that part of the natural day when the sun is beneath the horizon, or the time from sunset to sunrise; esp., the time between dusk and dawn, when there is no light of the sun, but only moonlight, starlight, or artificial light.-darkness; obscurity; concealment.-intellectual and moral darkness; ignorance.-a state of affliction; adversity; as, a dreary night of sorrow.-the period after the close of life; death.-a lifeless or unenlivened period, as when nature seems to sleep.