Adjacent Words

Gray definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

GRAY, a. [This is probably the name given to the Greeks, on account of their fair complexion compared with the Asiatics and Africans. [See Europe.] "Keto bore to Phorcus the Graiae with fair cheeks, white from their birth, and hence they were called Graiae." The Greek word is rendered an old woman, and in this passage of Hesiod, is supposed to mean certain deities. The probability is, that it is applied to an old woman, because she is gray. But the fable of Hesiod is easily explained by supposing the author to have had in his mind some imperfect account of the origin of the Greeks.]
1. White, with a mixture of black.
These gray and dun colors may be also produced by mixing whites and blacks.
2. White; hoary; as gray hair. We apply the word to hair that is partially or wholly white.
3. Dark; of a mixed color; of the color of ashes; as gray eyes; the gray-eyed morn.
4. Old; mature; as gray experience.
GRAY, n. A gray color.
1. A badger.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: of an achromatic color of any lightness intermediate between the extremes of white and black; "the little grey cells"; "gray flannel suit"; "a man with greyish hair" [syn: grey, gray, greyish, grayish]
2: showing characteristics of age, especially having grey or white hair; "whose beard with age is hoar"-Coleridge; "nodded his hoary head" [syn: grey, gray, grey-haired, gray- haired, grey-headed, gray-headed, grizzly, hoar, hoary, white-haired]
3: used to signify the Confederate forces in the American Civil War (who wore grey uniforms); "a stalwart grey figure" [syn: grey, gray]
4: intermediate in character or position; "a grey area between clearly legal and strictly illegal" [syn: grey, gray] n
1: a neutral achromatic color midway between white and black [syn: gray, grayness, grey, greyness]
2: clothing that is a grey color; "he was dressed in grey" [syn: grey, gray]
3: any organization or party whose uniforms or badges are grey; "the Confederate army was a vast grey" [syn: grey, gray]
4: horse of a light gray or whitish color [syn: grey, gray]
5: the SI unit of energy absorbed from ionizing radiation; equal to the absorption of one joule of radiation energy by one kilogram of matter; one gray equals 100 rad [syn: gray, Gy]
6: English radiobiologist in whose honor the gray (the SI unit of energy for the absorbed dose of radiation) was named (1905-1965) [syn: Gray, Louis Harold Gray]
7: English poet best known for his elegy written in a country churchyard (1716-1771) [syn: Gray, Thomas Gray]
8: American navigator who twice circumnavigated the globe and who discovered the Columbia River (1755-1806) [syn: Gray, Robert Gray]
9: United States botanist who specialized in North American flora and who was an early supporter of Darwin's theories of evolution (1810-1888) [syn: Gray, Asa Gray] v
1: make grey; "The painter decided to grey the sky" [syn: grey, gray]
2: turn grey; "Her hair began to grey" [syn: grey, gray]

Merriam Webster's

I. biographical name Asa 1810-1888 American botanist II. biographical name Thomas 1716-1771 English poet

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective also grey Etymology: Middle English, from Old English gr?g; akin to Old High German gr?s, gr?o gray Date: before 12th century 1. a. of the color gray b. tending toward gray <blue-gray eyes> c. dull in color 2. having the hair gray ; hoary 3. clothed in gray 4. a. lacking cheer or brightness in mood, outlook, style, or flavor; also dismal, gloomy <a gray day> b. prosaically ordinary ; dull, uninteresting 5. having an intermediate and often vaguely defined position, condition, or character <an ethically gray area> • grayly adverb • grayness noun II. noun also grey Date: 13th century 1. something (as an animal, garment, cloth, or spot) of a gray color 2. any of a series of neutral colors ranging between black and white 3. a. a soldier in the Confederate army during the American Civil War b. often capitalized the Confederate army III. verb also grey Date: 14th century transitive verb to make gray intransitive verb 1. to become gray <graying hair> 2. age; also to contain an increasing percentage of older people IV. noun Etymology: Louis H. Gray died 1965 British radiobiologist Date: 1975 the mks unit of absorbed dose of ionizing radiation equal to an energy of one joule per kilogram of irradiated material — abbreviation Gy

