greygrayadj.n.

Brit.

/ɡreɪ/, U.S.

/ɡreɪ/

Forms:

α. early Old English greig, Old English græi an (weak declension, accusative, transmission error), Old English græw, Old English gregg- (inflected form, rare), Old English–early Middle English græg, Old English–Middle English grei, late Old English–early Middle English greg, Middle English greȝe, Middle English greiȝe, Middle English greyȝe, Middle English–1500s greie, Middle English–1500s greye, Middle English– grey, 1500s grea, 1500s gree.

β. Middle English grae, Middle English grai, Middle English–1600s graie, Middle English–1600s graye, Middle English– gray, 1800s gry (Irish English (Wexford)); Scottish pre-1700 gra, pre-1700 grae, pre-1700 graye, pre-1700 1700s– gray.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.

Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian grē, Middle Dutch grau, graeu, grou (in Old Dutch only in the place name Grawenvene (1132); Dutch grauw), Old Saxon -grē (only in appulgrē dapple grey, perhaps showing formal influence from Old Frisian; Middle Low German grā, grāwe), Old High German grāo (inflected grāw-; Middle High German grā, German grau), Old Icelandic grár, Old Swedish grar (Swedish grå), Old Danish gra, graa (Danish grå); further etymology uncertain and disputed. Further etymology. Perhaps related to classical Latin rāvus (see note at roan adj.), although this form presents a number of phonological difficulties; perhaps (if an original meaning ‘shining’ is assumed) ultimately < the same Indo-European base as Old Church Slavonic zĭrěti to see, look, and (with different ablaut grade) Lithuanian žėrėti to shine, sparkle, glisten. If this possible ulterior etymology is accepted, the word may perhaps be very distantly related to the Germanic adjective with the meaning ‘grey’ reflected by e.g. Old Frisian grīs , Middle Dutch, Dutch grijs , Old Saxon grīs (Middle Low German grīs ), Old High German grīs (rare; Middle High German grīs , German greis ), a Latin or Romance borrowing of which is ultimately reflected by French gris gris adj., and a North Germanic nominal cognate of which is reflected by grice n.¹ Form history. The evidence of the Germanic cognates, especially the Old High German evidence, suggests that the Germanic base showed a w -extension and, similarly to other colour adjectives, inflected as a wa -stem; compare e.g. sallow adj., yellow adj. The Old English word shows stem-final w only in the rare form grǣw . This form (attested as weak inflected grǣwan and also in the compound deorcegrǣw dark grey) seems to show i-mutation of original long ā , and is perhaps comparable to Old High German grāwi , a rare by-form of Old High German grāo , which in addition to w shows the reflex of a j -suffix (and inflects as a regular ja -stem). In the more common Old English stem form grǣg the final g (occasionally also spelt i , ig ) perhaps also represents the reflex of a j -suffix, which in this case seems to adjoin the stem immediately, although the details of the phonological development are unclear and disputed (for a comparable variation of the stem-final consonant see e.g. forms of glee n.). Alternative suggestions have been offered which would involve interpreting the final g as a velar palatalized after the preceding front vowel of the stem (i.e. as an original g ) rather than as an inherited semivowel. Spelling variation in Old English and later developments cannot throw any light on this issue. The preceding stem vowel is apparently West Saxon ǣ , Anglian ē , as expected, and either of these, in either case, would regularly yield early Middle English ei after vocalization of the word-final consonant. Spelling history from late Middle English onwards. The variation between spellings in ei , ey , etc., and in ai , ay , etc., in later Middle English results from the general Middle English merger of the ei and ai diphthongs. Among words of similar phonological shape in Old English, see clay n. for similar variation followed by eventual selection of a spelling in ay as standard, but whey n. and (disregarding the divergent modern pronunciation) key n.¹ for similar variation followed by eventual selection of a spelling in ey . The present word is distinguished by the fact that both spelling types continued in frequent use for a very long time, and different spellings have been selected as standard in U.S. English (gray ) and in British English (generally grey , although individual usage can vary). Concerning contemporary variation N.E.D. (1900) noted: ‘With regard to the question of usage, an inquiry by Dr. Murray in Nov. 1893 elicited a large number of replies, from which it appeared that in Great Britain the form grey is the more frequent in use, notwithstanding the authority of Johnson and later English lexicographers, who have all given the preference to gray. In answer to questions as to their practice, the printers of The Times stated that they always used the form gray; Messrs. Spottiswoode and Messrs. Clowes always used grey; other eminent printing firms had no fixed rule. Many correspondents said that they used the two forms with a difference of meaning or application: the distinction most generally recognized being that grey denotes a more delicate or a lighter tint than gray. Others considered the difference to be that gray is a ‘warmer’ colour, or that it has a mixture of red or brown.’ For other attempts that have sometimes been made to distinguish between the two spellings semantically compare:1835 G. Field Chromatogr. xx. 166 Gray denotes a class of cool cinereous colours, faint of hue; whence we have blue grays, olive grays, green grays, purple grays, and grays of all hues, in which blue predominates... In this sense, the semi-neutral Gray is distinguished from the neutral Grey, which springs in an infinite series from the mixture of the neutral black and white:—between grays and greys, however, there is no intermediate, since where colour ends in the one, neutrality commences in the other, and vice versa.1867 G. W. Samson Elem. Art Crit. v. i. 483 Professional, if not primitive English usage has made a distinction between gray and grey. The spelling gray may with propriety be employed to designate admixtures in which simple black and white are employed. The form grey may indicate those admixtures which have the same general hue, but into which blue and its compounds more or less slightly enter.1925 C. Platt Pop. Superstitions vi. 134 An attempt has been made to differentiate between ‘grey’ and ‘gray’—many artists claiming that the old spelling should only be used for mixtures of white and black; the other form being reserved for those tones where some other colour has been introduced.2008 Threepenny Rev. Spring 113 16 Actual editing consists so much of petting and patting beautiful writing. With the poets, that means allowing for differences... Allow ‘grey’ and ‘gray’ in the same volume (the former greenish and the latter more blue: the opposite of what I'd guessed). Notes on specific senses. The theory that some early uses of the adjective imply brightness (compare senses A. 1a and A. 5) rests in part on the hypothesis that the original meaning of the Germanic base is ‘shining’ and has been disputed (see C. P. Biggam Grey in Old Eng. (1998) 80–4, and compare E. R. Anderson Folk-taxon. in Early Eng. (2003) 124–8). Earlier currency of senses A. 3b and B. 2b is perhaps implied respectively by surnames and place names (see below). With sense B. 3 compare gro n. 1 and its likely Scandinavian models, and also Old English grāscinnen made of miniver (see skin n.). Compare also ( < French) gris n. The following Old English example has sometimes been interpreted as showing an early compound of two colour words grǣghǣwe ( < grey adj. + haw adj.; compare Compounds 1b), but Dict. Old Eng. at grǣg, sense 2h, interprets it as showing two separate words (thus in the manuscript; perhaps transferred from a missing gloss of Latin glauca (nominative) in the putative source: Aldhelm Aenigmata 21. 1 Corpore sulcato, nec non ferrugine glauca, Sum formata, fricans rimis informe metallum ):eOE Cleopatra Gloss. in W. G. Stryker Lat.-Old Eng. Gloss. in MS Cotton Cleopatra A.III (Ph.D. diss., Stanford Univ.) (1951) 193 Ferrugine, græg, hæwe isene oþþe sinderome. With uses in animal names at Compounds 1c(b) compare sense A. 1c, and also grey goose n. Occurrence in charter bounds and place names. The word occurs commonly in boundary markers in Anglo-Saxon charter bounds; compare:eOE Bounds (Sawyer 298) in D. Hooke Pre-Conquest Charter-bounds Devon & Cornwall (1994) 105 Fram smalan cumbes heafde to græwan stane.OE Bounds (Sawyer 738) in W. de G. Birch Cartularium Saxonicum (1893) III. 435 Andlang mid slædes on þa grægan hane, of þære grægan hane andlang hearpdene. The word is also attested early in place names, as Greitreu , Herefordshire (1086; now Greytree), Greherst , Derbyshire (1086; also Grayhirst (13th cent.); now lost), etc. Those in the former Danelaw may have originally shown the early Scandinavian cognate (compare Old Icelandic grár and the discussion at gro n.), as is apparently the case in Grarigg , Westmorland (second half of the 12th cent.; now Grayrigg). Some place names appear to show use of the word as noun, as Greshull' , Berkshire (1198; also early 13th cent. as grægsole in a copy of a 10th-cent. charter; now Grazeley), Graysty , Cheshire (1308; now Gresty), and perhaps Graiwella , Hampshire (1167; now Greywell). They have frequently been assumed to imply earlier currency of the word in the sense ‘badger’ (see sense B. 2b), but are perhaps more likely to show the sense ‘wolf’, which is attested in Old English verse (see sense B. 2a). Surname evidence. The word occurs early as a surname, e.g. Baldwin Grai (1173), Willelmus Grei (1198), William le Greie (1296), and these attestations perhaps imply earlier currency of sense A. 3b. Also attested early as a surname element, e.g. Greiberd (1207; see sense A. 3a and greybeard n.), Artur Grayfot (1243), Gilbertus Greyschanke (c1273), Ralph Greyeye (13th cent.; compare sense A. 5), etc. Some surnames show a northern Middle English variant gra-, which perhaps reflects the influence of the early Scandinavian cognate.

