dusk

¹ American  

[duhsk] / dʌsk /

noun

1. the state or period of partial darkness between day and night; the dark part of twilight.

2. partial darkness; shade; gloom.

   She was barely visible in the dusk of the room.

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dusk ² American  

[duhsk] / dʌsk /

adjective

1. tending to darkness; dark.

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verb (used with or without object)

1. to make or become dusk; darken.

dusk British  

/ dʌsk /

noun

1. twilight or the darker part of twilight

2. poetic gloom; shade

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adjective

1. poetic shady; gloomy

verb

1. poetic to make or become dark

Other Word Forms

• duskish adjective

Etymology

Origin of dusk¹

First recorded in 1615–25; back formation from dusky

Origin of dusk¹

before 1000; Middle English duske (adj.), dusken (v.); metathetic alteration of Old English dox dusky, doxian to turn dark; cognate with L. fuscus dark

Example Sentences

But in the powerless dusk, as the sun slipped behind the Rockies, the cottage we had rented began to light up with candles—short, tall, big, small, whatever we could find.

From The Wall Street Journal

The long shots in “Battleship Potemkin” are equally eloquent—ships at anchor in the dusk, a line of mourners stretching as far as the eye can see along a harbor wall.

From The Wall Street Journal

A government statement said that prosecutions would be difficult due to the small size of cats and their tendency to be "most active at dawn or dusk".

From BBC

He finally departed on the verge of dusk, caught by England's captain Ben Stokes, who would have taken great relief at removing the greatest thorn in his team's side.

From BBC

From dawn to dusk he suffered like an animal in a trap, drank coffee, smoked, begged meals from the kitchen, and napped.

From Literature

Related Words

• nightfall
• sundown
• sunset
• twilight