black eye

black eye (plural black eyes)

1. An eye which has been bruised showing noticeable hematoma, especially after receiving a blow.

   Synonyms: (slang) blinker, (colloquial) shiner

   • 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London, New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

     "You got a black eye out of him, and that's for publication. We can't have this reign of terror, Mr. Malone."

2. (figurative) A defeat.
3. (figurative) Damage to a reputation.
   • 1961, Joseph Heller, Catch-22, Simon & Schuster (2003), p. 205:

     "He looked downward in mournful gloom at the skeet-shooting range he had ordered built for the officers on his headquarters staff, and he recalled the mortifying afternoon General Dreedle had tongue-lashed him ruthlessly in front of Colonel Korn and Major Danby and ordered him to throw open the range to all the enlisted men and officers on combat duty. The skeet-shooting range had been a real black eye for him, Colonel Cathcart was forced to conclude."

4. (dated) An eye having a dark iris, regarded as a point of beauty.
5. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see black,‎ eye.

• black-eyed pea

• eye black, eyeblack