GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English
last match results
Found 3 definitions
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Dark (därk), a. [OE. dark, derk, deork, AS. dearc, deorc; cf. Gael. & Ir. dorch, dorcha, dark, black, dusky.]
1. Destitute, or partially destitute, of light; not receiving, reflecting, or radiating light; wholly or partially black, or of some deep shade of color; not light-colored; as, “a dark room; a dark day; dark cloth; dark paint; a dark complexion.”
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O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon,
Irrecoverably dark, total eclipse
Without all hope of day! Milton.
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In the dark and silent grave. Sir W. Raleigh.
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2. Not clear to the understanding; not easily seen through; obscure; mysterious; hidden.
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The dark problems of existence. Shairp.
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What may seem dark at the first, will afterward be found more plain. Hooker.
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What's your dark meaning, mouse, of this light word? Shak.
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3. Destitute of knowledge and culture; in moral or intellectual darkness; unrefined; ignorant.
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The age wherein he lived was dark, but he
Could not want light who taught the world to see. Denhan.
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The tenth century used to be reckoned by mediæval historians as the darkest part of this intellectual night. Hallam.
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4. Evincing black or foul traits of character; vile; wicked; atrocious; as, “a dark villain; a dark deed.”
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Left him at large to his own dark designs. Milton.
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5. Foreboding evil; gloomy; jealous; suspicious.
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More dark and dark our woes. Shak.
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A deep melancholy took possesion of him, and gave a dark tinge to all his views of human nature. Macaulay.
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There is, in every true woman-s heart, a spark of heavenly fire, which beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity. W. Irving.
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6. Deprived of sight; blind. [Obs.]
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He was, I think, at this time quite dark, and so had been for some years. Evelyn.
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☞ Dark is sometimes used to qualify another adjective; as, “dark blue, dark green, and sometimes it forms the first part of a compound; as, dark-haired, dark-eyed, dark-colored, dark-seated, dark-working.”
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A dark horse, in racing or politics, a horse or a candidate whose chances of success are not known, and whose capabilities have not been made the subject of general comment or of wagers. [Colloq.] -- Dark house, Dark room, a house or room in which madmen were confined. [Obs.] Shak. -- Dark lantern. See Lantern. -- The Dark Ages, a period of stagnation and obscurity in literature and art, lasting, according to Hallam, nearly 1000 years, from about 500 to about 1500 A. D.. See Middle Ages, under Middle. -- The Dark and Bloody Ground, a phrase applied to the State of Kentucky, and said to be the significance of its name, in allusion to the frequent wars that were waged there between Indians. -- The dark day, a day (May 19, 1780) when a remarkable and unexplained darkness extended over all New England. -- To keep dark, to reveal nothing. [Low]
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Dark (därk), n.
1. Absence of light; darkness; obscurity; a place where there is little or no light.
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Here stood he in the dark, his sharp sword out. Shak.
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2. The condition of ignorance; gloom; secrecy.
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Look, what you do, you do it still i' th' dark. Shak.
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Till we perceive by our own understandings, we are as much in the dark, and as void of knowledge, as before. Locke.
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3. (Fine Arts) A dark shade or dark passage in a painting, engraving, or the like; as, “the light and darks are well contrasted”.
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The lights may serve for a repose to the darks, and the darks to the lights. Dryden.
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Dark, v. t. To darken; to obscure. [Obs.] Milton.
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