BLACK LIST. A general term used to describe a list of persons considered obnoxious for reasons good or bad. In the World War, the blockade of Germany by the allies was rendered very difficult by the free trading of neutral traders, especially those of Scandinavia, Holland and Switzerland, with the Central European powers (see BLOCKADE). This led to the drawing up by the British Government of a' list of Continental and other firms and persons, acting as suppliers to the enemy, with whom British subjects were forbidden to trade under the Trading with the Enemy act. This was called the black list. The term has also been used to describe a list of defaulters and unreliable persons circulated to traders by trade protection institutions.