black box
Americannoun
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any unit that forms part of an electronic circuit and that has its function, but not its components, specified.
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any comparatively small, usually black, box containing a secret, mysterious, or complex mechanical or electronic device.
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Aeronautics. an electronic device, such as a flight recorder, that can be removed from an aircraft as a single package.
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Automotive. a device in an electronic ignition system that generates electrical pulses.
noun
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a self-contained unit in an electronic or computer system whose circuitry need not be known to understand its function
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an informal name for flight recorder
Etymology
Origin of black box
First recorded in 1940–45
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In this photograph, the contraption’s legs can be glimpsed jutting out from behind Lincoln’s knees; it had been placed on a black box to extend its reach.
Most AI systems are “black boxes,” an entity whose internal workings — training data, algorithms, etc. — are both too complicated and too well-concealed for anyone outside the company leadership to understand.
From Salon
Lofty ideals like truth, justice and full transparency could also remain black boxes.
After more than two decades, in 2025, the FDA walked back a black box warning requirement on HRT products that followed the 2002 study.
The CPS said the Solong's black box showed no course or speed adjustments before the collision.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
