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# darkness

«darkness» in Mova's school dictionary: **when there is little or no light** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (darkness — uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Darkness is when there is little or no light. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/darkness/#m1)

2) Darkness can also mean evil or sadness in stories. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/darkness/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In science darkness is the absence of light: we can only see when light enters our eyes, so in total darkness we see nothing. In stories darkness builds fear or mystery. Phrases: «in darkness», «in the darkness», «total darkness», «the darkness of night».

### examples

- The room was in total darkness. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/darkness/#x1)
- Owls can hunt in the darkness. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/darkness/#x2)
- We waited in the darkness for the fireworks. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/darkness/#x3)
- Darkness fell over the town. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/darkness/#x4)
- In stories, the hero fights the forces of darkness. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/darkness/#x5)
- Some children feel scared of the darkness. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/darkness/#x6)
- Cats see better than people in darkness. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/darkness/#x7)
- The darkness of night came on. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/darkness/#x8)

### note

Uncountable. Formed from dark + -ness. Myth: cats cannot see in total darkness; they need at least a little light. Darkness is not a thing that comes in, it is simply the lack of light.

### In the corpora

- [Pit vipers such as rattlesnakes have heat-sensing pits on their faces that find warm-blooded prey in total darkness.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/30-snakes-and-lizards/10/)
- [The animals rise only at night because darkness hides them from hunters that find food by sight near the surface.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/175-the-twilight-zone-barreleyes-lanternfish-and-the-biggest-daily-journey-on-earth/8/)
- [Sperm whales hunt squid more than a kilometre down in total darkness with clicks that are among the loudest sounds any animal makes.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/230-echolocation-in-the-sea-and-in-people-dolphins-whales-swiftlets-and-clicking-humans/6/)
- [Owls and cats see very well in dim light, but no eye can see anything in total darkness.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/20-noticing-like-a-cat/11/)
- [Cats see much better than people in dim light, but they cannot see in total darkness.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/79-senses-of-animals/13/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «darkness» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/darkness/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.