black up

verb

To become or make (something) black or darker.

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Meanings

verbblack up (third-person singular simple present blacks up, present participle blacking up, simple past and past participle blacked up)

present singular third person blacks up · participle present blacking up · participle past blacked up · past blacked up

  1. intransitiveliterallytransitiveTo become or make (something) black or darker.
  2. intransitivetransitiveTo put on or wear blackface makeup.

    Cantor starts blacking up, right then and there, painting his face with a burnt piece of cork.

    2016, Zadie Smith, Swing Time, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Press, →ISBN, page 191
  3. transitiveTo make something (e.g. a film, cast, story line, etc.) more racially black in character; blackenize.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
blackendarken updark updenigrate
Cite this entry
APA

black up. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20up

MLA

“black up.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20up. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “black up,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20up.

Source: black up on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.