Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To make black.
  • intransitive verb To sully or defame.
  • intransitive verb To coat (fish or meat, for example) with pepper and other spices and then quickly sear in a very hot skillet, thereby producing meat that is black on the outside but tender on the inside.
  • intransitive verb To become dark or black.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To grow black or dark.
  • To make black; darken.
  • Figuratively, to sully; make infamous; defame; cause to appear immoral or vile: as, vice blackens the character.
  • In founding, to coat (the face of a mold) with graphite, or any mixture used for the purpose, in order to create a surface which will gasify under the heat of the molten metal.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To make or render black.
  • transitive verb To make dark; to darken; to cloud.
  • transitive verb To defame; to sully, as reputation; to make infamous.
  • intransitive verb To grow black or dark.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To make black.
  • verb To make dirty.
  • verb To defame or sully.
  • verb To cook (meat or fish) by coating with pepper, etc., and quickly searing in a hot pan.
  • verb intransitive To become black.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb make or become black
  • verb burn slightly and superficially so as to affect color

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

black +‎ -en

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Examples

  • Although there are two distinct schools of thought on grilled chicken, one that advocates par boiling and one that does not, Mexican cooks do not par boil and are not afraid to let the chicken skin blacken on the outside while the chicken cooks through.

    Grilled Chicken: Pollo al Carbon 2003

  • Although there are two distinct schools of thought on grilled chicken, one that advocates par boiling and one that does not, Mexican cooks do not par boil and are not afraid to let the chicken skin blacken on the outside while the chicken cooks through.

    Grilled Chicken: Pollo al Carbon 2003

  • I've just found another person asserting that maybe -- just maybe -- we should have something approaching conclusive evidence before alleging that the Clintons hatched a dastardly and bigoted scheme to "blacken" Obama and provoke a white backlash.

    Horses Mouth Krugman 2009

  • No doubt the Clinton campaign wants to "blacken" Obama however they can, but do they really want to make Clinton the candidate of the loony racist wing of the Democratic party?

    Ferraro's Latest: "They're Attacking Me Because I'm White" 2009

  • The government then played only a small portion of a conversation between Mr. Rock and Mr. Pellicano -- politely leaving out the part of the call in which Mr. Pellicano promises to "blacken" up Ms. Zsibrita and Mr. Rock seems to be on board with the plan.

    Allison Hope Weiner: Pellicano Trial: Chris Rock Testifies 2008

  • If Machen (rhymes with "blacken") isn't widely read today, it's not because his stories have goofy premises -- so does Bram Stoker's yarn about a blood-sucking Transylvanian who sleeps in a coffin.

    Arthur Machen's Stories: 2007

  • In Caracas, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduro said the arrests were a U.S. maneuver to "blacken" the reputation of "progressive" governments in South America.

    Florida Arrests May Add 2007

  • Speculation is such a position will go to a black candidate because the party has realised the need to "blacken" its leadership.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1994

  • The Democratic Party hopes to "blacken" its leadership in the run up to April 1994 elections, leader Zach de Beer told a news conference in Durban on Wednesday.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1993

  • No matter what I do, I can't seem to get it to "blacken" so I can check it.

    NeoOffice Forums- Forums 2010

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