gray´ness

gray «gray», noun, adjective, verb.

–noun.

1. a color made by mixing black and white.

2. a gray pigment or dye.

3. gray cloth or clothing.

4. a gray horse.

5. gray or subdued light: »

In the gray of the daybreak (Longfellow).

6. something gray.

7. person wearing gray.

8. an international unit for measuring absorbed doses of radiation, equal to 1 joule per kilogram. It is intended to replace the rad. »

Among the SI's derived units with special names are those for…absorbed dose of radiation (the gray, or joules per kilogram) (Scientific American).

–adjective.

1. having a color between black and white: »

Ashes, lead, and hair becoming white with age are all gray.

2. having gray hair. SYNONYM(S): grizzled.

3. Figurative. old; ancient. SYNONYM(S): hoary.

4. Figurative. dark; gloomy; dismal: »

a gray day, a gray existence.

SYNONYM(S): leaden.

5. Figurative. a) not clearly defined or identified: »

a gray area.

b) not fully acceptable or legal: »

the gray market.

6. wearing gray, as the Cistercian monks and others do.

–transitive verb, intransitive verb.

to make gray; become gray: »

The decrease in the blood delivered to his head causes first a “graying” of his vision, then total blackness (Scientific American).

Also, especially British, grey.

╂[Old English græg]

–gray´ness, noun.