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. Physics the SI unit of the absorbed dose of ionizing radiation, corresponding to one joule per kilogram. Usage: Abbr.: Gy. Etymology: L. H. Gray, Engl. radiobiologist d. 1965 2. US var. of GREY.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Gray Gray, a. [Compar. Grayer; superl. Grayest.] [OE. gray, grey, AS. gr[=ae]g, gr[=e]g; akin to D. graauw, OHG. gr[=a]o, G. grau, Dan. graa, Sw. gr[*a], Icel. gr[=a]r.] [Written also grey.] 1. White mixed with black, as the color of pepper and salt, or of ashes, or of hair whitened by age; sometimes, a dark mixed color; as, the soft gray eye of a dove. These gray and dun colors may be also produced by mixing whites and blacks. --Sir I. Newton. 2. Gray-haired; gray-headed; of a gray color; hoary. 3. Old; mature; as, gray experience. Ames. Gray antimony (Min.), stibnite. Gray buck (Zo["o]l.), the chickara. Gray cobalt (Min.), smaltite. Gray copper (Min.), tetrahedrite. Gray duck (Zo["o]l.), the gadwall; also applied to the female mallard. Gray falcon (Zo["o]l.) the peregrine falcon. Gray Friar. See Franciscan, and Friar. Gray hen (Zo["o]l.), the female of the blackcock or black grouse. See Heath grouse. Gray mill or millet (Bot.), a name of several plants of the genus Lithospermum; gromwell. Gray mullet (Zo["o]l.) any one of the numerous species of the genus Mugil, or family Mugilid[ae], found both in the Old World and America; as the European species (M. capito, and M. auratus), the American striped mullet (M. albula), and the white or silver mullet (M. Braziliensis). See Mullet. Gray owl (Zo["o]l.), the European tawny or brown owl (Syrnium aluco). The great gray owl (Ulula cinerea) inhabits arctic America. Gray parrot (Zo["o]l.), a parrot (Psittacus erithacus), very commonly domesticated, and noted for its aptness in learning to talk. Gray pike. (Zo["o]l.) See Sauger. Gray snapper (Zo["o]l.), a Florida fish; the sea lawyer. See Snapper. Gray snipe (Zo["o]l.), the dowitcher in winter plumage. Gray whale (Zo["o]l.), a rather large and swift California whale (Rhachianectes glaucus), formerly taken in large numbers in the bays; -- called also grayback, devilfish, and hardhead.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Gray Gray, n. 1. A gray color; any mixture of white and black; also, a neutral or whitish tint. 2. An animal or thing of gray color, as a horse, a badger, or a kind of salmon. Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day. That coats thy life, my gallant gray. --Sir W. Scott.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

see grey

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

gra.

See COLORS; HOARY.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. [Written also Grey.] 1. Hoary, black and white, ashen, ash-colored, grizzled. 2. Gray-haired, gray-headed.

Moby Thesaurus

Quaker-colored, achromatic, achromic, acier, advanced, advanced in life, advanced in years, aged, along in years, ancient, anemic, ashen, ashy, bay, bayard, black, bleak, bled white, bloodless, boring, buckskin, cadaverous, calico pony, canescence, canescent, chestnut, chloranemic, cinereous, cinerous, colorless, dapple, dapple-gray, dappled, dappled-gray, dark, dead, deadly pale, deathly pale, dim, dimmed, dingy, discolored, dismal, dove-colored, dove-gray, drab, drabness, drear, drearisome, dreary, dull, dullness, dun, dusty, elderly, etiolated, exsanguinated, exsanguine, exsanguineous, faded, faint, fallow, flat, funebrial, funereal, ghastly, glaucescence, glaucescent, glaucous, glaucousness, gloomy, grave, gray with age, gray-black, gray-brown, gray-colored, gray-drab, gray-green, gray-haired, gray-headed, gray-spotted, gray-toned, gray-white, grayed, grayish, grayishness, grayness, grim, griseous, grizzle, grizzled, grizzly, grown old, haggard, hoar, hoary, hueless, humdrum, hypochromic, iron-gray, lackluster, lead-gray, leaden, leadenness, livid, lividity, lividness, lurid, lusterless, mat, mealy, monotonous, mouse-colored, mouse-gray, mousiness, mousy, muddy, neutral, neutral tint, old, old as Methuselah, paint, painted pony, pale, pale as death, pale-faced, pallid, pasty, patriarchal, pearl, pearl-gray, pearly, piebald, pinto, repetitive, roan, sad, sallow, same, samely, saturnine, senectuous, sickly, silver, silver-gray, silvered, silveriness, silvery, skewbald, slate-colored, slatiness, slaty, smoke-gray, smokiness, smoky, sober, soberness, solemn, somber, somberness, sombrous, sorrel, steel-gray, steely, stone-colored, tallow-faced, taupe, tedious, toneless, triste, uncolored, unrelieved, venerable, wan, washed-out, waxen, weak, weariful, wearisome, weary, whey-faced, white, white with age, white-bearded, white-crowned, white-haired, wrinkled, wrinkly, years old