black hole

noun

1

: a celestial object that has a gravitational field so strong that light cannot escape it and that is believed to be created especially in the collapse of a very massive star

2

: something resembling a black hole: such as

a

: something that consumes a resource continually

a financial black hole

b

: an empty space : void

… the archives of the past few years are a black hole.

—David Herman

c

: a dark and seemingly inescapable state or situation

the black hole of depression

Synonyms

• blank
• blankness
• emptiness
• vacancy
• vacuity
• void

Examples of black hole in a Sentence

discovered that there was a black hole in the library's collection with regard to her topic

Recent Examples on the Web

The cone of whiter light at the center is due to an outflow of gas from the black hole at the galaxy’s core. —Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 18 June 2025

Finding 'extreme nuclear transients' could unveil more black holes In the University of Hawaii's study, researchers examined three black holes discovered within the last decade. —Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 6 June 2025

The White House also wants to decommission NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, a flagship telescope studying the exotic environments around black holes and supernovas. —ArsTechnica, 11 June 2025

This is one more budget black hole to add to the list. — Bruce Higgins, San Diego Three thoughts on who controls San Diego: 1. —U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1964, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for black hole

• bankroll
• bedroll
• borehole
• cajole
• catchpole
• charcoal
• condole
• control
• dipole
• downhole
• enroll
• extol

Kids Definition

black hole

noun

: an invisible region believed to exist in space having a very strong gravitational field and thought to be caused by the collapse of a star