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blackball definition

black·ball (-bôl′)

noun

  1. Historical a small black ball used as a vote against a person or thing
  2. a secret ballot or vote against a person or thing

transitive verb

  1. to vote against; esp., to vote against letting (a person) join one's organization
  2. to exclude from social life, etc.; ostracize

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

blackball Synonyms

blackball

v.

ostracize, exclude, repudiate; see bar 2.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

blackball Usage Examples

Object

  • bastard: You wouldn't let me join, would you, you blackballing bastards.

Modifying Another Word

  • effectively: One of the problems of the EU in the past had been its exclusivity which had effectively blackballed Eastern European communities for many years.
blackball usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

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MLA Style

"blackball." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/blackball>

APA Style

blackball. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/blackball

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