blackout
blackout — 名詞
1. a period — from a few minutes up to several days — during which a town, building
停電；管制
整個地區突然斷電或戰時遮光
a period — from a few minutes up to several days — during which a town, building, or wider area has no electricity, so its lights, lifts, and appliances stop working. The same word also names a wartime rule requiring every window in a city to be covered after dark so enemy bomber crews cannot use the lights below as a target.
A four-hour blackout left half of Taipei without traffic lights last Tuesday.
上週二一場長達四小時的停電讓半個台北的紅綠燈全部失靈。
noun + duration + place: a [time]-hour blackout left [place] without [thing]
During the blackout, Wen lit candles and read his daughter a bedtime story.
停電期間，Wen 點起蠟燭，唸床邊故事給女兒聽。
preposition: during the blackout
Hurricane Ian caused blackouts across Fort Myers that lasted nearly four days.
Hurricane Ian 造成 Fort Myers 一帶將近四天的大停電。
Wartime blackouts forced every family in London to hang thick curtains over their windows.
戰時的燈火管制迫使倫敦每戶人家都得用厚重窗簾遮住窗戶。
Within seconds of the blackout, the hospital's backup generator kicked in and the operating-room lights flickered back on.
停電後幾秒內，醫院的備用發電機立刻啟動，手術房的燈也跟著重新亮起。
- power outage
neutral American term, focused on electricity loss only
- power cut
British equivalent, same meaning as power outage
- brownout
narrower — partial loss of voltage, lights dim but stay on
文法句型
a blackout in [place]
during the blackout
用法筆記
Often paired with verbs like 'cause', 'suffer', 'experience', or 'hit'. The wartime meaning is now historical, almost always tied to World War II contexts.
常見錯誤
2. a deliberate decision, usually by a government, the police, or a company, to sto
新聞封鎖
禁止媒體報導特定事件
a deliberate decision, usually by a government, the police, or a company, to stop journalists and the public from getting any details about a specific event or topic.
The army imposed a news blackout on the operation in the northern villages.
軍方對北方村莊的軍事行動實施新聞封鎖。
verb collocation: impose a (news) blackout on [topic]
Reporters in Seoul complained about the media blackout surrounding the trial.
首爾的記者紛紛抱怨那場審判被新聞封鎖。
compound: media blackout surrounding [event]
Disney maintained a tight blackout on plot details of the new Star Wars film until opening night.
Disney 在新一集星際大戰電影上映前，對劇情細節維持極為嚴密的封鎖。
The Hassan family demanded an end to the news blackout after their son's unit went missing in Mosul.
Hassan 一家人在兒子的部隊於 Mosul 失蹤後，要求解除新聞封鎖。
The Beijing government's blackout on the pipeline explosion in Dalian lasted nearly two weeks before any photos appeared online.
北京當局對 Dalian 輸油管爆炸的新聞封鎖維持了將近兩週，網路上才開始出現相關照片。
- censorship
broader — any cutting or hiding of content, not only a total ban
- news embargo
softer — sources agree to delay publication until a set time
- gag order
legal — a court tells specific people not to discuss a case
- disclosure
the open release of the same kind of information
文法句型
a blackout on [topic]
media / news blackout
用法筆記
Almost always preceded by 'news', 'media', 'press', 'information', or a body that imposes it. Commonly paired with the verbs 'impose', 'lift', or 'maintain'.
常見錯誤
3. a brief moment in which a person passes out or cannot remember what they did, of
昏厥；失憶
短暫失去意識或記憶
a brief moment in which a person passes out or cannot remember what they did, often caused by heavy drinking, low blood pressure, a head injury, or extreme stress.
Omar had a blackout at the gym and woke up on the floor.
Omar 在健身房昏厥過去，醒來時人已倒在地板上。
verb collocation: have a blackout (+ where it happened)
After the party, Anaya suffered a blackout and could not recall going home.
派對結束後，Anaya 出現失憶，完全想不起來自己是怎麼回家的。
alcohol-related blackout: cannot recall [event]
Captain Reyes reported a brief blackout during a sharp turn over the Nevada desert at twice the speed of sound.
Reyes 機長回報，他在內華達沙漠上空以兩倍音速急轉彎時，曾短暫失去意識。
Doctors at Kaohsiung General warned Mrs. Lin that her morning blackouts might point to an underlying heart problem.
