The expression “coffee break” was first attested in 1952 in glossy magazine advertisements by the Pan-American Coffee Bureau.
barring, blackball
(noun) the act of excluding someone by a negative vote or veto
veto, blackball, negative
(verb) vote against; refuse to endorse; refuse to assent; “The President vetoed the bill”
banish, ban, ostracize, ostracise, shun, cast out, blackball
(verb) expel from a community or group
Source: WordNet® 3.1
blackball (plural blackballs)
A rejection; a vote against admitting someone.
A black ball used to indicate such a negative vote.
A kind of large black sweet; a niggerball.
A substance for blacking shoes, boots, etc. or for taking impressions of engraved work.
blackball (third-person singular simple present blackballs, present participle blackballing, simple past and past participle blackballed)
(transitive) To vote against, especially in an exclusive organization.
(transitive) To ostracize.
• (ostracize): blacklist, send to Coventry; see also ignore or boycott
Source: Wiktionary
Black"ball`, n.
1. A composition for blacking shoes, boots, etc.; also, one for taking impressions of engraved work.
2. A ball of black color, esp. one used as a negative in voting; -- in this sense usually two words.
Black"ball`, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Blackballed (; p. pr. & vb. n. Blackballing.]
1. To vote against, by putting a black ball into a ballot box; to reject or exclude, as by voting against with black balls; to ostracize. He was blackballed at two clubs in succession. Thackeray.
2. To blacken (leather, shoes, etc.) with blacking.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
6 October 2024
(adjective) of such great duration as to preclude the possibility of being assigned a date; “dateless customs”
The expression “coffee break” was first attested in 1952 in glossy magazine advertisements by the Pan-American Coffee Bureau.