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

First base was a black hole for the Yankees in 2024 – five players combined to produce -1.1 WAR, . —Matt Musico, Newsweek, 17 Dec. 2024

Participants from across the sciences discussed how entropy features in each of their research areas, from solar cells to black holes. —Zack Savitsky, Quanta Magazine, 13 Dec. 2024

Unlike regular black holes, which are born from the collapse of massive stars, primordial black holes are hypothetical objects created soon after the Big Bang. —Michael Irving, New Atlas, 5 Dec. 2024

While many organizations do a decent job managing the resilience of their own systems, there is a black hole with regard to the impact that can be felt when vendors in their supply chain lack resilience or experience cyber issues. —Jeffrey Wheatman, Forbes, 23 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1964, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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