blackout
blackout — noun
1. a period — from a few minutes up to several days — during which a town, building
a period — from a few minutes up to several days — during which a town, building, or wider area has no electricity, so its lights, lifts, and appliances stop working. The same word also names a wartime rule requiring every window in a city to be covered after dark so enemy bomber crews cannot use the lights below as a target.
A four-hour blackout left half of Taipei without traffic lights last Tuesday.
noun + duration + place: a [time]-hour blackout left [place] without [thing]
During the blackout, Wen lit candles and read his daughter a bedtime story.
preposition: during the blackout
Hurricane Ian caused blackouts across Fort Myers that lasted nearly four days.
verb collocation: cause / suffer a blackout
Wartime blackouts forced every family in London to hang thick curtains over their windows.
wartime sense: blackouts forced [people] to [action]
Within seconds of the blackout, the hospital's backup generator kicked in and the operating-room lights flickered back on.
context: backup generator response to a blackout
- four-hour blackout
- city-wide blackout
- rolling blackouts
- during the blackout
- power outage
neutral American term, focused on electricity loss only
- power cut
British equivalent, same meaning as power outage
- brownout
narrower — partial loss of voltage, lights dim but stay on
Grammar Patterns
a blackout in [place]
during the blackout
Usage Note
Often paired with verbs like 'cause', 'suffer', 'experience', or 'hit'. The wartime meaning is now historical, almost always tied to World War II contexts.
Common Mistakes
2. a deliberate decision, usually by a government, the police, or a company, to sto
a deliberate decision, usually by a government, the police, or a company, to stop journalists and the public from getting any details about a specific event or topic.
The army imposed a news blackout on the operation in the northern villages.
verb collocation: impose a (news) blackout on [topic]
Reporters in Seoul complained about the media blackout surrounding the trial.
compound: media blackout surrounding [event]
Disney maintained a tight blackout on plot details of the new Star Wars film until opening night.
non-political: maintain a blackout on [story detail] until [event]
The Hassan family demanded an end to the news blackout after their son's unit went missing in Mosul.
The Beijing government's blackout on the pipeline explosion in Dalian lasted nearly two weeks before any photos appeared online.
pattern: a [body] blackout on [event] lasted [time]
- news blackout
- media blackout
- impose a blackout
- lift the blackout
- censorship
broader — any cutting or hiding of content, not only a total ban
- news embargo
softer — sources agree to delay publication until a set time
- gag order
legal — a court tells specific people not to discuss a case
- disclosure
the open release of the same kind of information
Grammar Patterns
a blackout on [topic]
media / news blackout
Usage Note
Almost always preceded by 'news', 'media', 'press', 'information', or a body that imposes it. Commonly paired with the verbs 'impose', 'lift', or 'maintain'.
Common Mistakes
3. a brief moment in which a person passes out or cannot remember what they did, of
a brief moment in which a person passes out or cannot remember what they did, often caused by heavy drinking, low blood pressure, a head injury, or extreme stress.
Omar had a blackout at the gym and woke up on the floor.
verb collocation: have a blackout (+ where it happened)
After the party, Anaya suffered a blackout and could not recall going home.
alcohol-related blackout: cannot recall [event]
Captain Reyes reported a brief blackout during a sharp turn over the Nevada desert at twice the speed of sound.
aviation: brief blackout during [manoeuvre]
Doctors at Kaohsiung General warned Mrs. Lin that her morning blackouts might point to an underlying heart problem.
plural: recurring blackouts as a medical symptom
Mr. Tanaka had a blackout behind the wheel near Yokohama and crashed into a guardrail.
- have a blackout
- suffer a blackout
- alcoholic blackout
- frequent blackouts
- faint
everyday word for the same event, but shorter and rarely involves memory loss
- fainting spell
neutral medical phrase, focuses on losing consciousness
- syncope
technical medical term for a brief loss of consciousness
Grammar Patterns
have / suffer a blackout
Usage Note
Distinguish from sense 1 (electrical) and sense 2 (information ban): only this sense applies to a person's body. Often plural ('blackouts') when describing a recurring medical symptom.
Common Mistakes
blackout — verb
1. if a person blacks out, they suddenly cannot see, lose consciousness, or forget
if a person blacks out, they suddenly cannot see, lose consciousness, or forget a stretch of time, often after drinking too much alcohol or hitting their head.
Linnea blacked out for a few seconds after standing up too quickly.
intransitive + duration: black out for [short time]
The boxer blacked out as soon as the second punch landed on his jaw.
trigger clause: black out as soon as [event]
I drank far too much at the wedding and completely blacked out before midnight.
alcohol context: completely blacked out
Air-force trainees at Luke Base often black out the first time their jets pull nine G's in a sharp climb.
aviation context: black out under high G-forces
After the crash, Wen blacked out and woke up two hours later in hospital.
narrative pattern: black out and wake up [later]
- completely blacked out
- blacked out cold
- drank until I blacked out
- pass out
everyday equivalent — slightly more neutral, used for any fainting
- faint
milder — usually a brief loss of consciousness without memory loss
- lose consciousness
formal — used in medical reports
- come round
the recovery action: regaining awareness after fainting
Grammar Patterns
[person] blacks out
Usage Note
Subject must be a person (or sometimes an animal). Often paired with adverbs that describe completeness ('completely', 'briefly') or duration ('for a moment', 'for an hour'). Compare with the noun in sense 3.
