white label

adjective

Being a generically manufactured product, rebranded with the marketer's or retailer's trade dress: synonym of private label.

Meanings

adjectivewhite label (not comparable)

alternative white-label

  1. not comparablebusinessBeing a generically manufactured product, rebranded with the marketer's or retailer's trade dress: synonym of private label.
  2. not comparablecomputingUnbranded; being a brand name product which has had a white label applied to remove branding so that it can be resold for cheaper without undercutting the value of the brand.
  3. not comparableentertainmentBeing a vinyl record with a white label or white background (rather than artwork), typically used for test records or promotion.
    1 more example

    2014, Chris Cunningham, quoted in Piers Martin, Aphex Twin: ‘His music is a perfect mix of mystery and adrenaline’ (in The Guardian) https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/sep/19/aphex-twin-richard-james-bjork-ian-rankin I started going to the record exchange in Camden two or three times a week to look for the Rephlex white labels or test pressings that would end up there. I actually got one of the original Caustic Window vinyl LPs from there.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

Origin

US, 20th century. Originally used for musical vinyl records whose labels had been torn off or covered with a white label by competing DJs to conceal which records they were using.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

Source: white label on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.