black spot

black spotnoun

• 1

  biologybotanymedicineA fungal disease among plants, particularly roses, that results in black spots on the leaves.

  • In areas where black spot is only a problem after heavy rain or later in the season, restrict spraying to these times, or if yellowing or spotted foliage is detected.
• 2

  transportA section of roadway that has been designated as being particularly accident-prone.

  • Indian Queens is a hamlet just off the A30, a well-known traffic black spot, and Yellowknife was Margo Kidder's hometown in Canada.
• 3

  A dangerous place or area.

• 4

  communicationselectrical-engineeringengineeringA location with poor radio signal reception, e.g. for mobile phones.

  • What if—like so many rural parts of the county—this was a mobile black spot? That was easily tested. No, she had no problem dialling her own home number.
• 5

  A subject or area about which little or no information is available.

  • Near-synonyms: black hole, blind spot
  • Historians began to reanimate elements of the national historical memory partially destroyed by Soviet power. The closed book-shelfs^([sic]) and archives were (at least partially) opened, and “black spots” and taboos could now be tackled by national historians.
• 6

  fictionliteraturemediaA fictional judicial device among pirates, consisting of a black circle indicating condemnation.

  • I went down on my knees at once. On the floor close to his hand there was a little round of paper, blackened on the one side. I could not doubt that this was the black spot; and taking it up, I found written on the other side, in a very good, clear hand, this short message: “You have till ten to-night.”
• 7

  ball-gamesgameshobbiesThe spot on a snooker table where the black ball is normally placed.