Lan·tern n.
 1. Something inclosing a light, and protecting it from wind, rain, etc.; -- sometimes portable, as a closed vessel or case of horn, perforated tin, glass, oiled paper, or other material, having a lamp or candle within; sometimes fixed, as the glazed inclosure of a street light, or of a lighthouse light.
 2. Arch. (a) An open structure of light material set upon a roof, to give light and air to the interior. (b) A cage or open chamber of rich architecture, open below into the building or tower which it crowns. (c) A smaller and secondary cupola crowning a larger one, for ornament, or to admit light; such as the lantern of the cupola of the Capitol at Washington, or that of the Florence cathedral.
 3. Mach. A lantern pinion or trundle wheel. See Lantern pinion (below).
 4. Steam Engine A kind of cage inserted in a stuffing box and surrounding a piston rod, to separate the packing into two parts and form a chamber between for the reception of steam, etc.; -- called also lantern brass.
 5. Founding A perforated barrel to form a core upon.
 6. Zool. See Aristotle's lantern.
 Note: ☞ Fig. 1 represents a hand lantern; fig. 2, an arm lantern; fig. 3, a breast lantern; -- so named from the positions in which they are carried.
 Dark lantern, a lantern with a single opening, which may be closed so as to conceal the light; -- called also bull's-eye.
 Lantern jaws, long, thin jaws; hence, a thin visage.
 Lantern pinion, Lantern wheel Mach., a kind of pinion or wheel having cylindrical bars or trundles, instead of teeth, inserted at their ends in two parallel disks or plates; -- so called as resembling a lantern in shape; -- called also wallower, or trundle.
 Lantern shell Zool., any translucent, marine, bivalve shell of the genus Anatina, and allied genera.
 Magic lantern, an optical instrument consisting of a case inclosing a light, and having suitable lenses in a lateral tube, for throwing upon a screen, in a darkened room or the like, greatly magnified pictures from slides placed in the focus of the outer lens.


 Dark a.
 1. Destitute, or partially destitute, of light; not receiving, reflecting, or radiating light; wholly or partially black, or of some deep shade of color; not light-colored; as, a dark room; a dark day; dark cloth; dark paint; a dark complexion.
 O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon,
 Irrecoverably dark, total eclipse
 Without all hope of day!   --Milton.
    In the dark and silent grave.   --Sir W. Raleigh.
 2. Not clear to the understanding; not easily seen through; obscure; mysterious; hidden.
    The dark problems of existence.   --Shairp.
    What may seem dark at the first, will afterward be found more plain.   --Hooker.
    What's your dark meaning, mouse, of this light word?   --Shak.
 3. Destitute of knowledge and culture; in moral or intellectual darkness; unrefined; ignorant.
 The age wherein he lived was dark, but he
 Could not want light who taught the world to see.   --Denhan.
    The tenth century used to be reckoned by mediæval historians as the darkest part of this intellectual night.   --Hallam.
 4. Evincing black or foul traits of character; vile; wicked; atrocious; as, a dark villain; a dark deed.
    Left him at large to his own dark designs.   --Milton.
 5. Foreboding evil; gloomy; jealous; suspicious.
    More dark and dark our woes.   --Shak.
    A deep melancholy took possesion of him, and gave a dark tinge to all his views of human nature.   --Macaulay.
    There is, in every true woman-s heart, a spark of heavenly fire, which beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.   --W. Irving.
 6. Deprived of sight; blind. [Obs.]
    He was, I think, at this time quite dark, and so had been for some years.   --Evelyn.
 Note: ☞ Dark is sometimes used to qualify another adjective; as, dark blue, dark green, and sometimes it forms the first part of a compound; as, dark-haired, dark-eyed, dark-colored, dark-seated, dark-working.
 A dark horse, in racing or politics, a horse or a candidate whose chances of success are not known, and whose capabilities have not been made the subject of general comment or of wagers. [Colloq.]
 Dark house, Dark room, a house or room in which madmen were confined. [Obs.] --Shak.
 Dark lantern. See Lantern. -- The Dark Ages, a period of stagnation and obscurity in literature and art, lasting, according to Hallam, nearly 1000 years, from about 500 to about 1500 A. D.. See Middle Ages, under Middle.
 The Dark and Bloody Ground, a phrase applied to the State of Kentucky, and said to be the significance of its name, in allusion to the frequent wars that were waged there between Indians.
 The dark day, a day (May 19, 1780) when a remarkable and unexplained darkness extended over all New England.
 To keep dark, to reveal nothing. [Low]


 dark lantern
      n : a lantern with a sliding panel to conceal the light