black box

plural black boxes · alternative blackbox

1. informalaeronauticsA flight recorder; the brightly colored cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders in an aircraft designed to aid in determining the cause of an accident.

   scrutinizing all utterances recorded by the black box

   Synonyms: event recorder, opaque box, trip recorder

2. broadlytransportAny similar device on motor vehicles, such as rail event recorders and ship trip recorders.

   the pilothouse's analogue of an airliner's black box

3. A theoretical construct or device with known input and output characteristics but unknown method of operation.

   The authentication method and its details can be treated as a black box for purposes of this security architecture overview.

   1 more example

   The case centres on an opaque “black box” algorithm fed on information about drivers, which sets a personalised rate for each ride. Drivers fear it pushes down fares to the minimum they are willing to accept.

   2026 September 2, Robert Booth, “Uber drivers launch European class action over ‘soulless’ and ‘scary’ AI algorithm”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 02 Sep 2026

4. A device used in phreaking that prevents the calling party from being billed for the call placed.
5. attributivebroadcastingA type of theater characterized by a lack of decoration or complex mechanisms.
6. Synonym of football (“the leather briefcase containing classified nuclear war plans which is always near the US President”)

   Synonyms: football

present singular third person black boxes · participle present black boxing · participle past black boxed · past black boxed · alternative blackbox

1. transitiveweb developmentTo focus on the inputs and outputs without worrying about the internal complexity.