Egyptian darkness

English

Etymology

With reference to Exodus X.21-2: “Yahweh then said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand towards heaven, and let darkness, darkness so thick that it can be felt, cover Egypt.’ So Moses stretched out his hand towards heaven, and for three days there was thick darkness over the whole of Egypt.”

Noun

Egyptian darkness (uncountable)

1. Very intense darkness.
   • 1933, Dorothy Sayers, Murder Must Advertise, Harcourt, Brace, page 146:

     Except for the shaft of light thrown by her own headlamps, the darkness was Egyptian.

   • 1970, Margarete Orga, editor, The House on the Fontanka, Kimber, page 67:

     'An Egyptian darkness,' Demyan Lukich remarked, lifting the blind a little.