BLACKBALL

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

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Etymology

Noun

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.

Verb

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.

Synonyms

• (ostracize): blacklist, send to Coventry; see also ignore or boycott

Source: Wiktionary

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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

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