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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. O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon, Irrecoverable dark, total eclipse…

or trial of speed upon a race course; -- used in horse racing, when a single trial constitutes the race.

ylor. He comes out of the room in a dazed state, that is an odd though a sufficient substitute for interest. Dickens.

Destitute of life; inanimate; as, dead matter.

The state of being destitute of life, vigor, spirit, activity, etc.; dullness; inertness; languor; coldness; vapidness; indifference; as, the deadness of a limb, a body, or a tree; the deadness of an eye; deadness of the affections; the deadness of beer or cider; deadness to the world, and the like.…

y of perceiving sounds; the state of the organs which prevents the impression which constitute hearing; want of the sense of hearing.

Subject of discussion. [R.] Statutes and edicts concerning this debate. Milton.

One of those who conspired for constitutional government against the Emperor Nicholas on his accession to the throne at the death of Alexander I., in December, 1825; -- called also Dekabrist.

a clause declaratory of the will of the legislature. Declaratory act (Law), an act or statute which sets forth more clearly, and declares what is, the existing law.

To determine judicially by authority, or by decree; to constitute by edict; to appoint by decree or law; to determine; to order; to ordain; as, a court decrees a restoration of property. Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee. Job xxii. 28.

Constituting or serving as a dedication; complimental. "An epistle dedicatory." Dryden.

Destitute of defense; unprepared to resist attack; unable to oppose; unprotected. -- De*fense"less*ly, adv. -- De*fense"less*ness, n.

nce again Defy thee to the trial of mortal fight. Milton. I defy the enemies of our constitution to show the contrary. Burke.

ssue or an organ in which its vitality has become either diminished or perverted; a substitution of a lower for a higher form of structure; as, fatty degeneration of the liver.

s, a delegate to a convention for nominating officers, or for forming or altering a constitution. [U.S.] Court of delegates, formerly, the great court of appeal from the archbishops' courts and also from the court of admiralty. It is now abolished, and the privy council is the immediate court of appeal in such cases. […

Nicety or fineness of form, texture, or constitution; softness; elegance; smoothness; tenderness; and hence, frailty or weakness; as, the delicacy of a fiber or a thread; delicacy of a hand or of the human form; delicacy of the skin; delicacy of frame.

Tender; not able to endure hardship; feeble; frail; effeminate; -- said of constitution, health, etc.; as, a delicate child; delicate health. A delicate and tender prince. Shak.

s of doubtful reputation; esp., women who are kept as mistresses, though not public prostitutes; demireps. Literary demimonde, writers of the lowest kind.

through a system of representation and delegated authority periodically renewed; a constitutional representative government; a republic.

One's genius; a tutelary spirit or internal voice; as, the demon of Socrates. [Often written dæmon.]