film . [Late 1800s]

2. Also, black or white . Involving a very clear distinction, without any gradations. For example, He tended to view everything as a black and white issue—it was either right or wrong—whereas his partner always found gray areas . This usage is based on the association of black with evil and white with virtue, which dates back at least 2,000 years. [Early 1800s] Also see gray area .

3. in black and white . Written down or in print, and therefore official. For example, The terms of our agreement were spelled out in black and white, so there should be no question about it . This term alludes to black ink or print on white paper. Shakespeare used it in Much Ado about Nothing (5:1). [Late 1500s]

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Etymology

Origin of black-and-white

First recorded in 1590–1600

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

black and white black-and-white

There are opulent chairs, upholstered in pale yellow; a black and white print of a trawler that nods to Hull's fishing heritage.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

Bobby Brown shared her sadness, alongside a black and white image of Hottle, to her Instagram story.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

Officials said that there was some pushback from Italy over putting the pledge in black and white, but that it was eventually approved Friday by ambassadors at NATO.

From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026

My hope for this country: I hope that we can stop being so divided, and that it doesn’t just feel so black and white, and that there can be more gray.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

The next day, hundreds of black and white protesters met on the road where Meredith had fallen.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

That sort of black-and-white thinking was always going to clash with the shades of gray in Christopher Nolan’s smash-hit adaptation of “The Odyssey.”

From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026

Rather than treating this as a black-and-white or all-or-nothing scenario, why not dip into your taxable brokerage account, take out a mortgage, and time your IRA withdrawals or Roth conversions.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026

The exhibition also includes an old photograph of the coastal city of Tyre, a black-and-white video of Nabatieh, and notebooks in which visitors wrote down their memories of the south.

From Barron's ● Jul. 19, 2026

Fontaine was no bruiser on black-and-white TV, when the balls were heavy leather and keepers unprotected from assault from forwards.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

An older man wearing a white chef’s coat and a black-and-white bandanna on his head stood in front of it, peering inside as the huge beater spun around to mix the batter.

From "From the Desk of Zoe Washington" by Janae Marks

Related Words

• book
• copy
• edition
• engraving
• lettering
• lithograph
• magazine
• newspaper
• photograph
• stamp
• type
• writing