We could not see the bottom of the lake through the murk.
a robber lying unseen in the murk
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Just beyond the thermocline, where the temperature abruptly drops, a hand emerged from the murk and grabbed me by the wrist, dragging me the last few inches to the bottom.—Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2025 Things that are too horrible to show are effectively submerged in the murk, an effective analogy for the workings of memory.—Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline, 15 Feb. 2025 There was an undeniable parallel between the atmospheric murk and her own uncertainty about the future.—Grace Edquist, Vogue, 8 Jan. 2025 The murk of the previous masters is gone.—Rich Juzwiak, IndieWire, 18 Dec. 2024 With an eye that’s sensitive enough to see a bumblebee in lunar orbit, the telescope will peer into the primordial murk from which stars, galaxies, and planets emerged, piercing the darkness that has occluded the gaze of other great observatories.—Nadia Drake, National Geographic, 25 Dec. 2021
Word History
Etymology
Middle English mirke, probably from Old Norse myrkr darkness; akin to Old English mirce gloom
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of murk was
before the 12th century
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