darkle 
To the right towers Arthur's lofty seat; . . . to the left 
darkle* the castle. /.'/m-jt */-i/ l >' ,!/<//. 
2. To become dark or gloomy. 
Ills honest brows dartf/ii^i as he looked towards me. 
'I'luli-ki'rtltl, Neweotnes, Ixvi. 
darkling (dtirk'ling), tidr. [= Sc. darklins; < 
ilnr/c 1 + dim. -ling'*.] 1. lu tho dark. 
As the wakeful bird 
Sings darkling, and in shadiest eovert hid, 
Tunes her nocturnal note. Milton, I'. 1.., ill. 3!i. 
That though I wrestle darkling with the tleud, 
I shall n'ereolile it. J. ll'ii/'i' . 
Hence 2. Blindly; uncertainly. 
Do nations float ditrl-liii'f dow n the stream of the ages, 
. . . swaying with every wind, and ignorant whither they 
are drifting? llaneroji. Hist. Const., II. 3. 
darkling (diirk'Iing), it. [Ppr. of darkle, P.] 
1. Dark; obscure; gloomy. 
And down the thti-klitiff precipice 
Are dash'd into the deep abyss. 
A/ooiv, Fire Worshippers. 
What storms our darkling pathway swept ! 
Whittier, Prean. 
2. Blinded. 
The falconer started up, and darkling as he was for 
his eyes watered too fast to permit his seeing anything 
he would soon have been at elose grips with his insolent 
adversary. Scott, Abbot, xix. 
3. Render! ng dark; obscuring. 
As many poets with their rhymes 
Oblivion's darkling dust o'erwhelms. 
Loieell, To Holmes. 
darkling-beetle (dark'Ung-be'tl), . A name 
of the lilniin mortisaga, a black beetle of the 
family Tcnebrionidce. It is about an inch long, 
and is found in cellars, caverns, and other dark 
places. See cut under Slaps. 
darklings (dark'lingz). adv. [Sc. darklins; < 
E. darkling + adverbial suffix -*.] In the dark. 
Thou wouldest fain persuade me to do like some idle 
wanton servants, who play and talk out their candle-light, 
and then go darklings to bed. Dp. Hall, Works, VII. 344. 
She through the yanl the nearest tak's 
An' to the kiln she goes then, 
An' darklins graipit [groped] for the bauks, 
An' in the blue-clue throws then. 
Burns, Halloween. 
darkly (diirk'li), adv. [< ME. derkly, derkliche, 
< AS. dcorclice, < deorc, E. darkl, + -lice, E. -ly%.] 
1. In a dark manner; so as to appear dark; as 
a dark object or spot. 
Vainly the fowler's eye 
Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong, 
As, darkly seen against the crimson sky, 
Thy figure floats along. 
Jiryant, To a Waterfowl. 
What forms were those which darkly stood 
Just on the margin of the wood ? 
tt'hittirr, Pentucket. 
2f. Blindly ; as one deprived of sight ; with un- 
certainty. 
The spere lete don, ren the hed, l>e-forn lete goo ; 
After my fewed, derkly, as man blynd. 
/,'"/. of I'artenay (E. E. T. S.), 1. 4478. 
3. Dimly; obscurely; faintly; imperfectly. 
For now we see through a glass, darkly ; but then face 
to face. 1 Cor. xili. 12. 
In other great disputes it answers dubiously and darkly 
to the common reader. Milton, Areopagitica, p. 19. 
4. Mysteriously ; with sinister vagueness : as, 
it was darkly hinted that murder had been 
committed. 
How darkly, and how deadly, dost thou speak ! 
Your eyes do menace me, Shak., Rich. III., i. 4. 
darkness (diirk'nes), n. [< ME. derknesse, dark- 
ness; <rfnrA'l -I- -w<w..] 1. The absolute or com- 
parative absence of light, or the modification 
of visual sensation produced by such absence ; 
gloom. It may be due either (a) to a deficient illumina- 
tion, or (ft) to a low degree of luminosity or transparency 
in the dark object. 
Darkness was upon the face of the deep. Gen. i. 2. 
A Provyuce of the Coiitree, that hathe wel in circuyt 3 
iorneyes, that men clepeii Hanyson, is alle covered with 
/Vri-jN'XAV, with outeu ony brightnesse or light ; so that 
no man may see ne here, ne no man dar eutren in to hem. 
Mimderi/lf, Travels, p. 'JUI. 
Darkiir.** might then be denned as ether at rest; light 
as ether in motion. But in reality the ether is never at 
rest, for in the absence of light- waves we have heat-waves 
always speeding through it Tyndall, Radiation, 2. 
2. Secrecy; concealment; privacy. 
What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light. 
Mat. x. 27. 
Though lately we intended 
To keep in darkmni what occasion now 
Iteveals. Shak.. T. \., v. 1. 
