darknessdark‧ness /ˈdɑːknəs $ ˈdɑːrk-/ ●●● W3 noun [uncountable] 
the long hours of darkness during winterin darkness The lamp suddenly went out, leaving us in darkness.total/pitch/complete darkness The room was in total darkness. We lit our campfire as darkness fell (=it became night). He stared out the window at the gathering darkness (=the night slowly coming).2evil or the devil: His smooth manner covered a heart of darkness.the forces/powers of darkness (=the devil or evil people)3the dark quality of a colour: the darkness of the lensesCOLLOCATIONSadjectivescomplete/total darkness· It was late and all the houses in the village were in total darkness.pitch darkness (=complete darkness)· We ended up coming down the mountain in pitch darkness.deep/thick darkness literary:· All around her was the deep darkness of a winter night.gathering/growing darkness literary (=night that is slowly coming)· The garden was almost invisible now in the gathering darkness.verbsdarkness falls/comes (also darkness descends literary)· As darkness fell, rescue workers had to give up the search.darkness closes in literary (=it becomes darker outside)· The rain turned to snow and darkness closed in.be plunged into darkness (=be suddenly in darkness because the lights go out)· Suddenly the electricity went off and we were plunged into darkness.phrasesthe hours of darkness (=the night)· Desert animals come out during the hours of darkness when its cool.under cover of darkness (=when darkness makes you less likely to be seen)· The attack was planned to take place under cover of darkness.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- A voice came from out of the darkness, but she couldn't see anyone.
- As my eyes became used to the darkness I could make out a bed in the corner of the room.
- Colour films must be developed in complete darkness.
- Northern Alaska experiences eight weeks of 24-hour darkness.
- The darkness of the lenses changes when you go into the sun.
- The city was a violent place at that time, and it was not safe to walk the streets during the hours of darkness.
- By midnight the wind had strengthened to gale force, and in the darkness there was high drama.
- Even with headlights and streetlights on, it provided sudden darkness.
- He had walked up to us from somewhere out of the darkness.
- His smile was ovens and chains and darkness.
- She could hear the sea thrashing about in the dark; for a moment the darkness looked as if it was shifting too.
- Then, when it is all over ... Out of the darkness there came a single brilliant flash.
- They fought 50 rounds, only to have the fight stopped because of darkness.
- They took her away, into the rainy darkness.
Longman Language Activatordarkness
a place or time where there is no light: · A voice came from out of the darkness, but she couldn't see anyone.· As my eyes became used to the darkness I could make out a bed in the corner of the room.· The city was a violent place at that time, and it was not safe to walk the streets during the hours of darkness.in complete darkness: · Colour films must be developed in complete darkness.
when there is no light, especially in a room: · Children who are afraid of the dark need to be reassured.in the dark: · Why are you sitting there in the dark? Put the light on.
the place near a building, trees etc where it is darker than everywhere else because it is hidden from the sun's light: · Someone was hiding in the shadows at the end of the garden.· Two figures moved out of the shadows into the moonlit street.
dull, grey light like the light of the early morning or early evening - use this especially in stories and written descriptions: · He urged the mule forward through the half-light of the forest.in the half-light: · It was difficult to see who was standing there in the dim half-light of the hall.
when a place or room does not have enough light to see properly and is not at all cheerful - use this especially in stories and written descriptions: · I stepped through the doorway and peered into the gloom.· Jon could hear her voice but was unable to see anything in the gloom.
to become dark when it gets dark , the sky becomes dark, usually because it is night: · It was getting dark, and we were worried that we wouldn't make it back to the village before nightfall. · When we were camping we used to go to sleep as soon as it got dark.· It's getting very dark out there -- there's going to be a storm.
if natural light fades , it gradually becomes weaker, because night is coming: · The light slowly began to fade and the trees became mere shadows.· I want to take some photographs before the light fades.
if the sky darkens , it gradually becomes darker than before, often because of bad weather: · In a few minutes the sky darkened and heavy rain began to fall.· We walked along the shore as the sun's last rays winked over the darkening sea, then headed for home.
