Words / B1

BLAK-owt/ˈblækaʊt/

A blackout is a period without electricity, a sudden loss of memory, or an official media silence. Power cut is the everyday twin for electricity. Do not mix with black out (verb, two words) meaning faint. Clinics: a blackout closed the night clinic.

Meaning

A period without electricity; also a sudden loss of memory or media silence.

Examples

• “A blackout closed the night clinic for three hours.”
• “A news blackout during the siege is the media-silence sense, not a fuse.”

Good to know

a blackout (power / memory / media). Everyday electricity: a power cut. Verb: black out = faint. NHS / weather / reporting restrictions.

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