Englisch Lexikon: A dark horse

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A dark horse		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. [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 medi[ae]val 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] 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. [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]