grey

[ grey ]

/ greɪ /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR grey ON THESAURUS.COM

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

gray¹.

OTHER WORDS FROM grey

grey·ly, adverb grey·ness, noun un·greyed, adjective

Words nearby grey

grevillea, grew, grewsome, grex, grexit, grey, grey area, grey body, grey duck, grey eminence, grey fox

Definition for grey (2 of 3)

Grey

[ grey ]

/ greɪ /

noun

Charles, 2nd Earl,1764–1845, British statesman: prime minister 1830–34.

Sir EdwardViscount Fallodon,1862–1933, British statesman.

Sir George,1812–98, British statesman and colonial administrator: prime minister of New Zealand 1877–79.

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.

Zane

[zeyn] /zeɪn/,1875–1939, U.S. novelist.

Definition for grey (3 of 3)

gray ¹

or grey

[ grey ]

/ greɪ /

adjective, gray·er, gray·est.

of a color between white and black; having a neutral hue.

dark, dismal, or gloomy: gray skies.

dull, dreary, or monotonous.

having gray hair; gray-headed.

pertaining to old age; mature.

Informal. pertaining to, involving, or composed of older persons: gray households.

old or ancient.

indeterminate and intermediate in character: The tax audit concentrated on deductions in the gray area between purely personal and purely business expenses.

noun

any achromatic color; any color with zero chroma, intermediate between white and black.

something of this color.

gray material or clothing: to dress in gray.

an unbleached and undyed condition.

(often initial capital letter) a member of the Confederate army in the American Civil War or the army itself. Compare blue(def 5).

a horse of a gray color.

a horse that appears white but is not an albino.

verb (used with or without object)

to make or become gray.

Origin of gray

before 900; Middle English; Old English grǣg; cognate with German grau

OTHER WORDS FROM gray

gray·ly, adverb gray·ness, noun un·grayed, adjective

Example sentences from the Web for grey

Lacey Noonan's A Gronking to Remember makes 50 Shades of Grey look like Madame Bovary in terms of its literary sophistication.

‘A Gronking to Remember’ Speed Read: 8 Naughtiest Bits |Emily Shire |January 7, 2015 |DAILY BEAST
The acts Grey performs on Steele are all popular among BDSM enthusiasts.

Whip It: Secrets of a Dominatrix |Justin Jones |November 25, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
We sat in rows of grey steel fold out chairs that faced a model of the compound in Abbottabad.

I Shot Bin Laden |Elliot Ackerman |November 16, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
The Grey Lady said that a series of badly mishandled global crises has “fueled speculation that Mr. Obama may shake up his team.”

Before Ditching His Top Aides, Obama Should Look in the Mirror |Leslie H. Gelb |November 2, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

If this was their reaction to brown and grey,” I wondered, “how would they react to the sight of pink or red?

Saudi Activist Manal Al-Sharif on Why She Removed the Veil |Manal Al Sharif, Advancing Human Rights |October 30, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
The grey light of dawn faintly illumined this scene of carnage, and its pale, cold gleams mingled with the ruddy glow of the fire.

Annals of a Fortress |E. Viollet-le-Duc
There were dark rings under Jill's grey eyes, and Daphne looked pale and tired.

Berry And Co. |Dornford Yates
We need a few more cities, and Grey Town shall be one of the first.

Grey Town |Gerald Baldwin
Slowly, very slowly, there emerged from the darkness two Grey Pumpkins.

Knock Three Times! |Marion St. John Webb
He heard the flutter of skirts—just caught the grey stockings, swift and light, as they flew behind the rhododendron masses.

Day and Night Stories |Algernon Blackwood

British Dictionary definitions for grey (1 of 5)

grey

now esp US gray

/ (ɡreɪ) /

adjective

of a neutral tone, intermediate between black and white, that has no hue and reflects and transmits only a little light

greyish in colour or having parts or marks that are greyish

dismal or dark, esp from lack of light; gloomy

neutral or dull, esp in character or opinion

having grey hair

of or relating to people of middle age or above grey power

ancient; venerable

(of textiles) natural, unbleached, undyed, and untreated

noun

any of a group of grey tones

grey cloth or clothing dressed in grey

an animal, esp a horse, that is grey or whitish

verb

to become or make grey

Derived forms of grey

greyish or mainly US grayish, adjective greyly or mainly US grayly, adverb greyness or mainly US grayness, noun

Word Origin for grey

Old English grǣg; related to Old High German grāo, Old Norse grar

British Dictionary definitions for grey (2 of 5)

Grey

/ (ɡreɪ) /

noun

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)

Sir Edward, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon. 1862–1933, British statesman; foreign secretary (1905–16)

Sir George. 1812–98, British statesman and colonial administrator; prime minister of New Zealand (1877–79)

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

Zane. 1875–1939, US author of Westerns, including Riders of the Purple Sage (1912)

British Dictionary definitions for grey (3 of 5)

gray ¹

/ (ɡreɪ) /

adjective, noun, verb

a variant spelling (now esp US) of grey

Derived forms of gray

grayish, adjective grayly, adverb grayness, noun

British Dictionary definitions for grey (4 of 5)

gray ²

/ (ɡreɪ) /

noun

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 rads Symbol: Gy

Word Origin for gray

C20: named after Louis Harold Gray (1905–65), English physicist

British Dictionary definitions for grey (5 of 5)

Gray

/ (ɡreɪ) /

noun

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

Medical definitions for grey (1 of 2)

gray

[ grā ]

n.

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

Medical definitions for grey (2 of 2)

Gray

Henry 1825?-1861

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

Scientific definitions for grey

gray

[ grā ]

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).

Idioms and Phrases with grey (1 of 2)

grey

see gray.

Idioms and Phrases with grey (2 of 2)

gray

In addition to the idioms beginning with gray

gray area
gray matter

also see:

get gray hair from

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

grey

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

OTHER WORDS FROM grey

Words nearby grey

Definition for grey (2 of 3)

noun