dark /därk/

1. Without light
2. Black, or rather blackish
3. (of hair and skin colouring) not of a fair or light hue
4. Gloomy
5. (of a theatre) closed
6. Difficult to understand
7. Unenlightened
8. Secret
9. Sinister

1. Absence of light
2. Nightfall
3. A state of ignorance
4. A dark colour

In a state of dark

darkˈen transitive verb

1. To make dark or darker
2. To sully

To grow dark or darker

darkˈey, darkˈie noun see darky below

darkˈish adjective

darkˈle intransitive verb (literary)

To grow dark (a back-formation from darkling)

darkˈling adverb and adjective

1. Dark
2. In the dark

darkˈlings adverb (poetic)

In the dark

darkˈly adverb

darkˈness noun

darkˈsome adjective

1. Dark
2. Gloomy (poetic)

darkˈy noun

1. An old, now offensive, name for a black person (also darkˈie or darkˈey)
2. A dark lantern (also darkˈey; slang)

dark adaptation noun

The automatic adjustment of the eye to enable it to continue to see in reduced light

darkˈ-adaptˈed adjective

Dark Ages plural noun

The period of European history from the 5c to the 9c or 12c (or 15c), once considered to be a time of intellectual darkness

Dark Continent noun (old)

Africa

dark current noun (image technol and physics)

Residual current in a photoelectric cell, video camera tube, etc, when there is no incident illumination

dark energy noun

A hypothetical form of energy believed to be responsible for the continuous expansion of the universe

darkfield microscope noun

An ultramicroscope

dark glasses plural noun

Sunglasses

dark-ground illumination noun (biology)

A method for the microscopic examination of living material by scattered light, specimens appearing luminous against a dark background (cf bright-field illumination)

dark horse noun

1. (in racing) a horse whose capabilities are not known
2. A person whose abilities or motives are not known
3. A candidate not brought forward until the last moment (esp US)

darkˈ-house noun (Shakespeare)

A mad-house

dark lantern noun

A lantern whose light can be covered

darkling beetle noun

Any dark-coloured beetle of the Tenebrionidae

darkˈmans noun (criminal sl)

Night

dark matter noun

Undetectable but influential matter, possibly in the form of neutrinos, making up a large proportion of the mass of the universe

dark meat noun

The darker meat from the legs, etc of poultry (cf white meat)

darkˈnet noun (computing)

A private network of computer users within which file sharing (qv under file¹) takes place

dark reaction noun

The second phase of photosynthesis, which needs no light

darkˈroom noun

A room for developing and printing photographs free from such light as would affect photographic plates

dark star noun

A star that emits no visible light, and can be detected only by its radiowaves, gravitational effect, etc

dark web noun

Deep web (qv under deep )

darken someone's door

(often with neg, often implying unwelcomeness) to appear as a visitor

in the dark

Ignorant, unaware

keep dark

To be silent or secret

keep it dark

To conceal something

• flying lizard
• flying lizards
• flying machine
• flying machines
• flying officer
• flying officers
• flying parties
• flying party
• flying phalanger
• flying phalangers
• flying picket
• flying saucer
• flying saucers
• flying shore
• flying shores
• flying shot
• flying shots
• flying snake
• flying snakes
• flying squad
• flying squads
• flying squid
• flying squids
• flying squirrel
• flying squirrels