A. adj.

I. With reference to colour.

a. Designating the colour of ash, lead, flint, an overcast sky, etc., being intermediate between black and white, or composed of a mixture of black and white with little or no positive hue, or of a mixture of black and white with another colour (esp. blue or brown); of or having this colour.In early use perhaps sometimes implying brightness, in Old English esp. that of metal (see note in etymology, and cf. sense A. 5).In Old English glosses rendering a number of Latin colour adjectives in senses that are not always entirely clear, including classical Latin croceus (see croceous adj.), ferrūgineus (see ferrugineous adj.), and glaucus (see glaucous adj.). In quot. OE² at α. perhaps with reference to the colour of a textile dye as in the probable source of the gloss ( Isidore Origines 19. 28. 8); cf. sense A. 1d(a).

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > colour > named colours > grey or greyness > [adjective]

greyeOE

grisc1386

grizzlec1425

grison1438

kennet-colour1530

grisy1590

grizzly1594

grisard1607

α.

eOE Épinal Gloss. (1974) 26 Glaucum, hæuui uel grei.

eOE Corpus Gloss. (1890) 54/2 Feruginius, greig.

eOE Metres of Boethius (partly from transcript of damaged MS) (2009) v. 8 Oft smylte sæ suðerne wind græge glashlutre grimme gedrefed [read gedrefeð],..onhrerað hronmere.

OE Genesis A (1931) 2865 Ac hine se halga wer gyrde grægan sweorde.

OE Harley Gloss. (1966) 114 Croceus, i. rubicundus, rubeus, geolu uel græg.

OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 178 Nis na Godes wunung on ðam grægum stanum.., ac he wunað on heofonum.

c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham Poems (1902) 140 Sonne and mone and sterren greyȝe.

c1450 J. Capgrave Solace of Pilgrims (Bodl. 423) (1911) 73 (MED) The hed of petir is a brood face with mech her on his berd and þat is of grey colour be twix whit and blak.

a1475 Sidrak & Bokkus (Lansd.) (Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Washington) (1965) 8940 Watir is grey of nature.

1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 ii. iii. 19 It stucke vpon him as the sunne In the grey vault of heauen.

1623 W. Traheron & E. Grimeston tr. P. Mexia Imperiall Hist. 87 This affection extended it self euen to the Emperours themselves: as now to Vitellivs, who fauoured the grey colour.

1706 Philos. Trans. 1704–05 (Royal Soc.) 24 1741 There were remaining some exceeding small Particles of Tobacco, that were not turn'd into these Grey Ashes.

1756 P. Browne Civil & Nat. Hist. Jamaica ii. ii. 228 The seeds are of a grey colour.

1821 W. M. Craig Lect. Drawing iii. 184 Your next proceeding will be to insert the grey tints.

1882 ‘Ouida’ In Maremma I. 178 The plain grew yellower and the sky greyer.

