diff --git a/jquery.highlight.js b/jquery.highlight.js
index 9dcf3c7..0dbba51 100644
--- a/jquery.highlight.js
+++ b/jquery.highlight.js
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
  */
 
 jQuery.extend({
-    highlight: function (node, re, nodeName, className) {
+    highlight: function (node, re, nodeName, className, blacklist) {
         if (node.nodeType === 3) {
             var match = node.data.match(re);
             if (match) {
@@ -60,8 +60,26 @@ jQuery.extend({
         } else if ((node.nodeType === 1 && node.childNodes) && // only element nodes that have children
                 !/(script|style)/i.test(node.tagName) && // ignore script and style nodes
                 !(node.tagName === nodeName.toUpperCase() && node.className === className)) { // skip if already highlighted
-            for (var i = 0; i < node.childNodes.length; i++) {
-                i += jQuery.highlight(node.childNodes[i], re, nodeName, className);
+            var blacklisted = false,
+                blacklistItem, pattern, classRegExp, target, match,
+                i, iLength;
+
+            if (blacklist.length && (node.className || node.id)) {
+                for(i = 0, iLength = blacklist.length; i < iLength; i++) {
+                    blacklistItem = blacklist[i];
+                    pattern = "\\b" + blacklist[i].substr(1) + "\\b";
+                    classRegExp = new RegExp(pattern);
+
+                    // detect if blacklist item is id or else class
+                    target = (blacklistItem.charAt(0) === '#') ? node.id : node.className;
+                    match = target.match(classRegExp);
+                    blacklisted = match ? true : blacklisted;
+                };    
+            }
+            if (! blacklisted) {
+                for (var i = 0; i < node.childNodes.length; i++) {
+                    i += jQuery.highlight(node.childNodes[i], re, nodeName, className, blacklist);
+                }
             }
         }
         return 0;
@@ -80,7 +98,7 @@ jQuery.fn.unhighlight = function (options) {
 };
 
 jQuery.fn.highlight = function (words, options) {
-    var settings = { className: 'highlight', element: 'span', caseSensitive: false, wordsOnly: false };
+    var settings = { className: 'highlight', element: 'span', caseSensitive: false, wordsOnly: false, blacklist: [] };
     jQuery.extend(settings, options);
     
     if (words.constructor === String) {
@@ -102,7 +120,7 @@ jQuery.fn.highlight = function (words, options) {
     var re = new RegExp(pattern, flag);
     
     return this.each(function () {
-        jQuery.highlight(this, re, settings.element, settings.className);
+        jQuery.highlight(this, re, settings.element, settings.className, settings.blacklist);
     });
 };