GRAYING

Verb

graying

present participle of gray

Source: Wiktionary


GRAY

Gray, a. [Compar. Grayer (; superl. Grayest.] Etym: [OE. gray, grey, AS. grg, grg; akin to D. graauw OHG. gro, G. grau, Dan. graa, Dw. gr, Icel. grdr.] [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 (Zoƶl.), the chickara.

– Gray cobalt (Min.), smaltite.

– Gray copper (Min.), tetrahedrite.

– Gray duck (Zoƶl.), the gadwall; also applied to the female mallard.

– Gray falcon (Zoƶl.) the peregrine falcon.

– Gray Friar. See Franciscan, and Friar.

– Gray hen (Zoƶl.), 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 (Zoƶl.) any one of the numerous species of the genus Mugil, or family MugilidƦ, 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 (Zoƶl.), the European tawny or brown owl (Syrnium aluco). The great gray owl (Ulula cinerea) inhabits arctic America.

– Gray parrot (Zoƶl.), a parrot (Psittacus erithacus), very commonly domesticated, and noted for its aptness in learning to talk.

– Gray pike. (Zoƶl.) See Sauger.

– Gray snapper (Zoƶl.), a Florida fish; the sea lawyer. See Snapper.

– Gray snipe (Zoƶl.), the dowitcher in winter plumage.

– Gray whale (Zoƶl.), a rather large and swift California whale (Rhachianectes glaucus), formerly taken in large numbers in the bays;

– called also grayback, devilfish, and hardhead.

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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

29 November 2024

POPULATED

(adjective) furnished with inhabitants; ā€œthe area is well populatedā€; ā€œforests populated with all kinds of wild lifeā€


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