1927 Contemp. Rev. July 97 The chi moth is wonderfully concealed when it rests on a grey stone wall.

1987 M. Ondaatje In Skin of Lion (1988) 155 Cato sits dead centre, at the food table, the pipe smoke moves live and grey around him.

2001 B. Broady In this Block there lives Slag 23 The prams were all expensive, grey steel and rainbow-canopied.

β. c1330 (?c1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) 4093 Þemperour..doþ make onan A piler of gray marbel ston.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 9886 Þis castel..It es hei sett a-pon þe crag, Grai [Gött. Gray] and hard.c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 1330 (MED) He mas to graue sum in grete & sum in gray marble.1527 L. Andrewe tr. H. Brunschwig Vertuose Boke Distyllacyon sig. Fij^v It is rede that the graye water snakes engendreth them with the eale.1571 T. Hill Contempl. Mankinde xxii. f. 99^v In colour like vnto the gray skie, not shyning or glistering.1762 J. Macpherson Fingal iii. 41 From the gray mist of the ocean, the white-sailed ships of Fingal appear.1816 S. T. Coleridge Christabel 4 The night is chill, the cloud is gray.1874 J. S. Blackie On Self-culture 14 Ask yourself..not what you saw printed on a gray page, but what you see pictured in the glowing gallery of your imagination.1938 Life 4 Apr. 7/2 The picture of Anthony Eden on the cover shows him wearing a gray topper.1970 Bull. Atomic Scientists Apr. 2/3 So much particulate is produced each morning from coal or oil burning that the air has a gray color, rather than the brown of nitrogen dioxide.2003 Philadelphia May 119/3 The Rosenbluths' house is..built of gray stone.

b. With prefixed noun or adjective: denoting a particular shade of this colour.For many of these see the first element, as: black-, blue-grey, etc.; bluish-, brownish-, pinkish-grey, etc.; bluey-, mousy-, pearly-grey, etc.; ash-, flint-, pewter-, sea-grey, etc.; French, Oxford grey, etc. See also dapple-grey adj., iron-grey adj., silver-grey adj., etc.In quot. OE¹ rendering elbus, post-classical Latin form of classical Latin helvus dull yellow, dun, probably with reference to the description of the colour as ‘intermediate between black and white’ in Isidore Origines 19. 28. 7.

ΚΠ

OE Antwerp-London Gloss. (2011) 102 Elbus, deorcegræg.

OE Maxims II 31 Ea of dune sceal flodgræg feran.

1445 in W. Brown Yorks. Deeds (1922) 8 (MED) [A mare of] myrkgray [colour].

1590 Edinb. Test. XXII. f. 197^v, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Blew Tua dosone of blew gray bonnettis.

1640 J. Parkinson Theatrum Botanicum iii. xxxiv. 420 The rootes are a number of very small blackish gray fibres or threds.

1666 J. Davies tr. C. de Rochefort Hist. Caribby-Islands i. vi. 35 While it is young the bark is..of a dark-grey colour.

1724 D. Defoe Fortunate Mistress 262 A plain Coach, no gilding or painting, lin'd with a light-grey Cloath.

1770 J. R. Forster tr. P. Kalm Trav. N. Amer. I. 82 A pale-grey limestone.

1842 T. B. Macaulay Battle Lake Regillus in Lays Anc. Rome 104 High on a gallant charger Of dark-grey hue he rode.

1859 R. H. Semple tr. P. Bretonneau et al. Mem. Diphtheria 272 Thin elastic layers, of a whitish-grey colour.

1883 Truth 31 May 747/1 A very becoming gown of silver-grey surah.

1915 T. N. Dale Calcite Marble & Dolomite Eastern Vermont 15 The marble..is of a general medium-gray shade.

1958 I. Murdoch Bell i. 19 He wore dark grey flannels and a white open-necked shirt.

2002 M. Kurlansky Salt (2003) xii. 200 Several acres of barren, whitish brown or whitish gray earth.

c. Of an animal: having grey or greyish fur, feathers, etc. Also: (of the fur, feathers, etc., of an animal) grey or greyish in appearance.See also Compounds 1c(b).

ΚΠ

OE Andreas (1932) 371 Hornfisc plegode..ond se græga mæw wælgifre wand.

OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1900) II. 324 Þa læg se græga wulf þe bewiste þæt heafod.

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1723 Sep or got, haswed, arled, or grei, Ben don fro iacob fer a-wei.

c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer Parl. Fowls (Fairf. 16) (1880) l. 335 There was the tiraunte with his fethres donne And grey, I mene the goshauke.

1575 G. Gascoigne Noble Arte Venerie lxvi. 184 As touchyng their heare, they haue a grey coate..waxyng greyer and greyer the elder that they bee.

1593 G. Gifford Dialogue Witches sig. Bi Shee had three or foure imps, some call them puckrels, one like a gray catte, an other like a weasell.

1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 736 One of them hath a backe of a siluer colour,..and this is Ictinus canus, a gray Kite-wolfe.

1686 R. Blome Gentlemans Recreation xxiii. 109/2 They differ from House-Rats, being grayer and longer Haired.

1750 G. Hughes Nat. Hist. Barbados 70 The Grey Gaulding. This bird is seldom seen in this island.

1793 J. Leslie tr. Comte de Buffon Nat. Hist. Birds VIII. 244 The top of the neck is clothed with similar grey feathers.

1829 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom VI. 403 The King of the Ant-eaters..is about the size of a quail, and its grey plumage is agreeably variegated.

1880 E. F. Sandeman Eight Months in Ox-waggon 236 A small grey bird with a reddish beak, the size of a sparrow, had flown alongside and round the waggon for the last mile of our trek.

1919 S. Anderson Winesburg Ohio 27 For a long time there was a feud between the baker and a grey cat that belonged to..the druggist.

1947 N.Z. Listener 10 Jan. 21/3 He loved the feel of the soft grey fur of the opossums he caught.

2006 Science 11 Aug. 783/1 A small songbird with gray feathers and an eye-catching white rump.

d. Of clothing, fabric, or yarn.

(a) Of a grey hue or tint.In quot. ?c1225 probably alluding to an ecclesiastical order; cf. sense A. 6.See also grey hodden at hodden n. 2a.

ΚΠ

?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 11 Her in is religiun naut iþe wide hod..ne in þe greiȝe cuuel.

1466 Expenses J. Paston's Funeral in Paston Lett. (1904) IV. 230 For grey lynen cloth and sylk frenge for the hers.

a1500 (?a1375) Hermit & Outlaw (BL Add. 22577) in Englische Studien (1890) 14 171 (MED) That othyr was a gode ermyte, Off grey clothyng was hys abyte.

?1562 W. Ward tr. R. Roussat Most Excellent Bk. Doctour & Astrologien Arcandam xii. sig. P.iiii Thei be cholerick, wherby thei be balde, & thei must weare grey apparell or black, and not red, grene, white, or blewe.

1595 R. Parry Moderatus iii. sig. B2^v Handsomly tucked vp in their holi-day peticoates and grey frize rugges.

1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors 207 Clad in a grey Garment.

1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 251 I had Pistols under my grey Frock.

1756 C. Lennox tr. P. M. de L'Écluse des Loges Mem. Maximilian de Bethune II. xii. 58/2 He commonly went clad in a coat of grey cloth.

1815 M. Elphinstone Acct. Kingdom Caubul iii. ii. 369 At that season, they also wear brown and grey woollen great coats.

1884 Austral. Jrnl. Apr. 460/1 An elegant dinner dress is composed of grey silk, with cherry-coloured flounced brocade.

1920 Lady Gregory Dragon i. 43 I'd sooner go earning my wages footing turf, with a skirt of heavy flannel and a dress of the grey frieze!

1929 Boys' Life June 30/3 Their uniform consisted of high top shoes, grey wool socks [etc.].

2011 T. Brown Aftermath 273 She wore..a demure gray dress with a high collar.

(b) In an unbleached, undyed, or unfinished state. Cf. Phrases 3a(a), Phrases 3b, greycloth n. at Compounds 1c(a).

ΚΠ

1768 R. Dossie Mem. Agric. I. 182 The cotton dyed in this manner, being wrought in stripes with unbleached, or, as it is called, grey cotton, will endure the treatment requisite in the cleansing and bleaching cotton, without any damage to the colour.

