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To cloud; to obscure. [Obs.] Burton. -- Ob*nu"bi*la"tion, n. [Obs.] Beddoes.

One who obscures; one who prevents enlightenment or hinders the progress of knowledge and wisdom. Coleridge.

The act or operation of obscuring; the state of being obscured; as, the obscuration of the moon in an eclipse. Sir J. Herschel.

The quality or state of being obscure; darkness; privacy; inconspicuousness; unintelligibleness; uncertainty. Yuo are not for obscurity designed. Dryden. They were now brought forth from obscurity, to be contemplated by artists with admiration and despair. Macaulay.

Not very distinct; obscure; rudimental; imperfectly developed; abortive.

l king of ancient Attica, or to a great deluge in Attica in his days; hence, primeval; of obscure antiquity.

Obscure; not clear; unintelligible. [Colloq.]

To throw a shadow, or shade, over; to darken; to obscure. There was a cloud that overshadowed them. Mark ix. 7.

ke of less importance, or throw into the background, by superior excellence; to dwarf; to obscure. Becon.

enealogy; a register or record of a line of ancestors. Alterations of surnames . . . have obscured the truth of our pedigrees. Camden. His vanity labored to contrive us a pedigree. Milton. I am no herald to inquire of men's pedigrees. Sir P. Sidney. The Jews preserved the pedigrees of their tribes. Atterbury.…

perplex one with doubts. No artful wildness to perplex the scene. Pope. What was thought obscure, perplexed, and too hard for our weak parts, will lie open to the understanding in a fair view. Locke.

nderstanding; capable of being clearly understood; clear in thought or in expression; not obscure or ambiguous; as, a perspicuous writer; perspicuous statements. "The purpose is perspicuous." Shak. -- Per*spic"u*ous*ly, adv. -- Per*spic"u*ous*ness, n.

Fig.: To darken; to blacken; to obscure. The welkin pitched with sullen could. Addison.

or state of being profound; depth of place, knowledge, feeling, etc. "The vast profundity obscure." Milton.

A striking or paradoxical assertion; an obscure saying; an enigma; a parable. His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. John xvi. 29.

A division of beetles having the fifth tarsal joint minute and obscure, so that there appear to be but four joints. -- Pseu`do*te*tram"er*al, a.

Nearsighted, or dim-sighted; seeing obscurely; as, a purblind eye; a purblind mole. The saints have not so sharp eyes to see down from heaven; they be purblindand sand-blind. Latimer. O purblind race of miserable men. Tennyson. -- Pur"blind`ly, adv. -- Pur"blind`ness, n.

A riddle or obscure question; an enigma; a ridiculous hoax.

To reduce to simple or intelligible notions; -- said of complex ideas or obscure questions; to make clear or certain; to free from doubt; to disentangle; to unravel; to explain; hence, to clear up, or dispel, as doubt; as, to resolve a riddle. "Resolve my doubt." Shak. To the resolving whereof we must first know that t…

with ribs, and protect; to shut in. It [lead] were too gross To rib her cerecloth in the obscure grave. Shak. To rib land, to leave strips of undisturbed ground between the furrows in plowing.