blackball

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Pronunciation

• enPR: blăk'bôl', IPA: /ˈblækbɔːl/

Noun

blackball (plural blackballs)

1. A rejection; a vote against admitting someone.
2. A black ball used to indicate such a negative vote.

   Regardless how many other people may have voted to approve a candidate for membership, a single blackball will reject the candidate.

3. A kind of large black sweet; a niggerball.
4. A substance for blacking shoes, boots, etc. or for taking impressions of engraved work.

Verb

blackball (blackballs, present participle blackballing; past and past participle blackballed)

1. (transitive) To vote against, especially in an exclusive organization.

   If you're not from a moneyed, well-connected family, you can count on getting blackballed from the fraternity.

2. (transitive) To ostracize.

Synonyms

• (ostracize) blacklist, send to Coventry; see also Thesaurus:ignore or Thesaurus:boycott

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