grayback

[ grey-bak ]

/ ˈgreɪˌbæk /

noun

any of various marine and aquatic animals that are dark gray above and light-colored or white below, as the gray whale, the alewife, certain whitefish, and certain sandpipers.

Informal. a Confederate soldier.

Origin of grayback

First recorded in 1805–15; gray¹ + back¹

Words nearby grayback

gray's inn, gray-cheeked thrush, gray-headed, gray-scale ultrasonography, grayanotoxin, grayback, graybeard, grayfish, grayhound, grayish, graylag

Example sentences from the Web for grayback

Not a suspicion had yet been excited among my grayback companions.

Four Years A Scout and Spy |E. C. Downs
My air-treading, toe-dancing “Grayback” of the morning was gone in the back and legs long before we reached the end.

Down the Columbia |Lewis R. Freeman
"There's life there, Grayback," growled my attendant; and the Rebel ordered us to the rear.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 16, No. 94, August, 1865 |Various
Tom looked up, and discovered a grayback, standing on the shore, very deliberately pointing his musket at him.

The Soldier Boy; or, Tom Somers in the Army |Oliver Optic

He stepped back to one of the two windows on the front of the house, where he discovered an officer and two “grayback” soldiers.

The Soldier Boy; or, Tom Somers in the Army |Oliver Optic

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

grayback

noun

Origin of grayback

Words nearby grayback

Example sentences from the Web for grayback