: night/evening/darkness falls use this especially in stories to say that the night begins and it becomes dark: · We got back home just as night was falling.· Darkness fell on the town and the streetlights came on one by one.
if a room, building etc is plunged into darkness it is suddenly made dark because all the lights have been turned off: · Suddenly the light went out and the narrow stairs were plunged into darkness.· Lightning struck the power lines, plunging half the city into darkness.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRYadjectives the evening’s gathering shadows The house was suddenly plunged into darkness.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
· It was late and all the houses in the village were in total darkness.
(=complete darkness)· We ended up coming down the mountain in pitch darkness.
literary:· All around her was the deep darkness of a winter night.
literary (=night that is slowly coming)· The garden was almost invisible now in the gathering darkness.
verbs (also darkness descends literary)· As darkness fell, rescue workers had to give up the search.
literary (=it becomes darker outside)· The rain turned to snow and darkness closed in.
(=be suddenly in darkness because the lights go out)· Suddenly the electricity went off and we were plunged into darkness.
phrases (=the night)· Desert animals come out during the hours of darkness when its cool.
(=when darkness makes you less likely to be seen)· The attack was planned to take place under cover of darkness.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES the evening’s gathering shadows The house was suddenly plunged into darkness.· In a matter of minutes there was complete darkness.· In complete darkness, the circadian clock still continues to tick vigorously.· The room was left in complete darkness.· At last I stumble off the path into complete darkness.· He heard their crashing, giggling descent, swinging his beam away from them so they would be in complete darkness.· So complete darkness can cause panic.· Many species will, in complete darkness, utter a few snatches of song if disturbed at their roosts.
· There was a bunch of winter aconites on the table, and stripes of sunshine on the floor alternated with deep darkness.· The fort was in deep darkness, being equipped with only a few improvised oil lamps.· The room was very quiet, wrapped in a deep blue darkness.· Lightning forked overhead, illuminating the camp like day, and thunder crashed deafeningly through the deep darkness that followed.· This bestows on Guinness its deep ruby darkness.· Let gloom and deep darkness claim it.· Do not be lost in the deep darkness of despair and hopelessness.
· He turned round and walked off into the gathering darkness.· He sat, a wine cup clenched firmly in his hands, as he stared through a window into the gathering darkness.· A gathering darkness over a white plain.· At first Joshua took an interest in their route, peering into the gathering darkness in an attempt to identify some landmark.
· You can't have law and order without lawlessness and disorder, just as you can't have light without darkness.· I reconcile Good and Evil and create light, darkness, worlds, universes.· At the same time one should look for points of light in the darkness.· I still get a slight sense of light and darkness, but that's all.· Crucified among thieves, he chose the way which reconciled the forces of light and darkness.· Panes of light and darkness shattered before her.· In those moments when a light was a dream or a miracle, you were light in that darkness.
· She was working in almost total darkness.· He rolled across the grass and lay for a minute in total, unrelieved darkness, the wind roaring in his ears.· The graveyard was in total darkness.· One ordinary Ecosphere managed to stay alive in a total darkness for six months, contrary to logical expectations.· Play around the centre spot was fast and furious, though the ground was in total darkness everywhere else.· They were surprised to find the house in total darkness.· He cried out, suddenly aware he was in total darkness, the smashing of stone joining the cry.· John's lamp light lasted for the first few hours of his entombment and from then on he was in total darkness.
NOUN· In part two ... Into the night ... Freefalling in pitch darkness.· We will perform the experiment as before, but this time in pitch darkness.· He set out brightly, on past the notice, into pitch darkness.· Up a narrow circular stair therefrom he went, and in the almost pitch darkness cannoned into somebody coming down.· Suddenly the headlights of the Glory went out and they found themselves sitting in pitch darkness.· She woke in the pitch darkness of the curtained bed with the suddenness of one called.
