pitch black
12
3.2
- noun
- /pɪtʃ blæk/
:
oscuridad total
- Because you left me alone in the pitch black.
- pitch black room
- pitch black night
- pitch black outside
When we walked into this room, it was pitch black.
- When we walked into this room, it was pitch black.
- Claim it and I'm up on top of a mountain in a teepee in the pitch black, laying there in the middle, having just lost my mind for five hours.
Examples
-
Jesus, it's pitch black down there.
-
It's so pitch black tonight.
-
I open my eyes and realize it is still pitch black outside.
Blog text (31) -
But in the pitch black, we had a hard time telling what had happened.
Blog text (15) -
Lights start going out in sections until the entire fair is pitch black.
Fiction book (2002) -
The end of the alley is pitch black.
Fiction book (2002) -
It is pitch black right now.
-
We are moving through a tunnel—pitch black, so dark all you feel is the motion.
Fiction book (2001) -
Eliza halted, stunned to discover the room was pitch-black.
Fiction book (1994) -
When I stepped outside, the night was pitch black, making it hard to see anything.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Very dark in color like coal or the night
∞
1.0
With little or no light and not bright
8
3.4
Completely dark with no light
4
3.4
There is no light at all, like a room with no windows
3
3.9
Very black like coal or a dark night
2
5.1
Completely dark so you cannot see anything
1
2.8
A very dark colour like shiny coal
1
2.8
Very dark like the color of coal
Completely black like coal
A very dark color like the black dust from a fire
Antonyms
How Dark
Surface Forms
Morphology
Because 'pitch' denotes a very dark, tar-like substance, combining it with 'black' yields the straightforward meaning 'very black' or 'completely dark'; the intensifying effect is directly derivable from the constituents. This noun+adjective compositional pattern is common and predictable, so a B1 learner who knows both words should understand the MWE.
Etymology
Pitch black may come from pitch, the thick black tar people used to cover boats and roofs, because pitch looks very dark. So pitch black means 'completely dark'.