1457 
Hence 4. Mental or spiritual blindness; lack 
of knowledge or enlightenment, especially in 
religion and morality: MS. heat lien aorknest, 
darning-needle 
.Men hived </"//, /< 
deeds were evil. 
ratlin- tti.in light, lieraiiM- thru- 
John Hi. la. 
3. The state of being blind physically ; blind- 
ness. 
His eyes, before they had their will. 
Were shrivell'd into darkness in his head. 
Trnntisiin. (iodiva. 
The Itarliaiy states, after the decline of the Arabian 
power, were envelop <l in 'In, 1, //rx.v. rendered more palpa- 
ble by tin- increasing light among the Christian nations. 
Sum > ,-. Orations, I. 219. 
King nut the <ltirkn>><* of the land. 
Ring in the Christ that Is to he. 
Trnniixnn, In Memorhini, evi. 
5. Tho kingdom of the evil one; hell: as, the 
powers of darkness. 
Hi,,-. -11, 1 to ,/.i/7,-i/, -,. and tin- bnrnlnu lake: 
False fiend, avoid : M,ik., -2 Hen. VI., i. 4. 
6f. The gloom and obscurity of thegrave; death. 
If I must die. 
I will encounter darknft* as a bride, 
And hug it in mine arms. 
Hlmk., M. for M., iii. 1. 
7. Obscurity of meaning ; lack of clearness or 
intelligibility. 
The vse of old wordes Is not the greatest cause of Sal- 
ustes roughnes and darkiutsfe. 
A'diiim, The Scholemaster, p. 158. 
I i-t others therefore dread and shun the Scriptures for 
their darknesse, I shall wish I may deserve to lie reckon d 
among those who admire ami dwell ui>on them for their 
elearnesse. Milton, Chnrch-Uovemment, Pref. 
The prince of darkness, the devil ; Satan. =8yn. Dark- 
m-.-.'*, tt'>.'-'-u,''/'i. Itnueirx*, Glimin. Itiirkurxtt is the opposite 
of light, physical or mental, and indicates the complete, 
or approximately complete, absence of it. Obscurity is 
the state of being overclouded or concealed through the 
Intervention of something which obstructs or shuts out 
the light, causing objects to he imperfectly illuminated : 
as, the obscurity of a landscape ; the style of this author 
is full of obscurity. Dimness is indistinctness caused by 
the Intervention of an imperfectly transparent medium, 
or by imperfection in the eye of the person looking; it 
is specifically applied to the sight itself : as, dimness of 
vision. Gloom is deep shade, approaching absolute dark- 
ness, but is now much less often used in that sense, or in 
the sense of a corresponding darkness of mind, than to ex- 
press a state of feeling akin to darkness ; the lack of abil- 
ity to see light ahead ; deep despondency ; lack of hope or 
joy: as, he lived in constant gloom. 
Yet from those flames 
No light, hut rather darkness visible. 
Mill an, P. L., i. 62. 
Obscurity of expression generally springs from confu- 
sion of ideas. Macaulay, .Maehiavelli. 
The stores had a twilight of dimness ; the air was spicy 
with mingled odors. V. W. Curtis, Prue and I, p. 6S. 
A change comes over me like that which hcfalls the 
traveller when clouds overspread the sky, . . . and gloom 
settles down upon his uncertain way, till he is lost. 
Channing, Perfect Life, p. 1)4. 
darksome (dark'sum), a. [< dark 1 + -some.] 
Some what dark ; gloomy; shadowy: as, a dark- 
some house ; a darksome cloud. [Poetical.] 
A darkemme way, which no man could descry, 
That deep descended through the hollow ground. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. vil. 20. 
The darksome, pines that o'er yon rocks reclin'd. 
1'ope, Eloisa to Abelard, 1. 155. 
They crouched them close in the darksome shade, 
They ([naked all o'er with awe and fear. 
J. R. Drake, Culprit Fay, p. 45. 
darky (diir'ki), . ; pi. darkies (-kiz). [Also 
written, less prop., darkey; < dark 1 + dim. -y.] 
1. A negro; a colored person. [Colloq.] 
The manners of a cornfield darky. 
The Centura, XXVII. 132. 
2. A policeman's lantern ; a bull's-eye. Dick- 
ens. [Slang.] 
darling (dar'ling), n. and a. [Early mod. E. 
also dcrling and dearling; < ME. derliny, darling, 
drorling, < AS. deorling, a favorite, < deor, dear, 
+ dim. -ling.] I. n. One who is very dear; 
one much beloved; a special favorite. 
The dearlings of delight. S/icnscr, F. Q., VI. viii. 43. 
And can do nought hut wail her darling's loss. 
Shak., -2 Hen. VI., iii. 1. 
Any man who puts Ills life in peril in a cause which is 
esteemed becomes the darling of all men. 
Knterson, Courage. 
II. a. Very dear; peculiarly beloved ; favor- 
ite ; regarded with great affection and tender- 
ness ; lovingly cherished : as, a darling child. 
Some darling science. Watts, Improvement of Mind. 
