dark-horse

Updated: June 12, 2025

Van Buren was humiliated and eliminated from the counsels of the party; Clay laughed at his "dark-horse" competitor, of whom he affected never to have heard; Calhoun, the legitimate beneficiary of the Texas propaganda, joined Walker with heart and soul and aided greatly in the management of the campaign. A new Democratic régime the South and West coöperating had been founded.

William Edward Dodd - Expansion and Conflict

I guess they don't raise 74-inch sorrel-tops with romping ways down in his precinct. Now, Sully, goes on Denver, 'if you was asked, what would you take the little man to be? "'Why, says I, 'the barber around the corner; or, if he's royal, the king of the boot-blacks. "'Never judge by looks, says Denver; 'he's the dark-horse candidate for president of a South American republic.

O. Henry - Roads of Destiny