Found 1 items, similar to a dark horse.
English → English (gcide) Definition: 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]