Common Mistakes
2. to draw a thick black line across writing on paper or a screen so that nobody ca
to draw a thick black line across writing on paper or a screen so that nobody can read what was originally there.
Officials had blacked out every name in the report before sending it to the journalists.
transitive + object: black out [proper nouns / names]
Mr. Park blacked out the answer key on the maths worksheet before photocopying it for Year 7.
physical paper: black out [part of a page] before [action]
Sara grabbed a thick Sharpie and blacked out her ex-boyfriend's number in the leather address book on her desk.
instrument: grab a marker and black out [contact detail]
Half of the FBI email released to the Times had been blacked out for legal reasons.
passive: be blacked out for [reason]
Ms. Okafor, the defence lawyer, asked her clerk to black out every witness's home address before filing the court papers.
instruction: ask [person] to black out [private detail]
- black out names
- black out a passage
- blacked out for legal reasons
- reveal
the opposite action: showing what was hidden
Grammar Patterns
black out [text / part of a document]
Usage Note
Object is usually a name, number, address, or section of text — something concrete on a page or screen. Frequently used in the passive when describing official documents.
Common Mistakes
3. to block or remove a single story, game, or printed passage so the audience in q
to block or remove a single story, game, or printed passage so the audience in question never sees that particular item — for example, pulling one Sunday match off the air in the home team's region, or covering two paragraphs of a magazine before it goes to print. Each act of blocking targets one piece of content rather than a whole subject.
Local channels blacked out the football game for fans inside the stadium's home zone.
broadcast use: black out [a game] for [audience]
Iranian state TV blacked out live coverage of the women's protests outside Tehran's Azadi Tower.
broadcaster + event: [channel] blacked out coverage of [event]
Editors at the magazine were ordered to black out two paragraphs about the minister.
The Hunter Biden laptop story had been blacked out across every major network for nine days.
passive + duration: be blacked out across [networks] for [time]
A High Court ruling in Sydney blacked out further reporting on the Pell appeal until the verdict was delivered.
subject is ruling: [court] blacked out reporting until [event]
- black out a game
- black out coverage
- black out the news
- broadcast
to send out the very content this verb blocks
Grammar Patterns
black out [news / story / broadcast]
Usage Note
Distinguish from the formal-decree sense (ORDER SECRECY): this sense covers the practical, often case-by-case blocking of one specific story, game, or set of paragraphs — not the issuing of a sweeping rule. Common collocates: 'black out a game / coverage / a paragraph / a broadcast'.
Common Mistakes
4. to cover the windows or turn off the lights of a room, building, or city so that
to cover the windows or turn off the lights of a room, building, or city so that the inside or the area falls into darkness.
Wardens blacked out the whole village before the bombers flew over.
wartime: black out [place] before [event]
The photographer blacked out the studio with thick black sheets.
instrument: black out [room] with [material]
Marcus and Lina blacked out the nursery with heavy curtains so baby Sofia would sleep through until morning.
purpose clause: black out [room] with [material] so [result]
Every coastal town along the Channel had been blacked out by sunset.
passive: be blacked out by [time]
Stage crews blacked out the theatre between the two acts.
- black out the room
- blacked out the city
- completely blacked out
- light up
fill the same place with light
Grammar Patterns
black out [place / room]
Usage Note
Object is a place (room, theatre, town), not a piece of text. Distinguish from verb sense 2 (which acts on writing) and verb sense 5 (which kills electrical power, not light).
Common Mistakes
5. (of a storm, fault, or attack) to take a machine, building, or whole region out
(of a storm, fault, or attack) to take a machine, building, or whole region out of service by cutting off its electricity supply, so its lights and equipment no longer run. Used with a clear cause as the subject and the affected place or system as the object.
The storm blacked out half of New Jersey for nearly a week.
subject is event: [storm] blacked out [region] for [time]
A failed transformer blacked out the entire Mitsui shopping mall in Yokohama for the whole Saturday afternoon.
subject is fault: [fault] blacked out [building] for [time]
North Korean hackers blacked out HSBC's main trading server in Hong Kong for ninety minutes on Sunday morning.
extended use: [attackers] blacked out [a system] for [duration]
The east wing of St Mary's Hospital was blacked out for two hours while engineers replaced the burned-out cable.
passive + duration: be blacked out for [time] while [action]
A falling cypress on Maple Avenue blacked out three streets and trapped two cars under the branches.
natural cause: [tree / weather event] blacked out [streets]
- blacked out the city
- blacked out a server
- blacked out the grid
- restore power
the opposite action: bringing electricity back
Grammar Patterns
black out [equipment / area]
Usage Note
Subject is usually a cause (storm, tree, fault, attack), and the object is the equipment or area that loses power. Distinguish from verb sense 4, which is about hiding light, not about losing electricity.
