grey

adjective, grey·er, grey·est, noun, verb (used with or without object)

1. gray¹.

noun

1. Charles, 2nd Earl,1764–1845, British statesman: prime minister 1830–34.
2. Sir EdwardViscount Fallodon, 1862–1933, British statesman.
3. Sir George,1812–98, British statesman and colonial administrator: prime minister of New Zealand 1877–79.
4. Lady JaneLady Jane Dudley, 1537–54, descendant of Henry VII of England; executed under orders of Mary I to eliminate her as a rival for the throne.
5. Zane [zeyn] /zeɪn/, 1875–1939, U.S. novelist.

adjective, gray·er, gray·est.

1. of a color between white and black; having a neutral hue.
2. dark, dismal, or gloomy: gray skies.
3. dull, dreary, or monotonous.
4. having gray hair; gray-headed.
5. pertaining to old age; mature.
6. Informal. pertaining to, involving, or composed of older persons: gray households.
7. old or ancient.
8. indeterminate and intermediate in character: The tax audit concentrated on deductions in the gray area between purely personal and purely business expenses.

noun

9. any achromatic color; any color with zero chroma, intermediate between white and black.
10. something of this color.
11. gray material or clothing: to dress in gray.
12. an unbleached and undyed condition.
13. (often initial capital letter) a member of the Confederate army in the American Civil War or the army itself.Compare blue(def 5).
14. a horse of a gray color.
15. a horse that appears white but is not an albino.

verb (used with or without object)

16. to make or become gray.

adjective

1. of a neutral tone, intermediate between black and white, that has no hue and reflects and transmits only a little light
2. greyish in colour or having parts or marks that are greyish
3. dismal or dark, esp from lack of light; gloomy
4. neutral or dull, esp in character or opinion
5. having grey hair
6. of or relating to people of middle age or abovegrey power
7. ancient; venerable
8. (of textiles) natural, unbleached, undyed, and untreated

noun

9. any of a group of grey tones
10. grey cloth or clothingdressed in grey
11. an animal, esp a horse, that is grey or whitish

verb

12. to become or make grey

noun

1. Charles, 2nd Earl Grey. 1764–1845, British statesman. As Whig prime minister (1830–34), he carried the Reform Bill of 1832 and the bill for the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire (1833)
2. Sir Edward, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon. 1862–1933, British statesman; foreign secretary (1905–16)
3. Sir George. 1812–98, British statesman and colonial administrator; prime minister of New Zealand (1877–79)
4. Lady Jane. 1537–54, queen of England (July 9–19, 1553); great-granddaughter of Henry VII. Her father-in-law, the Duke of Northumberland, persuaded Edward VI to alter the succession in her favour, but after ten days as queen she was imprisoned and later executed
5. Zane. 1875–1939, US author of Westerns, including Riders of the Purple Sage (1912)

adjective, noun, verb

1. a variant spelling (now esp US) of grey

noun

1. the derived SI unit of absorbed ionizing radiation dose or kerma equivalent to an absorption per unit mass of one joule per kilogram of irradiated material. 1 gray is equivalent to 100 radsSymbol: Gy

noun

1. Thomas. 1716–71, English poet, best known for his Elegy written in a Country Churchyard (1751)

see gray.

adj.

Old English græg (Mercian grei), from Proto-Germanic *grisja- “gray” (cf. Old Norse grar, Old Frisian gre, Middle Dutch gra, Dutch graw, Old High German grao, German grau), with no certain cognates outside Germanic. French gris, Spanish gris, Italian grigio, Medieval Latin griseus are Germanic loan-words.

The distinction between British grey and U.S. gray developed 20c. The noun is c.1200, from the adjective. Gray as figurative for “Southern troops in the U.S. Civil War” is first recorded 1863, in reference to their uniform color. Expression the gray mare is the better horse in reference to households ruled by wives is recorded from 1540s. The verb is 1610s (with an isolated instance from late 14c.). Related: Grayed; graying.

n.

1. A unit for a specific absorbed dose of radiation equal to 100 rads.

1. British anatomist whose work Anatomy, Descriptive and Surgical (1858), known as Gray’s Anatomy, remains a standard text.

1. The SI derived unit used to measure the energy absorbed by a substance per unit weight of the substance when exposed to radiation. One gray is equal to one joule per kilogram, or 100 rads. The gray is named after British physicist Louis Harold Gray (1905-1965).

see gray.

In addition to the idioms beginning with gray

• gray area
• gray matter

also see:

• get gray hair from