VERB· The woman caught sight of me, turned away, and disappeared into the darkness.· He swung his legs over the windowsill and for an instant his torso seemed to disappear into the darkness inside.· One disappeared back into the darkness.· When she looks for them in her rearview mirror, they have disappeared into the darkness of the guava grove.· We disappear into the darkness, where nobody can see that we're not rolling around the floor in paroxysms of ecstasy.· Don't disappear into the darkness where they might come after you.· Half a dozen parrots cut a brilliant green streak across our bonnet before disappearing into the looming darkness ahead.· You disappear into the darkness in between.
· Hasty rides at midnight along windswept cliffs, a King falling into darkness, prophecies of doom.· Sometimes a sharp crack and something falling into darkness.· Fergus woke in utter darkness, wondering where he was; he felt as though he was falling backwards for ever into darkness.· Miles screamed and fell into an unforgiving darkness filled with endless pain and memories.· Every culture, however imperfectly and blindly, either turned towards the light or fell back into the darkness.
· He moves in the darkness, something you hear more than see.· Just then the light went out, and, in the darkness, I heard the King crying.· I get down on my hands and knees and peer into the darkness but can only hear him grunting.· In the darkness I heard some one moving very quietly to the door.· Much later, he woke up in darkness, thinking he heard footsteps outside.
· In front of the Althosian system lay only eternal darkness.· I closed my eyes and lay there in a darkness of my own.· I lay in the darkness but my soul lay, the insect's child, washed in endless light.· Later, although savouring the warmth of the electric blanket, she lay frowning in the darkness.· Kim woke and lay there in the darkness, strangely alert, listening.· I lay in the cacophonous darkness thinking about magic.· However, their arrival tends to be in a first-class cabin rather than lying starving in darkness beside a dying friend.· By lunchtime he would be lying in the darkness and the corrosive quicklime.
· He moves in the darkness, something you hear more than see.· Something was moving around in the darkness.· When he was sure he hadn't been spotted, he moved in the darkness back towards the Dancing Fly.· Forgotten that she had thought she had seen some one moving around in the darkness.· He moved stealthily through the darkness, making his way cautiously towards the jetty.· Black silhouettes move out of the darkness and change into blunt torpedoes, dark and slow-moving as they glide over the sandy bottom.
· They peered at the saline darkness: a world of algae and sea sounds.· Erik Hansen peered into the darkness outside his windshield.· He unlocked the door and peered out into the darkness.· I peered into the darkness and saw a little old woman sitting opposite me.· Master Benjamin was still on the convent wall, peering into the darkness.· Lefevre peered behind into the darkness.· Ward put his face closer to the window and peered down into the darkness.
· Teal Green was coughing up a lungful of smoke when the Base was plunged into darkness.· The lights dim, then go off, plunging the hall into darkness.· Just as the teacher was getting into her stride, the whole school was plunged into darkness.· Finally she left the room, only to turn off the power switch, which plunged the house into darkness.· Streets and homes have been plunged into random darkness.· Lily moved away from him and pressed the switch that plunged the room into darkness.· The universe was about to be plunged again into eternal darkness.· With his house plunged into darkness, Jessie's owner sought my help.
· The Count sat in the darkness below, listening to their minds.· You can get men to sit in the darkness and watch other people copulate with animals on a screen.· Janice went home earlier because of Teddy's time-keeping and the office sits in darkness.· Reacher and the gunner sat in the darkness behind me, in the pockets.· I just sat staring into the darkness, hugging my knees.· I switched the desk lamp off, and sat in darkness.· I went back and sat in the darkness on one of the chairs under the colonnade.
