blacken
English
Etymology
From Middle English blaknen, blakkenen, equivalent to black + -en (verbal suffix).
Pronunciation
Verb
blacken (third-person singular simple present blackens, present participle blackening, simple past and past participle blackened)
- (transitive, causative) To cause to be or become black.
- (intransitive, stative) To become black.
- The sky blackened as the storm clouds rolled in.
- (transitive, causative) To make dirty.
- To defame or sully.
- Malice delights to blacken the characters of prominent men. — Napoleon Bonaparte (Can we date this quote?)
- (transitive) To cook (meat or fish) by coating with pepper, etc., and quickly searing in a hot pan.
Synonyms
- (make black): black, denigrate
- (make dirty): dirty, soil
- (defame): defame, denigrate, sully, taint, tarnish
Translations
make black
|
make dirty
|
defame, sully
|
cook by coating with pepper and quickly searing
become black
|
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms suffixed with -en (inchoative)
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ækən
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English stative verbs
- English terms with usage examples