5 definitions found
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Dark \Dark\ (d[aum]rk), 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.
O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon,
Irrecoverably dark, total eclipse Without all hope
of day! --Milton.
In the dark and silent grave. --Sir W.
Raleigh.
2. Not clear to the understanding; not easily seen through;
obscure; mysterious; hidden.
The dark problems of existence. --Shairp.
What may seem dark at the first, will afterward be
found more plain. --Hooker.
What's your dark meaning, mouse, of this light word?
--Shak.
3. Destitute of knowledge and culture; in moral or
intellectual darkness; unrefined; ignorant.
The age wherein he lived was dark, but he Could not
want light who taught the world to see. --Denhan.
The tenth century used to be reckoned by medi[ae]val
historians as the darkest part of this intellectual
night. --Hallam.
4. Evincing black or foul traits of character; vile; wicked;
atrocious; as, a dark villain; a dark deed.
Left him at large to his own dark designs. --Milton.
5. Foreboding evil; gloomy; jealous; suspicious.
More dark and dark our woes. --Shak.
A deep melancholy took possesion of him, and gave a
dark tinge to all his views of human nature.
--Macaulay.
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.
6. Deprived of sight; blind. [Obs.]
He was, I think, at this time quite dark, and so had
been for some years. --Evelyn.
Note: 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.
{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]
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Dark \Dark\, n.
1. Absence of light; darkness; obscurity; a place where there
is little or no light.
Here stood he in the dark, his sharp sword out.
--Shak.
2. The condition of ignorance; gloom; secrecy.
Look, what you do, you do it still i' th' dark.
--Shak.
Till we perceive by our own understandings, we are
as muc? in the dark, and as void of knowledge, as
before. --Locke.
3. (Fine Arts) A dark shade or dark passage in a painting,
engraving, or the like; as, the light and darks are well
contrasted.
The lights may serve for a repose to the darks, and
the darks to the lights. --Dryden.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Dark \Dark\, v. t.
To darken to obscure. [Obs.] --Milton.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
dark
adj 1: devoid or partially devoid of light or brightness; shadowed
or black or somber-colored; "sitting in a dark
corner"; "a dark day"; "dark shadows"; "the theater is
dark on Mondays"; "dark as the inside of a black cat"
[ant: {light}]
2: (used of color) having a dark hue; "dark green"; "dark
glasses"; "dark colors like wine red or navy blue" [ant: {light}]
3: brunet (used of hair or skin or eyes); "dark eyes"
4: stemming from evil characteristics or forces; wicked or
dishonorable; "black deeds"; "a black lie"; "his black
heart has concocted yet another black deed"; "Darth Vader
of the dark side"; "a dark purpose"; "dark undercurrents
of ethnic hostility"; "the scheme of some sinister
intelligence bent on punishing him"-Thomas Hardy [syn: {black},
{sinister}]
5: causing dejection; "a blue day"; "the dark days of the war";
"a week of rainy depressing weather"; "a disconsolate
winter landscape"; "the first dismal dispiriting days of
November"; "a dark gloomy day"; "grim rainy weather" [syn:
{blue}, {depressing}, {disconsolate}, {dismal}, {dispiriting},
{gloomy}, {grim}]
6: secret; "keep it dark"; "the dark mysteries of Africa and
the fabled wonders of the East"
7: showing a brooding ill humor; "a dark scowl"; "the
proverbially dour New England Puritan"; "a glum, hopeless
shrug"; "he sat in moody silence"; "a morose and
unsociable manner"; "a saturnine, almost misanthropic
young genius"- Bruce Bliven; "a sour temper"; "a sullen
crowd" [syn: {dour}, {glowering}, {glum}, {moody}, {morose},
{saturnine}, {sour}, {sullen}]
8: lacking enlightenment or knowledge or culture; "this
benighted country"; "benighted ages of barbarism and
superstition"; "the dark ages"; "a dark age in the history
of education" [syn: {benighted}]
9: marked by difficulty of style or expression; "much that was
dark is now quite clear to me"; "those who do not
appreciate Kafka's work say his style is obscure" [syn: {obscure}]
10: having skin rich in melanin pigments; "National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People"; "the dark races";
"dark-skinned peoples" [syn: {colored}, {coloured}, {dark-skinned}]
11: not giving performances; closed; "the theater is dark on
Mondays"
n 1: absence of light or illumination [syn: {darkness}] [ant: {light}]
2: absence of moral or spiritual values; "the powers of
darkness" [syn: {iniquity}, {wickedness}, {darkness}]
3: an unilluminated area; "he moved off into the darkness"
[syn: {darkness}, {shadow}]
4: the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark
outside [syn: {night}, {nighttime}] [ant: {day}]
5: an unenlightened state; "he was in the dark concerning their
intentions"; "his lectures dispelled the darkness" [syn: {darkness}]
From eng-fra [engfra]:
dark
[dɑːk]
foncé, sombre
obscur, sombre