· Siegfried stood in the darkness with a compass and a penlight.· For a long moment I just stood there in the darkness, feeling like a diver on a high platform.· The moon had moved beyond the window-frame, and the door where the boy stood was almost in darkness.· The pile drivers stood idle in the darkness, gray silhouettes like horses sleeping upright in a field.· I stood in the darkness, panting.· The sun went all the way down and I was standing in the purple darkness.· Lou had stood in darkness apart from a single spotlight.
· He stared into the green darkness behind them.· Her face staring, staring into the darkness, trying to gaze herself into another world.· A little later she lay in bed beside her snoring husband, staring into the darkness.· Thus, using infra-red, he would be able to stare through smoke or darkness.· I stared through the bleak darkness.· Alec turned on his back and stared into the darkness.· She spent the next couple of hours staring into the darkness.· She stared into the darkness until eventually her eyes adjusted and she could see every object in the unfamiliar room.
· Silently, we waited in the darkness, and then we galloped round the house and straight into the group of men.· He waited, in the darkness behind my chair.· An assassin's ruse: one would knock on the door, the other would be waiting in the darkness.· But it was still only dusk, and we went outside to wait for full darkness on the roof of the folly.· Out in his shellhole, looking up the hill towards Thiepval, Stephen lay, waiting for the darkness to be complete.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► cleave the air/darkness etc► a mantle of snow/darkness etc
- Kawaja fueled speculation by publicly suggesting that barrels of the by-product were shipped out under cover of night.
- Later, under cover of darkness, they crept into the house, where Charles hid for the night in the attic.
- Locals under the cover of darkness.
- Several of us ducked out under cover of darkness, even as others arrived.
- The actual emergence usually takes place under cover of darkness.
- They would exit under cover of darkness at one of numerous drop-zones fifty kilometres from the vast sprawl of Sagramaso City.
- They would pull out under cover of darkness.
- The lights came on as darkness fell on the city.
- And this becomes more intense as night falls.
- As darkness falls an eerie voice Whines beware, beware, beware.
- As darkness falls the immortal sounds of John Hurley will be heard in the upstairs Bar.
- As dusk falls crowds of people walk towards the town to meet the tanker.
- As night falls the houses light up one by one, and smugglers move stealthily about in the moonlight.
- As night falls, the scene changes.
- As night falls, there are nightclubs and discos for those with lots of energy left.
- I drain it, pack my bags, close off the propane, and before dusk falls reluctantly board up the cabin.
- May we seek to develop the powers of good that lie within us.
- So close to the powers of evil she must have lived that she still breathed more freely in their air.
WORD FAMILYadjectivedarkdarkeneddarkeningnoundarkdarknessverbdarkenadverbdarkly
1when there is no light: the long hours of darkness during winterin darkness The lamp suddenly went out, leaving us in darkness.total/pitch/complete darkness The room was in total darkness. We lit our campfire as darkness fell (=it became night). He stared out the window at the gathering darkness (=the night slowly coming).2evil or the devil: His smooth manner covered a heart of darkness.the forces/powers of darkness (=the devil or evil people)3the dark quality of a colour: the darkness of the lensesCOLLOCATIONSadjectivescomplete/total darkness· It was late and all the houses in the village were in total darkness.pitch darkness (=complete darkness)· We ended up coming down the mountain in pitch darkness.deep/thick darkness literary:· All around her was the deep darkness of a winter night.gathering/growing darkness literary (=night that is slowly coming)· The garden was almost invisible now in the gathering darkness.verbsdarkness falls/comes (also darkness descends literary)· As darkness fell, rescue workers had to give up the search.darkness closes in literary (=it becomes darker outside)· The rain turned to snow and darkness closed in.be plunged into darkness (=be suddenly in darkness because the lights go out)· Suddenly the electricity went off and we were plunged into darkness.phrasesthe hours of darkness (=the night)· Desert animals come out during the hours of darkness when its cool.under cover of darkness (=when darkness makes you less likely to be seen)· The attack was planned to take place under cover of darkness.