What does "lampblack" mean?

An amorphous form of carbon made from incompletely burned organic matter; used to make pigments and inks.

What is a synonym for "lampblack"?

Common synonyms include: black, carbon black, carbon black, charcoal, color, crock.

noun, verb

noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
An amorphous form of carbon made from incompletely burned organic matter; used to make pigments and inks. countable, uncountable
"A smudge of lampblack is made on his forehead to disfigure him and thus avert the evil eye."
2
a black colloidal substance consisting wholly or principally of amorphous carbon and used to make pigments and ink wordnet

Verb

1
To blacken (something) using this form of carbon. transitive
"Gadsbodkins, you puny Upſtart in the Law, to uſe me ſo, you Green Bag Carrier, you Murderer of unfortunate Cauſes, the Clerks Ink is ſcarce off of your fingers, you that newly come from Lamblacking the Judges ſhooes, and are not fit to wipe mine; […]"

"A smudge of lampblack is made on his forehead to disfigure him and thus avert the evil eye."

From lamp + black.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.