GRAYLY

grayly, greyly

(adverb) having a grey appearance; “lonely creeks are opal in the dawn, sword-blue in the sun, greyly silver under misty moons”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Adverb

grayly (comparative more grayly, superlative most grayly)

In a gray way.

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 (Zoöl.), the chickara.

– Gray cobalt (Min.), smaltite.

– Gray copper (Min.), tetrahedrite.

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

– Gray falcon (Zoöl.) the peregrine falcon.

– Gray Friar. See Franciscan, and Friar.

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

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

– Gray pike. (Zoöl.) See Sauger.

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

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

– Gray whale (Zoöl.), 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

26 June 2025

DISPIRITEDLY

(adverb) in a dispirited manner without hope; “the first Mozartian opera to be subjected to this curious treatment ran dispiritedly for five performances”


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Coffee Trivia

Contrary to popular belief, coffee beans are not technically beans. They are referred to as such because of their resemblance to legumes. A coffee bean is a seed of the Coffea plant and the source for coffee. It is the pit inside the red or purple fruit, often referred to as a cherry. Just like ordinary cherries, the coffee fruit is also a so-called stone fruit.

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