Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com
Definitions

blackball

[blak-bawl] / ˈblækˌbɔl /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Ms McKinney said modelling opportunities began to decline for her and she believed Mr Combs used his influence to "blackball" her in the industry.

From BBC May 22, 2024

And somebody — I won’t say who — that was within my representation at the time said “If you don’t do it, CBS will never work with you again. They’ll blackball you.”

From Los Angeles Times Mar. 19, 2021

Regarding the charge from many of his accusers that he threatened to derail their careers if they spoke out: “I couldn’t blackball anybody, because if I said, ‘Don’t use that actress’ .

From Washington Post Mar. 11, 2020

When she finally gave in, she insisted that I give her four weeks notice or she would blackball me.

From New York Times Jan. 20, 2020

Early in his career Owen used his influence at the Zoological Society to blackball a young man named Robert Grant whose only crime was to have shown promise as a fellow anatomist.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

While that blackballs the firms, it does not ban all business dealings, the report added.

From Reuters Mar. 25, 2022

I buy licorice whips, jelly beans, many-layered blackballs with the seed in the middle, packages of fizzy sherbet you suck up through a straw.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

Of all candidates at a club a known quarreller is more sure of blackballs now than even in the times when such a one provoked duels.

From Phineas Redux by Trollope, Anthony

And the longer they have gone before the more likely he is to receive no blackballs.

From The Country House by Galsworthy, John

Julius Cæsar Conway;—a great friend of mine, and therefore he always blackballs my other friends at the club.

From Phineas Finn The Irish Member by Trollope, Anthony

In an unpublished article titled “Das Kannibal,” Mitchell wrote angrily about being blackballed for speaking out against the war.

From Slate Jun. 6, 2025

Afterward he was blackballed in the industry, and invested most of his settlement in a producing a play he wrote that flopped.

From Salon Dec. 7, 2023

It has also been reported that the energy security department had already blackballed Greenpeace months ago.

From BBC Aug. 7, 2023

Burke, who died in 1995 at age 42, felt he was blackballed by the sport.

From Seattle Times Jun. 15, 2023

If he’s not careful, he’ll be blackballed by his state medical association and kept out of the hospitals.”

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

And the reason for that compulsive work ethic was her unofficial blackballing by “Tonight Show” host Johnny Carson, for the crime of accepting Fox's offer to host her own talk show.

From Salon May 14, 2025

Mr. Krikorian says he’s been facing that sort of ideological blackballing for years.

From Washington Times May 30, 2022

He won a multimillion-dollar settlement in 2019 after he accused the league of blackballing him because of his protests.

From New York Times Sep. 13, 2020

Supporters say team owners are blackballing him, and a group rallies outside NFL headquarters in Manhattan.

From Seattle Times Jun. 6, 2020

They wouldn't have dreamed of blackballing any one proposed by a popular man like you, and Mr Breitstein asked you personally to use your influence—you told me so.'

From Uneasy Money by Wodehouse, P. G. (Pelham Grenville)




Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training