1843 Merchants' Mag. Dec. 576/1 Gray or unbleached cottons, viz: long cloths, domestics, &c.

1913 Tariff Schedules (U.S. House of Representatives, 62nd Congr. 3rd Sess.) IV. l. 4539 In examining the undyed yarns—the gray yarns—have you found gum in those yarns?

1993 J. C. Jarillo Strategic Networks v. 106 The Benettons..would knit and assemble a large part of their production undyed (‘grey’).

2. Of a horse: having a coat with a mixture of white and dark hairs. Cf. sense B. 6, dapple-grey adj. 1, and pommely grey adj. at pommely adj.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > colour or marking > [adjective] > grey

greyOE

ferrauntc1300

walnyedc1440

OE Prognostics (Tiber.) (2007) 299 Gif him þince þæt he on fealewum horse oððe on grægium ride, þæt biþ god swefen.

?c1335 in W. Heuser Kildare-Gedichte (1904) 171 Mine hed is hore and al forfare, Ihewid as a grei mare.

1390–1 in L. T. Smith Exped. Prussia & Holy Land Earl Derby (1894) 5 Edmundo Bugge pro j equo grey.

1420 in F. J. Furnivall Fifty Earliest Eng. Wills (1882) 53 I will..þat Acris Mersk haue þe grey geldyng.

a1450 Partonope of Blois (Univ. Coll. Oxf.) (1912) 7516 Hedyr I brought an ambeler gray.

a1500 in Medium Ævum (1972) 41 237 A gray hors in a gravell way, And a brown bay is best at all assay.

?1530 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry (rev. ed.) f. xxx Put..to your graye mares a whyte hors, so that he be nat al white skynned about the mouth.

1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. i. sig. N^v But vnder him a gray steede he did wield.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) iii. iv. 278 Ile giue him my horse, gray Capilet.

1659 W. Greenwood Βουλευτηριον 122 A Horse-race to be run between a gray Mare..and a bay Gelding.

1703 G. Farquhar Twin-rivals ii. 21 The old Coach with the Grey Horses, I give to Mrs. Clearaccount here.

1799 W. Scott tr. J. W. von Goethe Goetz of Berlichingen i. 18 Ah! what a charming grey steed!

1842 T. B. Macaulay Battle Lake Regillus in Lays Anc. Rome 117 Horses black and grey.

1897 Times 17 Feb. 8/2 The intended reorganization..will not prevent the Scots Greys retaining their gray horses.

1925 Woman's World (Chicago) Apr. 62/3 Saddling Kitty took longer than she expected. The gray mare looked quizzically at her.

1999 R. Tremain Music & Silence (2000) ii. 275 Some way off, she hears the grey horse whinny.

a. Of the hair: grey or white in appearance, or turning white, through loss of pigmentation, typically as a result of ageing.Recorded earliest in greybeard n. (as a surname).In quot. OE rendering Latin cycneus ‘swanlike’ in cycnea canities , lit. ‘swanlike hoariness’, with reference to old age.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > hair > colour of hair > [adjective] > grey, hoary

grey1207

hoarc1290

frostya1450

forhoaredc1450

grizzled1458

hoary1530

hoared1557

greyish1567

wintry1579

silver1590

silveredc1600

silver-grey1607

frosted1628

iron-grey1809

iron-greyed1826

grizzly1843

OE Aldhelm Glosses (Brussels 1650) in L. Goossens Old Eng. Glosses of MS Brussels, Royal Libr. 1650 (1974) 268 Usque cigneam [vetulae senectutis] caniciem : oþ ða wyluenan harnysse, oþ þa græi an [perh. by alteration from græ an, prob. read græian] harnysse [OE Digby 146 oþ þa grægan wylfenan harnesse].]

1207 Curia Regis Rolls (1931) V. 62 (MED) Ricardus Brito [essoniavit se] per Greiberd.

c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) i. 1672 Sche koude hem schew boþe in hed & berd Ful hor and grey, in craft sche was so lered.

a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) vi. 870 His hed vnkempt, his lokkis hor & gray.

c1450 King Ponthus (Digby) in Publ. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer. (1897) 12 41 (MED) She suld haue hir..mantyll of sylke and a circle of golde vpon hire gray hede.

a1475 J. Russell Bk. Nurture (Harl. 4011) in Babees Bk. (2002) i. 168 Wyntur, with his lokkys grey, febille & old, Syttynge vppon þe stone, bothe hard & cold.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Prov. xx. D A gray heade, is an honoure vnto y^e aged.

