SHADOW

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does shadow mean? 

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

1. shade within clear boundaries

2. an unilluminated area

3. something existing in perception only

4. a premonition of something adverse

5. an indication that something has been present

6. refuge from danger or observation

7. a dominating and pervasive presence

8. a spy employed to follow someone and report their movements

9. an inseparable companion

  Familiarity information: SHADOW used as a noun is familiar.

• SHADOW (verb)
  The verb SHADOW has 3 senses:

1. follow, usually without the person's knowledge

2. cast a shadow over

3. make appear small by comparison

  Familiarity information: SHADOW used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SHADOW (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Shade within clear boundaries

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

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

shade; shadiness; shadowiness (relative darkness caused by light rays being intercepted by an opaque body)

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

umbra (a region of complete shadow resulting from total obstruction of light)

penumbra (a fringe region of partial shadow around an umbra)

Derivation:

shadow (cast a shadow over)

shadowy (filled with shade)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An unilluminated area

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

dark; darkness; shadow

Context example:

he moved off into the darkness

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

scene (the place where some action occurs)

Derivation:

shadow (cast a shadow over)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Something existing in perception only

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

apparition; fantasm; phantasm; phantasma; phantom; shadow

Context example:

a ghostly apparition at midnight

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

illusion; semblance (an erroneous mental representation)

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

flying saucer; UFO; unidentified flying object (an (apparently) flying object whose nature is unknown; especially those considered to have extraterrestrial origins)

Flying Dutchman (a phantom ship that is said to appear in storms near the Cape of Good Hope)

ghost; shade; specter; spectre; spook; wraith (a mental representation of some haunting experience)

Derivation:

shadowy (lacking in substance)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A premonition of something adverse

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Context example:

a shadow over his happiness

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

boding; foreboding; premonition; presentiment (a feeling of evil to come)

Sense 5

Meaning:

An indication that something has been present

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

shadow; tincture; trace; vestige

Context example:

a tincture of condescension

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

indicant; indication (something that serves to indicate or suggest)

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

footprint (a trace suggesting that something was once present or felt or otherwise important)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Refuge from danger or observation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

he felt secure in his father's shadow

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

recourse; refuge; resort (something or someone turned to for assistance or security)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A dominating and pervasive presence

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Context example:

he received little recognition working in the shadow of his father

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

presence (the state of being present; current existence)

Derivation:

shadow (make appear small by comparison)

Sense 8

Meaning:

A spy employed to follow someone and report their movements

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

shadow; shadower; tail

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

follower (someone who travels behind or pursues another)

spy (a secret watcher; someone who secretly watches other people)

Derivation:

shadow (follow, usually without the person's knowledge)

Sense 9

Meaning:

An inseparable companion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

the poor child was his mother's shadow

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

follower (someone who travels behind or pursues another)

Derivation:

shadow (follow, usually without the person's knowledge)

• SHADOW (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they shadow    ... he / she / it shadows   
Past simple: shadowed   
Past participle: shadowed   
-ing form: shadowing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Follow, usually without the person's knowledge

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

The police are shadowing her

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

follow (to travel behind, go after, come after)

Sentence frames:

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

Sentence example:

Sam cannot shadow Sue

Derivation:

shadow (an inseparable companion)

shadow; shadower (a spy employed to follow someone and report their movements)

shadowing (the act of following someone secretly)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cast a shadow over

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Synonyms:

shade; shade off; shadow

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

darken (make dark or darker)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

shadow (an unilluminated area)

shadow (shade within clear boundaries)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make appear small by comparison

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

dwarf; overshadow; shadow

Context example:

This year's debt dwarfs that of last year

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

command; dominate; overlook; overtop (look down on)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

shadow (a dominating and pervasive presence)

 Context examples 

The sun was almost down on the mountain tops, and the shadows of the whole group fell long upon the snow.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I'm growing as thin as a shadow, and am thirty.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Now, no man ever seen a sperrit with a shadow; well then, what's he doing with an echo to him, I should like to know?

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

I ceased waving my hand, so that the shadow remained stationary.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

We saw it whisk past the light thrown from over the door and disappear against the black shadow of the house.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The shadow of a squat figure had stolen across the patch of sunlight.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Yes, I can see his shadow.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But, whether it was really she, or whether it was a confusion of the shadows in the room, I don't know now.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The shadow cast by the rock in mid-afternoon sunlight reveals it is about 20 feet (6 meters) tall.

(Tall boulder rolls down martian hill, lands upright, NASA)

Water ice is not stable on the surface of Ceres over long time periods unless it is hidden in shadows, as in the case of Juling.

(NASA Dawn Reveals Recent Changes in Ceres' Surface, NASA)