darkside

Noun

darkside (countable and uncountable, plural darksides)

1. (countable) The side of something that is in darkness or unlit, or has less illumination.
   • She checked their orbital position. She would have perhaps ten more minutes in darkside. The earth itself was a massive radiation shield between the station and the sun, and she would be perfectly safe.1985 December, Martin Caidin, chapter 21, in Killer Station, New York, N.Y.: Baen Enterprises, →ISBN, page 299
   • This paper describes a hydrogen–oxygen regenerative fuel cell (RFC) energy storage system based on high temperature solid oxide fuel (SOFC) technology. […] The system functions as a secondary battery and is applicable to darkside energy storage for solar photovoltaics.1987, David J. Bents, High Temperature Solid Oxide Regenerative Fuel Cell for Solar Photovoltaic Energy Storage […] (NASA Technical Memorandum; 89872; AIAA-87-9203), Cleveland, Oh.: Lewis Research...
2. (countable, figuratively) The side of something that is metaphorically dark, i.e. evil, distressing or otherwise undesirable; the negative aspect of something.
   • Near-synonym: downside
   • [B]lack metal is by definition concerned with the occult as seen in its lyrical fixation with Satan or darkside tribal paganism.2003, Mattias Gardell, “Hail Loki! Hail Satan! Hail Hitler! Darkside Asatrú, Satanism, and Occult National Socialism”, in Gods of the Blood: The Pagan Revival and White Separatism, Durham, N.C....

   Synonyms:

   downside

3. Synonym of farside (“the side of a moon that faces away from the planet that it orbits”).
   • He did not give a damn; he had his own problems and considerations and, besides, the BUTTON and he would settle this once and for all on the fifth go-round and then he would press the BUTTON, on the darkside, let them sweat out this one and think they were getting through to him and the two of them...1971, Barry N[athaniel] Malzberg, chapter XX, in The Falling Astronauts, London: Hachette UK, published 2011, →ISBN
   • Also shown at the bottom [of Figure 1] is the trajectory during the first encounter on 29 March 1974, which was a darkside pass with a closest approach distance from the surface of 723 km. […] The third encounter on 16 March 1975 was similar to the first, being a very close approach towards the...1977 January, Norman F[rederick] Ness, “The Magnetic Field of Mercury”, in Edith A[lice] Müller, editor, Highlights of Astronomy, volume 4, part I, Dordrecht, South Holland: D. Reidel for the...

   Synonyms:

   farside

4. Synonym of nightside (“the side of a planet that faces away from the sun around which it orbits”).
   • Terraport would be in darkside now, and her great lights would be fused into a single tiny eye winking mockery at him – if he chose to slide back his porthole screen.1950 fall, Charles L[eonard] Harness, “Heritage”, in Robert P[ark] Mills, editor, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, volume I, number 4, New York, N.Y.: Fantasy House, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 100
   • The vehicle, in an equatorial orbit of 300 nautical miles, has a period of 2.1 hours establishing 0.7 hours of darkside operation and 1.4 hours of sunlight operation.1963, Engineering Problems of Manned Interplanetary Exploration: A Volume of Technical Papers Presented Sept. 30 – Oct. 1, 1963, New York, N.Y.: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics...

   Synonyms:

   nightside

5. (uncountable) A style of electronic music, being a form of hardcore characterized by discordant sounds.
   • The label closely observed the shifts in techno during the 90s, being a staple source of ‘darkside’ hardcore in 1992.1994, “Reinforced Records”, in Colin Larkin, editor, The Guinness Who’s Who of Rap, Dance & Techno, Enfield, Middlesex [London]: Guinness Publishing, →ISBN, page 304, column 1
   • 1993 was the year that hardcore began to get more varied with different styles being made. One style known as "darkness" or "darkside" used less pianos and more darker sounding chords.2003 May 6, Alex Nikolaenko Jr., “What is a Jungle?”, in fido7.ru.music.drum-bass (Usenet)

   Synonyms:

   darkcore