1577 R. Stanyhurst Treat. Descr. Irelande iv. f. 17/2, in R. Holinshed Chron. I In which Well such as loath gray heares are accustomed to diue.

1581 J. Marbeck Bk. Notes & Common Places 60 Like an olde man in a graie beard.

1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing v. i. 65 I..with grey haires and bruise of many daies, Do challenge thee.

1653 R. Saunders Physiognomie ii. 169 Hairs, viz. black, red, flaxen, and white or grey.

1725 I. Watts Logick ii. iii. §2 Remember that a grey Beard does not make a Philosopher.

1769 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) I. xxiii. 174 Can grey hairs make folly venerable?

1797 R. Southey Ballad King Charlemain xviii [He] kiss'd his long grey grizzle beard.

1816 Ld. Byron Prisoner of Chillon 1 My hair is grey, but not with years.

1867 A. Trollope Last Chron. Barset I. xxiv. 206 He was bald, or becoming bald; and his whiskers were grey, or were becoming grey.

1906 Westm. Gaz. 25 Jan. 4/2 There is nothing radically pensionable about old age; grey hairs are not in themselves a claim on society.

1936 Motor Boating Feb. 211/1 His hair was gray, his back bent.

2001 Financial Times 27 Jan. (Weekend Suppl.) I/6 Adler..visibly simmers beneath his dignified grey beard.

b. Of a person: having such hair; grey-haired. Also occasionally of an animal: having hair or fur which is turning grey through age.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > hair > colour of hair > [adjective] > grey, hoary > having

hoarc1290

grey?c1335

grey-haireda1425

hasard1513

grey-headed1535

hoar-headed1561

hoary1580

grizzleda1616

silver-headed1643

silver-haired1665

?c1335 in W. Heuser Kildare-Gedichte (1904) 170 Elde makiþ me geld and growen al grai.

1480 Table Prouffytable Lernynge (Caxton) (1964) 42 He may no more for age He is alle graye.

?1575 C. Vitell tr. H. Niclaes Prouerbia xxii. f. 45^v The Counsaile of the Wise which are becom graye with Age.

1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 ii. v. 458 That gray iniquity, that father ruffian.

1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §739 Divers with us that are grown Gray.

1683 tr. F. Pallavicino Whore's Rhetorick ii. 131 There only remained with me a little Fox, that was grown grey with age.

1742 E. Young Complaint: Night the Second 26 Who knows not this, tho' Grey, is still a Child.

1785 W. Cowper Task ii. 633 We grow early gray, but never wise.

1833 W. H. Maxwell Field Bk. 5/1 The length of the teeth is no criterion whatever; nor can the countenance be depended upon until the horse becomes very old and grey.

1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. xvi. 290 He had grown somewhat stouter, and somewhat greyer, in the last ten years.

1898 J. Hutchinson Archives Surg. IX. No. 36. 343 He was a thin grey man.

1918 Atlantic Monthly Aug. 171/1 Had he turned gray, he might have looked less shabby; but dark thin locks still clustered above his high crown.

1984 N.Y. Mag. 16 Jan. 42/3 I never noticed she was gray; I thought she was still blond.

c. Of a person's face or complexion: pallid through tiredness, illness, or old age.

ΚΠ

1844 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 56 743 [The] sexton, with his hard grey face, (A living tombstone!)

1867 Brit. Jrnl. Homœopathy 25 55 She had fallen away rapidly, had a dingy grey complexion, and coughed hard.

1883 C. T. Brooks tr. J. P. F. Richter Invisible Lodge iv. 30 An old visage gray with age.

1924 G. Wescott Apple of Eye iii. ii. 250 Jule's face was grey. ‘Sit down. Rest,’ they said to him.

1963 N.Y. Times 21 May 34/1 He moved..toward the fence, his face gray... Then he collapsed.

2012 Daily Record (Glasgow) (Nexis) 15 Dec. 4 His eyes were bloodshot, he seemed thinner than ever and looked ill because his face was grey.

d. Originally and chiefly U.S. slang (in African-American usage). Of a person: white. Also: having light skin; of mixed race. Chiefly depreciative.

