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.

---

dusk ² American  

[duhsk] / dʌsk /

adjective

1. tending to darkness; dark.

---

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

---

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 dusk²

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

At dusk they were checked into their rooms, and by dawn’s early light they were gone, only to be replaced at the dinner hour by more recruits.

From The Wall Street Journal

He also advises recreating in areas where there are lifeguards keeping an eye out for sharks and to avoid swimming or surfing around dawn and dusk when shark feeding behavior tends to peak.

From Los Angeles Times

Although it was only 4:00 in the afternoon, the lights in the shops were coming on against the January dusk.

From Literature

Only yesterday – yesterday -they’d pitched camp in the blue autumn dusk.

From Literature

The White House at dusk, the length of the National Mall at midday.

From Literature

Related Words

• nightfall
• sundown
• sunset
• twilight