高雄總醫院的醫師警告 Lin 太太，她每天早上反覆昏厥，可能代表心臟有潛在問題。
Mr. Tanaka had a blackout behind the wheel near Yokohama and crashed into a guardrail.
Tanaka 先生在 Yokohama 附近開車時突然昏厥，車子直接撞上了護欄。
- faint
everyday word for the same event, but shorter and rarely involves memory loss
- fainting spell
neutral medical phrase, focuses on losing consciousness
- syncope
technical medical term for a brief loss of consciousness
文法句型
have / suffer a blackout
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1 (electrical) and sense 2 (information ban): only this sense applies to a person's body. Often plural ('blackouts') when describing a recurring medical symptom.
常見錯誤
blackout — 動詞
1. if a person blacks out, they suddenly cannot see, lose consciousness, or forget
失去意識
人突然昏倒或記憶斷片
if a person blacks out, they suddenly cannot see, lose consciousness, or forget a stretch of time, often after drinking too much alcohol or hitting their head.
Linnea blacked out for a few seconds after standing up too quickly.
Linnea 站起來太急，整個人短暫失去意識了好幾秒。
intransitive + duration: black out for [short time]
The boxer blacked out as soon as the second punch landed on his jaw.
第二拳一打中下巴，那名拳擊手就立刻失去意識倒下。
trigger clause: black out as soon as [event]
I drank far too much at the wedding and completely blacked out before midnight.
我在婚禮上喝得太兇，午夜之前就完全失去意識了。
Air-force trainees at Luke Base often black out the first time their jets pull nine G's in a sharp climb.
Luke 空軍基地的飛行學員第一次讓戰機在急速爬升中拉到九個 G 時，常常會直接失去意識。
After the crash, Wen blacked out and woke up two hours later in hospital.
車禍之後，Wen 失去意識，兩個小時後才在醫院醒來。
- pass out
everyday equivalent — slightly more neutral, used for any fainting
- faint
milder — usually a brief loss of consciousness without memory loss
- lose consciousness
formal — used in medical reports
- come round
the recovery action: regaining awareness after fainting
文法句型
[person] blacks out
用法筆記
Subject must be a person (or sometimes an animal). Often paired with adverbs that describe completeness ('completely', 'briefly') or duration ('for a moment', 'for an hour'). Compare with the noun in sense 3.
常見錯誤
2. to draw a thick black line across writing on paper or a screen so that nobody ca
塗黑遮蔽
用粗黑線蓋住文字使其無法辨讀
to draw a thick black line across writing on paper or a screen so that nobody can read what was originally there.
Officials had blacked out every name in the report before sending it to the journalists.
官員在把報告交給記者前，已將每個人名都塗黑遮蔽。
transitive + object: black out [proper nouns / names]
Mr. Park blacked out the answer key on the maths worksheet before photocopying it for Year 7.
Park 老師在把數學作業單影印給七年級之前，先把上面的解答全部塗黑遮住。
physical paper: black out [part of a page] before [action]
Sara grabbed a thick Sharpie and blacked out her ex-boyfriend's number in the leather address book on her desk.
Sara 抓起一支粗 Sharpie 麥克筆，把書桌上那本皮製通訊錄裡前男友的電話整個劃黑塗掉。
Half of the FBI email released to the Times had been blacked out for legal reasons.
FBI 釋出給紐約時報的那封電子郵件，因為法律考量已有一半的內容被塗黑遮蔽。
Ms. Okafor, the defence lawyer, asked her clerk to black out every witness's home address before filing the court papers.
辯護律師 Okafor 在送交法院文件之前，要求書記把每位證人的住家地址都塗黑遮起來。
- reveal
the opposite action: showing what was hidden
文法句型
black out [text / part of a document]
用法筆記
Object is usually a name, number, address, or section of text — something concrete on a page or screen. Frequently used in the passive when describing official documents.
常見錯誤
3. to block or remove a single story, game, or printed passage so the audience in q
封鎖報導
阻擋新聞或節目對外播出
to block or remove a single story, game, or printed passage so the audience in question never sees that particular item — for example, pulling one Sunday match off the air in the home team's region, or covering two paragraphs of a magazine before it goes to print. Each act of blocking targets one piece of content rather than a whole subject.
Local channels blacked out the football game for fans inside the stadium's home zone.
本地頻道對主場區的球迷封鎖了那場球賽的直播。
broadcast use: black out [a game] for [audience]
Iranian state TV blacked out live coverage of the women's protests outside Tehran's Azadi Tower.