Common Mistakes
6. if a building, street, or wider area blacks out, every light in that place goes
if a building, street, or wider area blacks out, every light in that place goes off at once and the area becomes dark.
The whole neighbourhood blacked out the moment the lightning hit the substation.
subject is place + sudden trigger
Half of Manhattan blacked out during the August heatwave of 2003.
subject + duration of event
The Royal Court Theatre blacked out for two long seconds before the next scene of the Hamlet revival began.
stage use: [theatre] blacked out for [short duration] before [event]
Our office blacked out three times in one afternoon during the typhoon.
If the Texas grid blacks out again, Romero's seafood market will lose every box of king crab.
conditional: if [grid / place] blacks out, [consequence]
- the city blacked out
- blacked out for hours
- go dark
informal — describes the same sudden loss of light
- lose power
neutral — focuses on the electricity itself
- light up
the city becomes bright again
Grammar Patterns
[place / building] blacks out
Usage Note
Intransitive — no object. Compare with verb sense 5 (transitive: 'the storm blacked out the city') versus this sense (intransitive: 'the city blacked out'). Pick the intransitive form when no clear cause is named.
Common Mistakes
7. (of a ministry, court, or palace) to issue a formal top-down order that forbids
(of a ministry, court, or palace) to issue a formal top-down order that forbids journalists and the public from reporting, mentioning, or discussing an entire subject — for example, the route of a military convoy or the medical condition of a head of state. The order covers the whole topic, not one specific story.
The defence ministry blacked out every detail of the spy exchange.
formal subject: [ministry / agency] blacked out [topic]
Officials had blacked out the route of the convoy until it reached the border.
duration: black out [topic] until [event]
Senior judges chose to black out any reference to the witness's home town.
All news of King Salman's hospital stay was blacked out by royal order until the Crown Prince addressed the nation.
passive: be blacked out by [authority] until [event]
The Ministry of Defence blacked out coverage of the Falklands campaign across every British channel for forty-eight hours.
- blacked out every detail
- officially blacked out
Grammar Patterns
black out [topic / event]
Usage Note
Distinguish from verb sense 3 (BAN COVERAGE): this sense names the formal top-down decree itself, often issued by a ministry, court, or palace, while sense 3 covers the practical blocking of any single story or broadcast. Subject is almost always a high-level institution.
Common Mistakes
8. (of a punch, sudden force, or chemical shock) to make a person abruptly lose con
(of a punch, sudden force, or chemical shock) to make a person abruptly lose consciousness or vision — for example, a blow to the jaw flooring a boxer, or G-forces in a steep climb robbing a pilot of sight. The cause is the subject; the person knocked out is the object.
A heavy blow to the chin blacked the fighter out for almost a minute.
subject is force: [blow] blacked [person] out
The sudden G-force blacked the test pilot out during the climb.
aviation context
One whiff of the leaking ammonia blacked Mei out before she could reach the shut-off valve.
chemical trigger: [substance] blacked [person] out before [action]
The sheer pain from her broken leg almost blacked Anaya out on the snow before the rescue team reached her.
pain trigger: [pain] almost blacked [person] out before [event]
The shock of the freezing harbour briefly blacked out two swimmers during the New Year's Day swim.
shock trigger: [cold shock] briefly blacked out [people]
- blacked him out
- almost blacked her out
- revive
bring the same person back to consciousness
Grammar Patterns
[event] blacks [person] out
Usage Note
Rare causative form — most learners only need the intransitive in sense 1. Subject is the cause (a punch, a force, a shock); the object is the person affected.
Common Mistakes
Word family
Synonym discussion
Sense: noun/1
All four describe trouble with the electricity supply, but they differ in scale and origin. 'Blackout' is the strongest of the group: every light goes out and large areas can stay dark for hours or days, often after a storm or a wartime order. 'Power outage' is the standard American label that newspapers and engineers use for any loss of mains electricity, regardless of how big it is. 'Power cut' is the British equivalent, neutral in tone, and very common in news headlines from London or Manchester. 'Brownout' is much narrower: the lights flicker and dim because voltage drops, but they do not actually go off. Compare: 'A brownout dimmed the lobby lights' versus 'A blackout left the entire city dark for two days.'
Common collocations
Nouns
- news blackout
- media blackout
- rolling blackout
- alcoholic blackout
Phrases
- impose a blackout
- lift the blackout
- suffer a blackout
- cause a blackout
Prepositions
- during the blackout
- blackout in [city]
- blackout on [topic]
Etymology
The word formed in English in the early 1900s by joining the adjective 'black' with the particle 'out' (as in 'black something out' — to cover writing with ink). The earliest senses described stage darkness between scenes in a play. The wartime meaning, covering windows so enemy aircraft could not see city lights, took hold during World War I and became very familiar during World War II. The medical sense — a person briefly losing consciousness — appeared in pilot reports during the same era, when fast-climbing aircraft caused crews to grey out and then black out. The electrical-failure meaning grew alongside the spread of public power grids in the twentieth century.