Black hole
Meaning
A region of spacetime where gravity is so intense that nothing, not even light, can escape, often used metaphorically for a situation from which it is impossible to escape.
Origin
The concept of an object whose gravity is so powerful that light cannot escape has roots in the late 18th century, with insights from John Michell and Pierre-Simon Laplace. However, the theoretical understanding of these cosmic phenomena truly emerged in the 20th century with Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity. The striking, now-ubiquitous term 'black hole' was popularized, and some say coined, by American theoretical physicist John Wheeler during a 1967 lecture. Wheeler found the term more evocative and memorable than its clunky predecessors like 'gravitationally collapsed object,' perfectly capturing the ominous, inescapable nature of these celestial wonders.
Examples
- Astronomers are regularly discovering new black holes at the centers of distant galaxies.
- The new project quickly became a financial black hole, consuming all available resources with no visible return.