blackout

/ˌblækˈaʊt/

/ˈblækaʊt/

Other forms: blackouts

A blackout is a sudden loss of electricity in a town or city. If you experience a blackout, it's helpful to have flashlights and candles handy.

During a war or an energy crisis, a city may impose a blackout on its citizens, requiring them to turn off all lights and, during bombing raids, to cover windows and limit activity. There is also a figurative kind of blackout, when a government suppresses information deliberately, not allowing newspapers and TV stations to report what's really happening. Someone who faints or passes out experiences yet another kind of blackout, a loss of consciousness.

Definitions of blackout

1. noun

   darkness resulting from the extinction of lights (as in a city invisible to enemy aircraft)
   synonyms: brownout, dimout

   type of:

   dark, darkness

   absence of light or illumination
2. noun

   the failure of electric power for a general region
   type of:

   power failure, power outage

   equipment failure resulting when the supply of power fails
3. noun

   a suspension of radio or tv broadcasting
   type of:

   break, intermission, interruption, pause, suspension

   a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something
4. noun

   a momentary loss of consciousness
   type of:

   unconsciousness

   a state lacking normal awareness of the self or environment
5. noun

   partial or total loss of memory
   “he has a total blackout for events of the evening”

   synonyms: amnesia, memory loss

   types:

   anterograde amnesia, posttraumatic amnesia

   loss of memory for events immediately following a trauma; sometimes in effect for events during and for a long time following the trauma

   retrograde amnesia

   loss of memory for events immediately preceding a trauma

   forgetfulness

   tendency to forget

   selective amnesia

   amnesia about particular events that is very convenient for the person who cannot remember

   transient global amnesia

   memory disorder seen in middle aged and elderly persons; characterized by an episode of amnesia and bewilderment that lasts for several hours; person is otherwise alert and intellectually active

   senior moment

   a momentary lapse of memory (especially in older people)

   posthypnotic amnesia

   selective amnesia after being in a hypnotic state of events occurring during hypnosis or of information designated by the hypnotist

   type of:

   cognitive state, state of mind

   the state of a person's cognitive processes