black box
nounDefinition of black box
(Entry 1 of 2)
1
: a usually complicated electronic device whose internal mechanism is usually hidden from or mysterious to the user
broadly
: anything that has mysterious or unknown internal functions or mechanisms
2
: a crashworthy device in aircraft for recording cockpit conversations and flight data
3
: a device in an automobile that records information (such as speed, temperature, or gasoline efficiency) which can be used to monitor vehicle performance or determine a cause in the event of an accident
black box
adjectiveDefinition of black box (Entry 2 of 2)
: being or containing a warning of a serious or life-threatening side effect (such as stroke or muscle damage) that is highlighted by a black border on a prescription drug's label or accompanying literature
Examples of black box in a Sentence
Noun
The black boxes were recovered from the crash site and provided useful information about the cause of the crash.Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
For 18 years, that information has been locked in a black box at the International Seabed Authority (ISA). — Todd Woody, National Geographic, "Do we know enough about the deep sea to mine it?," 24 July 2019 Machine learning algorithms are often called black boxes, their inner workings shrouded in mystery, and the prepackaged versions can be even more opaque. — Matthew Hutson, Science | AAAS, "No coding required: Companies make it easier than ever for scientists to use artificial intelligence," 31 July 2019 Thirty of them live in manufactured burrows, small black boxes connected by a tube resembling a tunnel that sits below a small cage with a piece of dangling black drain pipe for play. — Andrew Nicla, AZCentral.com, "Late hours, no pay, diminishing returns: Scouring the Arizona desert for black-footed ferrets," 10 July 2019 But while his money management firm remains a black box, the same can’t be said of Epstein himself. — Time, "The Mystery Around Jeffrey Epstein's Fortune and How He Made It," 9 July 2019 My new vibrator was patiently waiting inside it’s matte black box. — Sandra Rose Salathe, Glamour, "Buying My First Vibrator Was the Most Empowering Thing I’ve Ever Done," 18 June 2019 The rest of the 500,000- to 1 million-square-foot development is to include office buildings fronting Broad Street and restaurants and a black box theater in an entertainment area near the Parkade Cinemas. — Jesse Leavenworth, courant.com, "Finally, a proposal for the once “dark side” of the Manchester Parkade," 9 July 2019 And because secret groups are such a black box, there’s really no way for outside entities to monitor how much moderation Facebook is really doing. — Emily Stewart, Vox, "Racist Border Patrol groups show Facebook still has work to do on hate speech," 8 July 2019 Renderings shared with the trustees’ Master Planning and Facilities committee showed a new black box theater, a recital hall for the School of Music, a proscenium theater and rehearsal spaces. — USA TODAY, "Black Hills yaks, serious senioritis on campus, Pony Express: News from around our 50 states," 10 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'black box.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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