paint down

present singular third person paints down · participle present painting down · participle past painted down · past painted down

1. transitiveTo apply blackface to (an actor).

   White actors in blackface were so common that even Shirley Temple was painted down in The Littlest Rebel (1935).

   2015, Mollie Gregory, Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story, page 28

   1 more example

   Producer reaffirms that this Section 14 prohibits the practice commonly referred to as 'painting down'. […] The protests were in opposition to the literal adoption of blackface within Tropic that ultimately disallowed the gainful employment of male African-American actors.

   2015, Kristen J. Warner, The Cultural Politics of Colorblind TV Casting, page 54

2. transitiveTo coat with a substance through painting.

   Paint it down in resin.