blackball
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.
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Even a popular New York City venue allegedly uses it to blackball people its millionaire owner considers adversaries.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2026
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
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
NBA superstars like LeBron James and Steph Curry are impervious to this kind of treatment, in part because the NBA didn’t campaign to blackball them.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 5, 2019
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
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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
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And the longer they have gone before the more likely he is to receive no blackballs.
From The Country House by John Galsworthy
Napoleon sees in this remark a germ of aggression on behalf of his House of Commons, more especially when emphasised by 125 blackballs against a Government Bill.
From Napoleon's Letters to Josephine by Henry Foljambe Hall
Two blackballs are sufficient to cause the rejection of a candidate.
From American Adventures A Second Trip 'Abroad at home' by Wallace Morgan
That will make it possible to identify potential vetoes but not which country blackballed any given candidate.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
In an unpublished article titled “Das Kannibal,” Mitchell wrote angrily about being blackballed for speaking out against the war.
From Slate ● Jun. 6, 2025
She also said he had subsequently "blackballed" her in the modelling world.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2024
Siwa's experience with Nickelodeon led the star to big heights, even though she alleged that they blackballed her.
From Salon ● Sep. 21, 2024
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
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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
The staffers spoke on the condition of anonymity because of concerns about retaliation or blackballing in the small world of American museums.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 20, 2023
“This trend of big banks blackballing Alaska investment is dangerous to Alaska’s economic future,” Sullivan said in an interview Friday.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 24, 2020
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
Reform Club, Author elected member of, in 1878; "press-gang" at; excitement upon news of Phoenix Park murders; Mr. Chamberlain's brothers blackballed; proposal to abolish blackballing; Mr. Chamberlain resigns membership.
From Memoirs of Sir Wemyss Reid 1842-1885 by Stuart J. (Stuart Johnson) Reid