| black fever | An acute tick-borne illness caused by the bacteria Rickettsia rickettsii. The disease is characterised by sudden onset of headache, chills and fever which can persist for 2-3 weeks. A characteristic rash appears on the extremities and trunk about the 4th day of illness. (27 Sep 1997) |
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| black friar | A friar of the Dominican order; called also predicant and preaching friar; in France, Jacobin. Also, sometimes, a Benedictine. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| Black, Greene | <person> U.S. Dentist, 1836-1915. See: Black's classification. (05 Mar 2000) |
| black-hearted | Having a wicked, malignant disposition; morally bad. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| black heel | Traumatic haemorrhage into the stratum corneum of the heel which may persist for several weeks as centrally confluent black dots. Synonym: black heel. (05 Mar 2000) |
| black hole | A dungeon or dark cell in a prison; a military lock-up or guardroom; now commonly with allusion to the cell (the Black Hole) in a fort at Calcutta, into which 146 English prisoners were thrust by the nabob Suraja Dowla on the night of June 20, 17656, and in which 123 of the prisoners died before morning from lack of air. "A discipline of unlimited autocracy, upheld by rods, and ferules, and the black hole." (H. Spencer) Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| black-jack | 1. <chemical> A name given by English miners to sphalerite, or zinc blende; called also false galena. See Blende. 2. Caramel or burnt sugar, used to colour wines, spirits, ground coffee, etc. 3. A large leather vessel for beer, etc. 4. <botany> The Quercus nigra, or barren oak. 5. The ensign of a pirate. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| black lead | Plumbago; graphite.It leaves a blackish mark somewhat like lead. See Graphite. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| black line | The linea alba in pregnancy, which then becomes pigmented. Synonym: black line. (05 Mar 2000) |
| black lung | A form of chronic clung disease which develops after prolonged exposure to coal dust. Advanced disease and scarring is evident on chest X-ray. Symptoms include wheezing, chronic cough and shortness of breath. (27 Sep 1997) |
| black measles | An acute tick-borne illness caused by the bacteria Rickettsia rickettsii. The disease is characterised by sudden onset of headache, chills and fever which can persist for 2-3 weeks. A characteristic rash appears on the extremities and trunk about the 4th day of illness. (27 Sep 1997) |
| black membrane | <chemistry> An artificial phospholipid membrane formed by painting a solution of phospholipid in organic solvent over a hole in a hydrophobic support immersed in water. Drainage of the solvent from the film produces diffraction colours until the thickness falls below the wavelength of light it then appears to be black. The structure is an extended bimolecular leaflet. (18 Nov 1997) |
| black mustard | The dried ripe seed of Brassica nigra or of B. Juncea; it is the source of allyl isothiocyanate; it contains sinigrin (potassium myronate); myrosin; sinapine sulfocyanate; erucic, behenic, and synapolic acids; and fixed oil; a prompt emetic, a rubefacient, and a condiment. (05 Mar 2000) |
| black piedra | Piedra involving the hairs of the scalp, caused by Piedraia hortae and characterised by firmly adherent black, hard, gritty nodules composed of an organised, firmly cemented mass of fungus cells; the fungal growth is always located above the level of the hair follicles; the disease occurs in humid tropical countries of the Americas, Africa, Southeast Asia, and Indonesia, and attacks chimpanzees and other primates as well as humans. (05 Mar 2000) |
| black plague | In 14th-century Europe, the victims of the black plague had bleeding below the skin (subcutaneous haemorrhage) which made darkened ( blackened ) their bodies. Black plague can lead to black death characterised by gangrene of the fingers, toes, and nose. Black plague is caused by a bacterium (Yersinia pestis) which is transmitted to humans from infected rats by the oriental rat flea. (12 Dec 1998) |