black swan
Americannoun
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an Australian swan, Cygnus atratus, having mostly black plumage and a red bill.
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an occurrence or phenomenon that comes as a surprise because it was not predicted or was hard to predict (often used attributively).
a disastrous black-swan event that only appeared obvious in hindsight.
noun
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a large Australian swan, Cygnus atratus , that has a black plumage and red bill
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a phenomenon that occurs even though it had been thought to be impossible
Etymology
Origin of black swan
black swan ( def. 2 ) from the belief that all swans were white, before the first sighting of Australian black swans
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 Dawlish, Devon, two black swan nests and 10 eggs were washed away after consecutive January storms brought torrential rain and caused the brook to breach its banks.
From BBC
Although they may not come to pass, there are plenty of potential black swan events that could be lurking in the back half of the 2020s.
From Barron's
He called the Eaton fire “a black swan event” — one of “low probability, but high consequence.”
From Los Angeles Times
In the words of one central-bank manager, he quoted, the precious metal is the “ultimate protection against black swan tail risk events”.
From MarketWatch
He doesn’t discount the possibility of a “black swan”-type event in the near future.
From MarketWatch
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.