The love of their country Is still, I hope, one of their 
il'nliny virtues. Goldsmith, Essays, Asem. 
darlingness (diir'Hng-nes), n. Dearness. Brown- 
mi/. [Rare.] 
Darlingtonia (diir-ling-to'ni-a), n. [NL,., 
named after Dr. William Darlington, a botanist 
of Philadelphia (1782-1863).] A remarkable 
genus of American pitcher-plants, natural or- 
der .s'rtmdv a ini-Ki: \ single ,,,,-cies is known. /). 
Cal(fornii->i. from the mountain .swamp- <if nurtliern Cali- 
fornia. The leaves are tnim])ct-shaped, sometimes 3 feet 
Ion-.', with a vaulted, dilate. I I I, u hi, h terminates In a 
lar'^e forked appendage a hove the eorjlraeteil oj jljee. The 
Illldi T side of tile 
lea! is \\ JMVed anil 
s'TftRt'*^ ^SP^ * * wtH ' t '"'"''"" 
Dartinptonia California. 
,-. found along thl 
-.daUntlne 
Ol-itle.-. The tllhe 
within is beset with 
rigid hail s ilijei tei! 
downward, and the 
bi.tl.im is tilled 
with a liijiiid which 
has a digestive ef- 
fect upon the mi 
IIHI.II-. insectathat 
an- eiiliapjieil. 
darn 1 (diirn). r. 
L [I'rob. of Cel- 
tic origin: < W. 
darnio, piece, 
also break in 
gieces, tear (= 
ret. darnnoHi, 
divide into 
pieces), < darn, 
a piece, frag- 
ment, patch, = 
Corn, and Bret. 
diirn, a frag- 
ment, piece, 
whence prob. F. rlartie, a slice (of some fishes).] 
To mend by filling in a rent or hole with yarn 
or thread (usually like that of the fabric) by 
means of a needle ; repair by interweaving witn 
yarn or thread. 
He spent every day ten hours in his closet, In doming 
his stockings, which he perform'd to admiration. Sici/t. 
To darn up, to patch up ; repair. 
To dam /y the renU of schism by calling a council. 
Milton. 
darn 1 (diirn), n. [< darnl, o.] A darned 
patch. 
darn' 2 (darn), v. t. [A minced form of damn.] 
To damn (when used as a colloquial oath) : 
commonly used as an exclamation. [Low.] 
" My boy," said another, " was lost In a typhoon in the 
China sea ; dam they lousy typhoons.' 
II. Kingslt'y, Ravenshoe, vi. 
darn 3 t (diirn), . and P. Same as dcrnl. 
darnation (diir-na'shon), intcrj. A minced form 
of damnation, used as an excla- 
mation. [Low.] 
darnel (dar'nel), n. and a. [< 
ME. darnel, darnel (taking the 
place of the earlier coekle^),(. F. 
dial. (Kouchi) darnelle, darnel, 
prob. so named from its (sup- 
posed) stupefying or intoxicat- 
ing qualities ; cf. OF. darnc, stu- 
pefied ; Sw. ddr-repe, also simply 
rape, darnel, tho first syllable 
repr. ddra, infatuate, cf. dare = 
Dan. daare, a fool.] I. n. Tho 
popular name of Loliuin temulcn- 
tum, one of the few reputed dele- 
terious grasses. It is sometimes 
frequent in the wheat-nelds of Europe, 
and the grains when ground with the 
wheat have Iwen believed to produce 
narcotic ami stupefying etlecte upon the 
system. Recent investigations tend to 
prove this belief to l>e erroneous. The 
name was used by the early herbalists to include all kinds 
of corn-field weeds. 
Darn< ., (,.,,. 
He [the devil) every day la 
darnel. Lati 
lahoureth to sow cockle ami 
inter, Sermon of the Plough. 
Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow 
In our sustaining corn. Shak., Lear, iv. 4. 
n. n. Like damel. [Poetical.] 
No darnel fancy 
Might choke one useful blade In Puritan fields. 
Loieell, Under the Willows. 
Darnell's case. See easel. 
darner (diir'ner), . 1. One who mends by 
darning. 2. A darning-needle. Diet, of Needle- 
work. 
darnext, darnict, . Same as dornick. 
With a fair daniex carpet of my own. 
Fletcher (aiul another), Noble Gentleman, v. 1. 
darning (dSr'ning), n. [Verbal n. of darn*, v.] 
1. The act of mending by imitation of texture. 
Supposing those stockings of Sir John's endued with 
some degree of consciousness at every particular da_rniny. 
JforCfMU Scriblenu. 
2. Articles to be darned : as, the week's darn- 
ing lay on the table. 
darning-ball (dSr'ntng-bAl), . A spherical or 
OL'jj-shupoil piece of wood, ivory, glass, or other 
hard nuwtenoe, over which an article to be 
darned is drawn smooth. 
darning-needle (dSr'ning-nS'dl), n. 1. A long 
needle with a large eye, used in darning. 2. 
