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black and white

3 syllables
Quick answer

As an adjective, black and white means not having or not capable of producing colors. As a noun, it means communication by means of written symbols (either printed or handwritten).

Meanings of black and white

5 meanings

adjective

  1. Not having or not capable of producing colors

    “black-and-white film”

    “a black-and-white TV”

    “the movie was in black and white”

    Similar: black-and-white
  2. Lacking hue or shades of grey; part white and part black

    “a black-and-white cow”

    “black-and-white blooms”

    “black-and-white stripes”

  3. Of a situation that is sharply divided into mutually exclusive categories

    “he rejected a black-and-white world”

    “there are no black-and-white certainties”

    “there were no grey areas, you were either for him or against him, he was all black-and-white”

noun

  1. Communication by means of written symbols (either printed or handwritten)

    Similar: written communication, written language
  2. A black-and-white photograph or slide

    Similar: monochrome

Meanings from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0).

Synonyms by meaning

adjective: not having or not capable of producing colors
noun: communication by means of written symbols (either printed…
written communicationwritten language
noun: a black-and-white photograph or slide

Nearby words