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The Evil Principle or Being of the ancient Persians; the Prince of Darkness as opposer to Ormuzd, the King of Light.

esemblance or similitude; similar; without difference. [Now used only predicatively.] The darkness and the light are both alike to thee. Ps. cxxxix. 12.

etation. Black alkali is so called because water containing it dissolves humus, forming a dark-colored solution which, when it collects in puddles and evaporates, produces characteristic black spots.

al; as, an ambiguous course; an ambiguous expression. What have been thy answers What but dark, Ambiguous, and with double sense deluding Milton.

ed glass, in which the lights are represented in silver, and the shades are produced by a dark background visible through the unsilvered portions of the glass.

A very compact, dark-colored

A variety of pyroxene, usually of a black or dark green color, occurring in igneous rocks, such as basalt; -- also used instead of the general term pyroxene.

The state behind or past. [Obs.] In the dark backward and abysm of time. Shak.

The globe or earth. Pope. Move round the dark terrestrial ball. Addison. Ball and socket joint, a joint in which a ball moves within a socket, so as to admit of motion in every direction within certain limits. -- Ball bearings, a mechanical device for lessening the friction of axle bearings by means of small loose met…

n which white or bright spots are produced upon cloth previously dyed of a uniform red or dark color, by discharging portions of the color by chemical means, while the rest of the cloth is under pressure. Ure.

ncipal varieties occur in the neighborhood of Carrara and in Corsica. It commonly shows a dark gray or bluish ground traversed by veins.

A large American owl (Syrnium nebulosum); -- so called from the transverse bars of a dark brown color on the breast.

A large, dark-colored, South American monkey, of the genus Lagothrix, having a long prehensile tail.

ish, sometimes without perceptible movement except from tide and wind. [Southern U. S.] A dark slender thread of a bayou moves loiteringly northeastward into a swamp of huge cypresses. G. W. Cable.

To give light to, as a beacon; to light up; to illumine. That beacons the darkness of heaven. Campbell.

To make dim; to obscure or darken. Shak.

To act as a friend to; to favor; to aid, benefit, or countenance. By the darkness befriended. Longfellow.

To involve in darkness; to shroud with the shades of night; to obscure. [Archaic] The clouds benight the sky. Garth.

A double sulphide of antimony and iron, of a dark steel-gray color.

show by present signs; to indicate something future by that which is seen or known; as, a dark cloud often betokens a storm.