noun

BBC

bee-bee-SEE

BBC (noun) means the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly funded national broadcaster of the United Kingdom, which runs television channels, radio stations and a news website. Example: “She watched the results come in on the BBC.”

noun

The British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly funded national broadcaster of the United Kingdom, which runs television channels, radio stations and a news website.

"She watched the results come in on the BBC."

"He worked as a BBC correspondent in Cairo for six years."

vulgar slang A large penis on a black man, used as a category label in pornography and as sexual slang.

"The tag was one of the site's most-searched categories."

"Most people who look up BBC in a slang context mean this sense, not the broadcaster."

How to Use BBC

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishBritain's national broadcaster — or, in sexual slang, a crude term for a black man's penis.

When to use it

The sexual sense is vulgar and unsuitable for work or formal writing. The broadcaster sense is entirely neutral and always capitalised.

Memory tip

Context decides the meaning instantly: if the surrounding words are about news, radio or television, it is the broadcaster.

Trace the full origin ↓

Easily confused with

bcc (blind carbon copy) BBQ

Common pairings

BBC News BBC One the BBC website

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Fill the Gap

Can you complete this real example?

She watched the results come in on the _____.

Etymology

An initialism. In the broadcasting sense it stands for British Broadcasting Corporation; in the slang sense it stands for big black cock.

Origin: English

Frequently Asked Questions

What does BBC stand for?

It stands for British Broadcasting Corporation when talking about media, and for big black cock when used as sexual slang. The two are unrelated abbreviations that happen to share the same three letters.

What is the difference between BBC and bcc in email?

The email feature is bcc, short for blind carbon copy, which hides recipients' addresses from one another. People often mistype it as BBC, but BBC is not an email term.