What does "blackball" mean?
Blackball: A ball of black color, esp. one used as a negative in voting; -- in this sense usually two words.
Additional senses
- 2.To vote against, by putting a black ball into a ballot box; to reject or exclude, as by voting against with black balls; to ostracize. He was blackballed at two clubs in succession. Thackeray.
- 3.To blacken (leather, shoes, etc.) with blacking.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00