gray meaning and definition

GRAY noun

Definition of gray (noun)

1. a neutral achromatic color midway between white and black
   • synonyms: grayness, grey, greyness
2. clothing that is a grey color
   • "he was dressed in grey"
   • synonyms: grey
3. any organization or party whose uniforms or badges are grey
   • "the Confederate army was a vast grey"
   • synonyms: grey
4. horse of a light gray or whitish color
   • synonyms: grey
5. the SI unit of energy absorbed from ionizing radiation; equal to the absorption of one joule of radiation energy by one kilogram of matter; one gray equals 100 rad
   • synonyms: Gy
6. English radiobiologist in whose honor the gray (the SI unit of energy for the absorbed dose of radiation) was named (1905-1965)
   • synonyms: Louis Harold Gray
7. English poet best known for his elegy written in a country churchyard (1716-1771)
   • synonyms: Thomas Gray
8. American navigator who twice circumnavigated the globe and who discovered the Columbia River (1755-1806)
   • synonyms: Robert Gray
9. United States botanist who specialized in North American flora and who was an early supporter of Darwin's theories of evolution (1810-1888)
   • synonyms: Asa Gray

GRAY verb

Definition of gray (verb)

1. make grey
   • "The painter decided to grey the sky"
   • synonyms: grey
2. turn grey
   • "Her hair began to grey"
   • synonyms: grey

GRAY adjective

Definition of gray (adjective)

1. of an achromatic color of any lightness intermediate between the extremes of white and black
   • "the little grey cells"; "gray flannel suit"; "a man with greyish hair"
   • synonyms: grayish, grey, greyish
2. showing characteristics of age, especially having grey or white hair
   • "whose beard with age is hoar"-Coleridge; "nodded his hoary head"
   • synonyms: gray-haired, gray-headed, grey, grey-haired, grey-headed, grizzly, hoar, hoary, white-haired
3. used to signify the Confederate forces in the American Civil War (who wore grey uniforms)
   • "a stalwart grey figure"
   • synonyms: grey
4. intermediate in character or position
   • "a grey area between clearly legal and strictly illegal"
   • synonyms: grey