伊朗國營電視台封鎖了 Azadi Tower 外頭那場女性抗議活動的所有現場直播畫面。
broadcaster + event: [channel] blacked out coverage of [event]
Editors at the magazine were ordered to black out two paragraphs about the minister.
雜誌的編輯接到指示，要把關於那位部長的兩段文字全部塗黑。
The Hunter Biden laptop story had been blacked out across every major network for nine days.
Hunter Biden 筆電那則新聞在所有主要媒體上被封鎖了整整九天。
A High Court ruling in Sydney blacked out further reporting on the Pell appeal until the verdict was delivered.
雪梨高等法院的一紙裁定，封鎖了 Pell 上訴案在判決出爐前的所有後續報導。
- broadcast
to send out the very content this verb blocks
文法句型
black out [news / story / broadcast]
用法筆記
Distinguish from the formal-decree sense (ORDER SECRECY): this sense covers the practical, often case-by-case blocking of one specific story, game, or set of paragraphs — not the issuing of a sweeping rule. Common collocates: 'black out a game / coverage / a paragraph / a broadcast'.
常見錯誤
4. to cover the windows or turn off the lights of a room, building, or city so that
遮光使暗
把房間或地區的燈光全部遮住
to cover the windows or turn off the lights of a room, building, or city so that the inside or the area falls into darkness.
Wardens blacked out the whole village before the bombers flew over.
防空人員在轟炸機飛來之前把整座村莊燈火全遮起來。
wartime: black out [place] before [event]
The photographer blacked out the studio with thick black sheets.
攝影師用厚厚的黑布把整間攝影棚的光線都遮住。
instrument: black out [room] with [material]
Marcus and Lina blacked out the nursery with heavy curtains so baby Sofia would sleep through until morning.
Marcus 和 Lina 用厚厚的窗簾把嬰兒房整個遮黑，好讓 Sofia 能一覺睡到天亮。
Every coastal town along the Channel had been blacked out by sunset.
海峽沿岸的每座海邊小鎮在日落前就已全面遮光。
Stage crews blacked out the theatre between the two acts.
舞台工作人員在兩幕之間把整座劇場的燈光全部熄掉。
- light up
fill the same place with light
文法句型
black out [place / room]
用法筆記
Object is a place (room, theatre, town), not a piece of text. Distinguish from verb sense 2 (which acts on writing) and verb sense 5 (which kills electrical power, not light).
常見錯誤
5. (of a storm, fault, or attack) to take a machine, building, or whole region out
斷電癱瘓
因停電使設備或地區無法運作
(of a storm, fault, or attack) to take a machine, building, or whole region out of service by cutting off its electricity supply, so its lights and equipment no longer run. Used with a clear cause as the subject and the affected place or system as the object.
The storm blacked out half of New Jersey for nearly a week.
那場暴風雨讓半個紐澤西州斷電將近一週。
subject is event: [storm] blacked out [region] for [time]
A failed transformer blacked out the entire Mitsui shopping mall in Yokohama for the whole Saturday afternoon.
一台變壓器故障，讓 Yokohama 的 Mitsui 購物中心整個週六下午全面停電。
subject is fault: [fault] blacked out [building] for [time]
North Korean hackers blacked out HSBC's main trading server in Hong Kong for ninety minutes on Sunday morning.
北韓駭客在週日清晨讓 HSBC 香港的主交易伺服器整整斷線了九十分鐘。
The east wing of St Mary's Hospital was blacked out for two hours while engineers replaced the burned-out cable.
工程人員更換燒毀電纜的那兩個小時，St Mary's Hospital 的東棟整個停電。
A falling cypress on Maple Avenue blacked out three streets and trapped two cars under the branches.
Maple Avenue 上一棵倒下的柏樹，讓我們社區三條街全部停電，還把兩輛汽車壓在樹枝下動彈不得。
- restore power
the opposite action: bringing electricity back
文法句型
black out [equipment / area]
用法筆記
Subject is usually a cause (storm, tree, fault, attack), and the object is the equipment or area that loses power. Distinguish from verb sense 4, which is about hiding light, not about losing electricity.
常見錯誤
6. if a building, street, or wider area blacks out, every light in that place goes
陷入黑暗
建築或地區突然全面斷電變暗
if a building, street, or wider area blacks out, every light in that place goes off at once and the area becomes dark.
The whole neighbourhood blacked out the moment the lightning hit the substation.
