{ , n. [ Russ. baidarka, dim. Cf. Baidar. ] A portable boat made of skins stretched on a frame. [ Alaska ] The Century. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon,
Irrecoverably dark, total eclipse
Without all hope of day! Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

In the dark and silent grave. Sir W. Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Not clear to the understanding; not easily seen through; obscure; mysterious; hidden. [ 1913 Webster ]

The dark problems of existence. Shairp. [ 1913 Webster ]

What may seem dark at the first, will afterward be found more plain. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

What's your dark meaning, mouse, of this light word? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Destitute of knowledge and culture; in moral or intellectual darkness; unrefined; ignorant. [ 1913 Webster ]

The age wherein he lived was dark, but he
Could not want light who taught the world to see. Denhan. [ 1913 Webster ]

The tenth century used to be reckoned by mediæval historians as the darkest part of this intellectual night. Hallam. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Evincing black or foul traits of character; vile; wicked; atrocious; as, a dark villain; a dark deed. [ 1913 Webster ]

Left him at large to his own dark designs. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Foreboding evil; gloomy; jealous; suspicious. [ 1913 Webster ]

More dark and dark our woes. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

A deep melancholy took possesion of him, and gave a dark tinge to all his views of human nature. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Deprived of sight; blind. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He was, I think, at this time quite dark, and so had been for some years. Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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 ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Absence of light; darkness; obscurity; a place where there is little or no light. [ 1913 Webster ]

Here stood he in the dark, his sharp sword out. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The condition of ignorance; gloom; secrecy. [ 1913 Webster ]

Look, what you do, you do it still i' th' dark. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Till we perceive by our own understandings, we are as much in the dark, and as void of knowledge, as before. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Fine Arts) A dark shade or dark passage in a painting, engraving, or the like; as, the light and darks are well contrasted. [ 1913 Webster ]

The lights may serve for a repose to the darks, and the darks to the lights. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To darken; to obscure. [ Obs. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. of a color similar to that of a clear unclouded sky.
Syn. -- blue, bluish, light-blue, cerulean. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. of a color similar to that of wood or earth.
Syn. -- brown, brownish. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. i. To grow or darker. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Darkened p. pr. & vb. n. Darkening ] [ AS. deorcian. See Dark, a. ] 1. To make dark or black; to deprive of light; to obscure; as, a darkened room. [ 1913 Webster ]

They [ locusts ] covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened. Ex. x. 15. [ 1913 Webster ]

So spake the Sovran Voice; and clouds began
To darken all the hill. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To render dim; to deprive of vision. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see. Rom. xi. 10. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To cloud, obscure, or perplex; to render less clear or intelligible. [ 1913 Webster ]

Such was his wisdom that his confidence did seldom darkenhis foresight. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Job. xxxviii. 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To cast a gloom upon. [ 1913 Webster ]

With these forced thoughts, I prithee, darken not
The mirth of the feast. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To make foul; to sully; to tarnish. [ 1913 Webster ]

I must not think there are
Evils enough to darken all his goodness. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. overtaken by night or darkness.
Syn. -- nighted. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. One who, or that which, darkens. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Twilight; gloaming. [ Prov. Eng. & Scot. ] Wright. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Full of darkness. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. similar to the color of fresh grass.
Syn. -- green, greenish, light-green. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. same as brunet; as, a dark-haired beauty.
Syn. -- black-haired. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a black person; an African-American; -- an older term now considered offensive.
Syn. -- darky, darkey. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

a. Somewhat dark; dusky. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ Freq. of dark. ] To grow dark; to show indistinctly. Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. [ Dark + the adverbial suffix -ling. ] In the dark. [ Poetic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

So, out went the candle, and we were left darkling. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

As the wakeful bird
Sings darkling. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

p. pr. & a. 1. Becoming dark or gloomy; frowing. [ 1913 Webster ]

His honest brows darkling as he looked towards me. Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Dark; gloomy. “The darkling precipice.” Moore. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. 1. With imperfect light, clearness, or knowledge; obscurely; dimly; blindly; uncertainly. [ 1913 Webster ]

What fame to future times conveys but darkly down. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

so softly dark and darkly pure. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. With a dark, gloomy, cruel, or menacing look. [ 1913 Webster ]

Looking darkly at the clerguman. Hawthorne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The absence of light; blackness; obscurity; gloom. [ 1913 Webster ]

And darkness was upon the face of the deep. Gen. i. 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A state of privacy; secrecy. [ 1913 Webster ]

What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light. Matt. x. 27. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A state of ignorance or error, especially on moral or religious subjects; hence, wickedness; impurity. [ 1913 Webster ]

Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. John. iii. 19. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pursue these sons of darkness: drive them out
From all heaven's bounds. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Want of clearness or perspicuity; obscurity; as, the darkness of a subject, or of a discussion. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A state of distress or trouble. [ 1913 Webster ]

A day of clouds and of thick darkness. Joel. ii. 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

Prince of darkness, the Devil; Satan. “In the power of the Prince of darkness.” Locke.

Syn. -- Darkness, Dimness, Obscurity, Gloom. Darkness arises from a total, and dimness from a partial, want of light. A thing is obscure when so overclouded or covered as not to be easily perceived. As tha shade or obscurity increases, it deepens into gloom. What is dark is hidden from view; what is obscure is difficult to perceive or penetrate; the eye becomes dim with age; an impending storm fills the atmosphere with gloom. When taken figuratively, these words have a like use; as, the darkness of ignorance; dimness of discernment; obscurity of reasoning; gloom of superstition. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. same as colored. [ Narrower terms: black (vs. white) ]
Syn. -- colored, coloured. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. having a dark color; -- of skin color.
Syn. -- dusky, swart, swarthy. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Dark; gloomy; obscure; shaded; cheerless. [ Poetic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He brought him through a darksome narrow pass
To a broad gate, all built of beaten gold. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a negro; an African-American; -- an older term now considered offensive. [ Slang ]
Syn. -- darkie, darkey. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

v. t. To darken. [ Obs. ] Feltham. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Dark as a pitch; pitch-black. [ 1913 Webster ]