GRAY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does Gray mean? 

• GRAY (noun)
  The noun GRAY has 9 senses:

1. a neutral achromatic color midway between white and black

2. clothing that is a grey color

3. any organization or party whose uniforms or badges are grey

4. horse of a light gray or whitish color

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

6. English radiobiologist in whose honor the gray (the SI unit of energy for the absorbed dose of radiation) was named (1905-1965)

7. English poet best known for his elegy written in a country churchyard (1716-1771)

8. American navigator who twice circumnavigated the globe and who discovered the Columbia River (1755-1806)

9. United States botanist who specialized in North American flora and who was an early supporter of Darwin's theories of evolution (1810-1888)

  Familiarity information: GRAY used as a noun is familiar.

• GRAY (adjective)
  The adjective GRAY has 4 senses:

1. of an achromatic color of any lightness intermediate between the extremes of white and black

2. showing characteristics of age, especially having grey or white hair

3. used to signify the Confederate forces in the American Civil War (who wore grey uniforms)

4. intermediate in character or position

  Familiarity information: GRAY used as an adjective is uncommon.

• GRAY (verb)
  The verb GRAY has 2 senses:

1. make grey

2. turn grey

  Familiarity information: GRAY used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GRAY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A neutral achromatic color midway between white and black

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

gray; grayness; grey; greyness

Hypernyms ("gray" is a kind of...):

achromatic color; achromatic colour (a color lacking hue; white or grey or black)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "gray"):

ash gray; ash grey; silver; silver gray; silver grey (a light shade of grey)

charcoal; charcoal gray; charcoal grey; oxford gray; oxford grey (a very dark grey color)

dapple-gray; dapple-grey; dappled-gray; dappled-grey (grey with a mottled pattern of darker grey markings)

iron-gray; iron-grey (the color of freshly broken cast iron)

tattletale gray; tattletale grey (a greyish white)

Davy's gray; Davy's grey; iron blue; steel gray; steel grey (slightly purplish or bluish dark grey)

Derivation:

gray (turn grey)

gray (make grey)

gray (of an achromatic color of any lightness intermediate between the extremes of white and black)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Clothing that is a grey color

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

gray; grey

Context example:

he was dressed in grey

Hypernyms ("gray" is a kind of...):

article of clothing; clothing; habiliment; vesture; wear; wearable (a covering designed to be worn on a person's body)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Any organization or party whose uniforms or badges are grey

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

gray; grey

Context example:

the Confederate army was a vast grey

Hypernyms ("gray" is a kind of...):

organisation; organization (a group of people who work together)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "gray"):

Army of the Confederacy; Confederate Army (the southern army during the American Civil War)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Horse of a light gray or whitish color

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

gray; grey

Hypernyms ("gray" is a kind of...):

mount; riding horse; saddle horse (a lightweight horse kept for riding only)

Sense 5

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

gray; Gy

Hypernyms ("gray" is a kind of...):

radioactivity unit (a measure of radioactivity)

Sense 6

Meaning:

English radiobiologist in whose honor the gray (the SI unit of energy for the absorbed dose of radiation) was named (1905-1965)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Gray; Louis Harold Gray

Hypernyms ("Gray" is a kind of...):

radiobiologist (a biologist who studies the effects of radiation on living organisms)

Sense 7

Meaning:

English poet best known for his elegy written in a country churchyard (1716-1771)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Gray; Thomas Gray

Instance hypernyms:

poet (a writer of poems (the term is usually reserved for writers of good poetry))

Sense 8

Meaning:

American navigator who twice circumnavigated the globe and who discovered the Columbia River (1755-1806)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Gray; Robert Gray

Instance hypernyms:

navigator (in earlier times, a person who explored by ship)

Sense 9

Meaning:

United States botanist who specialized in North American flora and who was an early supporter of Darwin's theories of evolution (1810-1888)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Asa Gray; Gray

Instance hypernyms:

botanist; phytologist; plant scientist (a biologist specializing in the study of plants)

• GRAY (adjective)

Declension: comparative and superlative

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of an achromatic color of any lightness intermediate between the extremes of white and black

Synonyms:

gray; grayish; grey; greyish

Context example:

a man with greyish hair

Similar:

achromatic; neutral (having no hue)

Derivation:

gray; grayness (a neutral achromatic color midway between white and black)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Showing characteristics of age, especially having grey or white hair

Synonyms:

gray; gray-haired; gray-headed; grey; grey-haired; grey-headed; grizzly; hoar; hoary; white-haired

Context example:

nodded his hoary head

Similar:

old ((used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Used to signify the Confederate forces in the American Civil War (who wore grey uniforms)

Synonyms:

gray; grey

Context example:

a stalwart grey figure

Similar:

southern (in or characteristic of a region of the United States south of (approximately) the Mason-Dixon line)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Intermediate in character or position

Synonyms:

gray; grey

Context example:

a grey area between clearly legal and strictly illegal

Similar:

intermediate (lying between two extremes in time or space or state)

• GRAY (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make grey

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

gray; grey

Context example:

The painter decided to grey the sky

Hypernyms (to "gray" is one way to...):

color; color in; colorise; colorize; colour; colour in; colourise; colourize (add color to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

gray (a neutral achromatic color midway between white and black)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Turn grey

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

gray; grey

Context example:

Her hair began to grey

Hypernyms (to "gray" is one way to...):

color; colour; discolor; discolour (change color, often in an undesired manner)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

gray (a neutral achromatic color midway between white and black)

 Context examples 

Coat colors are blue, gray, blue gray or blue merle, often with white markings, or white with markings of the darker colors.

(Old English Sheepdog, NCI Thesaurus)

The pineal gland is a small reddish-gray body, about 8 mm. in length which lies in the depression between the superior colliculi.

(Pineal Parenchyma, NCI Thesaurus)

The stand-off double coat has a distinctive gray color with a lighter undercoat and undersides.

(Norwegian Elkhound, NCI Thesaurus)

Down went the black legs and up came the gray head, as the preceptor said, with undisturbed dignity, Good evening, Mr. Bhaer.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Once the house had been painted, but the sun blistered the paint and the rains washed it away, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Skin lesions are often irregular and may be pink, red, or have light brown, tan, or gray at the edges.

(Amelanotic melanoma, NCI Dictionary)

The captain and Gray were already examining him, and I saw with half an eye that all was over.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

One gray is equal to an absorbed dose of one joule per kilogram of matter, or to 100 rads.

(Gray, NCI Thesaurus)

They usually have a red edge and a gray center.

(Canker Sores, NIH)

He gazed straight up into the gray sky and knew that he was hungry.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)