darken someone's door

English

Alternative forms

• darken someone's doorstep, darken someone's doorway

Etymology

Probably from the observation that one's shadow falling upon a door whilst standing at it causes it to appear darkened. Alternatively, possibly derived from an old sense of darken meaning "to lie in wait, loiter, lurk".

Pronunciation

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Verb

darken someone's door (third-person singular simple present darkens someone's door, present participle darkening someone's door, simple past and past participle darkened someone's door)

1. (idiomatic) To arrive at someone's residence or location, especially as an unexpected visitor.
   • 1824, Sir Walter Scott, Redgauntlet, Letter 13:

     "I'll tell you, Peter," said I, "were I my lord, and a friend or kinsman of mine should leave the town while the court was sitting, that kinsman, or be he what he liked, should never darken my door again."

   • 1885, Edith Nesbit, “The Stolen God—Lazarus to Dives”, in Many Voices:

     He promised the poor His heaven,
     He loved and lived with the poor;
     He said that the rich man's shadow
     Should never darken His door.

   • 1917, Irving Bacheller, chapter 17, in The Light in the Clearing:

     [T]he squire ain't sociable an' the neighbors never darken his door.

   • 2008, Valerie Wilson Wesley, Of Blood and Sorrow‎^[1], →ISBN, page 3:

     Luckily, I'd scored some good-paying clients in the past two months along with the usual losers who darken my door and waste my time.