Part 674

Black"mail`ing, n. The act or practice of extorting money by exciting fears of injury other than bodily harm, as injury to reputation.

Black" Mon`day (&?;). 1. Easter Monday, so called from the severity of that day in 1360, which was so unusual that many of Edward III.'s soldiers, then before Paris, died from the cold. Stow.

Then it was not for nothing that my nose fell a bleeding on Black Monday last. Shak.

2. The first Monday after the holidays; -- so called by English schoolboys. Halliwell.

Black" monk` (&?;). A Benedictine monk.

Black"moor (&?;), n. See Blackamoor.

Black"-mouthed` (&?;), a. Using foul or scurrilous language; slanderous.

Black"ness, n. The quality or state of being black; black color; atrociousness or enormity in wickedness.

They're darker now than blackness. Donne.

Black"poll` (&?;), n. [Black + poll head.] (Zoöl.) A warbler of the United States (Dendroica striata).

Black" pud"ding (&?;). A kind of sausage made of blood, suet, etc., thickened with meal.

And fat black puddings, -- proper food, For warriors that delight in blood. Hudibras.

Black" Rod` (&?;). (a) the usher to the Chapter of the Garter, so called from the black rod which he carries. He is of the king's chamber, and also usher to the House of Lords. [Eng.] (b) An usher in the legislature of British colonies. Cowell.

Committed to the custody of the Black Rod. Macaulay.

Black"root`, n. (Bot.) See Colicroot.

Blacks (&?;), n. pl. 1. The name of a kind of in used in copperplate printing, prepared from the charred husks of the grape, and residue of the wine press.

2. Soot flying in the air. [Eng.]

3. Black garments, etc. See Black, n., 4.

Black"salt`er (&?;), n. One who makes crude potash, or black salts.

Black" salts` (&?;). Crude potash. De Colange.

Black"smith` (&?;), n. [Black (in allusion to the color of the metal) + smith. Cf. Whitesmith.] 1. A smith who works in iron with a forge, and makes iron utensils, horseshoes, etc.

The blacksmith may forge what he pleases. Howell.

2. (Zoöl.) A fish of the Pacific coast (Chromis, or Heliastes, punctipinnis), of a blackish color.

{ Black" snake` (snk) or Black"snake }, n. (Zoöl.) A snake of a black color, of which two species are common in the United States, the Bascanium constrictor, or racer, sometimes six feet long, and the Scotophis Alleghaniensis, seven or eight feet long.

The name is also applied to various other black serpents, as Natrix atra of Jamaica.

Black"strap` (-strp), n. 1. A mixture of spirituous liquor (usually rum) and molasses.

No blackstrap to-night; switchel, or ginger pop. Judd.

2. Bad port wine; any common wine of the Mediterranean; -- so called by sailors.