閃電一擊中變電所，整個社區瞬間陷入一片黑暗。
subject is place + sudden trigger
Half of Manhattan blacked out during the August heatwave of 2003.
二○○三年八月那波熱浪期間，半個曼哈頓陷入大停電。
subject + duration of event
The Royal Court Theatre blacked out for two long seconds before the next scene of the Hamlet revival began.
Hamlet 重演下一幕開始之前，Royal Court Theatre 整座劇場全黑了長長的兩秒鐘。
Our office blacked out three times in one afternoon during the typhoon.
颱風來襲那個下午，我們辦公室一連停了三次電。
If the Texas grid blacks out again, Romero's seafood market will lose every box of king crab.
德州電網今年冬天要是再一次全面停電，Romero 海鮮市場冷凍庫裡每一箱帝王蟹都會泡湯。
- go dark
informal — describes the same sudden loss of light
- lose power
neutral — focuses on the electricity itself
- light up
the city becomes bright again
文法句型
[place / building] blacks out
用法筆記
Intransitive — no object. Compare with verb sense 5 (transitive: 'the storm blacked out the city') versus this sense (intransitive: 'the city blacked out'). Pick the intransitive form when no clear cause is named.
常見錯誤
7. (of a ministry, court, or palace) to issue a formal top-down order that forbids
明令封鎖
正式下令禁止任何相關報導
(of a ministry, court, or palace) to issue a formal top-down order that forbids journalists and the public from reporting, mentioning, or discussing an entire subject — for example, the route of a military convoy or the medical condition of a head of state. The order covers the whole topic, not one specific story.
The defence ministry blacked out every detail of the spy exchange.
國防部對這場間諜交換的所有細節下令全面封鎖。
formal subject: [ministry / agency] blacked out [topic]
Officials had blacked out the route of the convoy until it reached the border.
官方在車隊抵達邊境之前，對其行進路線完全保密封鎖。
duration: black out [topic] until [event]
Senior judges chose to black out any reference to the witness's home town.
資深法官決定明令封鎖任何提及證人故鄉的內容。
All news of King Salman's hospital stay was blacked out by royal order until the Crown Prince addressed the nation.
在王儲對全國發表談話之前，依王室之命，所有關於 Salman 國王住院的消息都被明令封鎖。
The Ministry of Defence blacked out coverage of the Falklands campaign across every British channel for forty-eight hours.
英國國防部對福克蘭戰役的相關報導下令封鎖，全英所有頻道整整四十八小時都不得提及。
文法句型
black out [topic / event]
用法筆記
Distinguish from verb sense 3 (BAN COVERAGE): this sense names the formal top-down decree itself, often issued by a ministry, court, or palace, while sense 3 covers the practical blocking of any single story or broadcast. Subject is almost always a high-level institution.
常見錯誤
8. (of a punch, sudden force, or chemical shock) to make a person abruptly lose con
擊昏；使昏厥
強力或衝擊使人瞬間失去意識
(of a punch, sudden force, or chemical shock) to make a person abruptly lose consciousness or vision — for example, a blow to the jaw flooring a boxer, or G-forces in a steep climb robbing a pilot of sight. The cause is the subject; the person knocked out is the object.
A heavy blow to the chin blacked the fighter out for almost a minute.
那記重重打在下巴上的拳頭，把那名選手擊昏了將近一分鐘。
subject is force: [blow] blacked [person] out
The sudden G-force blacked the test pilot out during the climb.
突如其來的 G 力，在爬升中就把試飛員直接弄昏過去。
aviation context
One whiff of the leaking ammonia blacked Mei out before she could reach the shut-off valve.
Mei 還來不及搆到關閉閥，外洩的氨氣就讓她聞了一口直接昏厥過去。
The sheer pain from her broken leg almost blacked Anaya out on the snow before the rescue team reached her.
在搜救隊趕到之前，斷腿傳來的劇痛差一點就讓 Anaya 在雪地上昏過去。
The shock of the freezing harbour briefly blacked out two swimmers during the New Year's Day swim.
在元旦那場游泳活動中，跳進冰冷港水帶來的衝擊，一瞬間讓兩名泳者短暫昏厥。
- revive
bring the same person back to consciousness
文法句型
[event] blacks [person] out
用法筆記
Rare causative form — most learners only need the intransitive in sense 1. Subject is the cause (a punch, a force, a shock); the object is the person affected.