1[intransitiveI, transitiveT]CC to become black, or to make something black (使)变黑;把…弄黑
The thunder became louder and the sky blackened.
雷声更响,天色也黑了下来。
2.blacken somebody’s name/character/reputationSAYto say unpleasant things about someone in order to make other people have a badopinion of them 玷污某人的名声/品德/声誉
Examples from the Corpus
blacken• The man looked into her eyes, now blackened, and into her sutured face.• Now that they stood in the light, Jehan could see that both of them were blackened by grime and oil.• It was distorted and blackened by the heat, but Charles knew immediately what it was.• A few people, their faces blackened by the smoke, ran out of the building.• Twisted, blackenedcorpseslie side-by-side on a cold-looking concretefloor.• His name blackened, his writingsneglected, for two decades Nizan was allotted the role of loser.• He blackened one eye, left scratches up and down her neck and scraped the flesh off her hipbones.• So we sat hunched at our desks, blackening out the story and accompanyingpictures.