SABLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sable mean? 

• SABLE (noun)
  The noun SABLE has 5 senses:

1. an artist's brush made of sable hairs

2. the expensive dark brown fur of the marten

3. a very dark black

4. a scarf (or trimming) made of sable

5. marten of northern Asian forests having luxuriant dark brown fur

  Familiarity information: SABLE used as a noun is common.

• SABLE (adjective)
  The adjective SABLE has 1 sense:

1. of a dark somewhat brownish black

  Familiarity information: SABLE used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SABLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An artist's brush made of sable hairs

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

sable; sable's hair pencil; sable brush

Hypernyms ("sable" is a kind of...):

brush (an implement that has hairs or bristles firmly set into a handle)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sable"):

rigger; rigger brush (a long slender pointed sable brush used by artists)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The expensive dark brown fur of the marten

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("sable" is a kind of...):

fur; pelt (the dressed hairy coat of a mammal)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A very dark black

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

coal black; ebony; jet black; pitch black; sable; soot black

Hypernyms ("sable" is a kind of...):

black; blackness; inkiness (the quality or state of the achromatic color of least lightness (bearing the least resemblance to white))

Sense 4

Meaning:

A scarf (or trimming) made of sable

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("sable" is a kind of...):

scarf (a garment worn around the head or neck or shoulders for warmth or decoration)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Marten of northern Asian forests having luxuriant dark brown fur

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

Martes zibellina; sable

Hypernyms ("sable" is a kind of...):

marten; marten cat (agile slender-bodied arboreal mustelids somewhat larger than weasels)

• SABLE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of a dark somewhat brownish black

Similar:

achromatic; neutral (having no hue)

 Context examples 

Coat colors include all solid colors and sables.

(Chinese Shar-Pei, NCI Thesaurus)

The coat most often comes in black with tan, sable or all black.

(German Shepherd Dog, NCI Thesaurus)

On each side stood a sable bush-holly or yew.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The coat comes in white with colored patches, most often black, but sometimes red, yellow, orange, sable or brindle.

(Japanese Chin, NCI Thesaurus)

It has a soft, water-resistant coat that comes in red, sable, fawn or black and tan, usually with white markings.

(Pembroke Welsh Corgi, NCI Thesaurus)

The spots can be black, brown (liver), lemon, dark blue, tri colored, brindled, solid white, or sable.

(Dalmatian, NCI Thesaurus)

They both come in sable and white, tri-color (black, white and tan), blue merle or predominantly white with sable, tri-color or blue merle markings.

(Collie, NCI Thesaurus)

‘Lord Robert Walsingham de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.’ Hum! ‘Arms: Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Colors are brindle, blue merle, black, black and tan, black and brindle, sable, and red, often with white markings.

(Cardigan Welsh Corgi, NCI Thesaurus)

“Argent,” Alleyne answered, “a fess azure charged with three lozenges dividing three mullets sable. Over all, on an escutcheon of the first, a jambe gules.”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)