blackball
/ˈblækbɔːl/
Etymology
From black + ball.
blackball means A small town in Grey district, West Coast, New Zealand, with a history of gold and coal mining. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 77 out of 100.
blackball is pronounced /ˈblækbɔːl/.
name
- A small town in Grey district, West Coast, New Zealand, with a history of gold and coal mining.
noun
- A rejection; a vote against admitting someone.
- 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.”
- A kind of large black sweet, a black-colored gobstopper.
- A substance for blacking shoes, boots, etc. or for taking impressions of engraved work.
- A game, a standardized version of the English version of eight-ball.
verb
- 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.”
- To ostracize.“Henry knew. If he were blackballed by this distaff Mafia, he was doomed: Endless, but always justifiable, delays would occur in the work he wanted typed.”