Definition of "darken" in English

verb

1. (transitive) To make dark or darker by reducing light.

2. (intransitive) To become dark or darker (having less light).

3. (impersonal) To get dark (referring to the sky, either in the evening or as a result of cloud).

4. (transitive) To make dark or darker in colour.

5. (intransitive) To become dark or darker in colour.

6. (transitive) To render gloomy, darker in mood.

7. (intransitive) To become gloomy, darker in mood.

   • 1797, Ann Radcliffe, The Italian, London: T. Cadell Jun[ior] and W. Davies, Volume 2, Chapter 9, p. 303, His countenance darkened while he spoke […]

8. (transitive) To blind, impair the eyesight.

   • 1773, Samuel Johnson, letter to James Boswell dated 5 July, 1773, in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, Volume I, London: Charles Dilly, p. 424, When your letter came to me, I was so darkened by an inflammation in my eye, that I could not for some time read it.

9. (intransitive) To be blinded, lose one’s eyesight.

10. (transitive) To cloud, obscure, or perplex; to render less clear or intelligible.

11. (transitive) To make foul; to sully; to tarnish.

12. (intransitive) To be extinguished or deprived of vitality, to die.