ΚΠ

1943 D. Burley in N.Y. Amsterdam News 10 Apr. 13/4 Thommy (Brooklyn) Jones, soldiering out west, married a fine grey social worker.

1953 Jet 24 Dec. 48 Bruce..had the unidentified photo of a grey chick in his..dormitory room.

1962 H. Simmons Man walking on Eggshells 201 A gray boy ain't never lived under the social conditions to know what the blues is all about.

1981 W. D. Myers Hoops 92 You should have..busted that gray chick's nose. Nothing them la-di-da niggers hate worse than you putting them down in front of their ace whiteys.

2000 H. M. Dalmage Tripping on Color Line 20 Think about all the terms for multiracialism: multiracial, mixed race.., gray ladies, wiggers.

2008 J. Horn Dr. Onan ii. 18 These gray dudes always running down how the city is unsafe because of..the blacks.

4. Designating dull or cold light, esp. that of dawn or twilight. Also: (of a day, the weather, etc.) overcast, clouded over; dull, gloomy. Cf. sense B. 7.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > dimness or absence of brightness > [adjective] > specifically of light > of daylight

grey?a1300

half-dark1576

?a1300 (c1250) Prov. Hendyng (Digby) xxxiii, in Anglia (1881) 4 197 (MED) Ofte morewen grei bigrowen [a1325 Cambr. growith grime], Seþ man þe day faire dowen, And ful briȝt on hende.

c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) 1024 Þer wer gestes to go vpon þe gray morne.

a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) II. 145 Luke telliþ..eerli and in þe grey day [L. valde diluculo], camen wymmen to se þe sepulcre.

1447 O. Bokenham Lives of Saints (Arun.) (1938) 6246 To matynys in þe grey morwenyng, To hys oratorye he go wyth-oute lettyng.

c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 2044 Begynnys sone in þe gray day as any gleme springis.

1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. DDv^v Lyke as the gray mornyng breketh and springeth before the presence of the sonne.

1532 (?a1405) J. Lydgate Minor Poems (1934) ii. 411 The same tyme, I herde a larke synge Ful lustely, agayne the morowe gray.

1576 G. Gascoigne Droomme of Doomes Day sig. P.viii^v You know not when the Lord commeth, ouer night, at mydnight, or in the gray morning.

1654 J. Sheffield Rising Sun 142 Sometimes at Sun rise the morning is gray, dark, duskish, and the day the fairer.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. sig. N4^v Now came still Eevning on, and Twilight gray Had in her sober Liverie all things clad.

a1732 T. Boston Memoirs (1776) x. 286 It was a grey day, with some pleasant blinks.

1780 W. Cowper Progress of Error 82 Grey dawn appears.

1816 Ld. Byron Prisoner of Chillon 14 For all was blank, and bleak, and grey, It was not night—it was not day.

1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. ii. 19 In the gray light of the evening.

1895 National Rev. June 561 It was at mid-day, but the weather was grey and cloudy.

1929 L. W. Reese Victorian Village 3 Racing up through Saint John's churchyard on a gray afternoon.

1963 P. A. Sorokin Long Journey iii. vii. 129 In the grey twilight of the July night I saw a stormy sea of soldiers, workmen, sailors.

1997 C. Higson et al. Fast Show: Ser. 3 (BBC TV script for Darlington filming 27 July–10 Aug.) 7 (stage direct.) It's a bleak, grey morning.

5. Of eyes: having a grey or (in early use) bright pale iris.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > eye > [adjective] > types of eyes by colour

redeOE

grey?a1300

?a1300 Maximian (Digby) 266 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 100 Min heien so grei so glas, Min her so feir bihonge.

a1350 in G. L. Brook Harley Lyrics (1968) 41 Gret hire wel, þat swete þing wiþ eȝen gray.

c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) 5881 Wyþ eȝene graye, and browes bent.

c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Reeve's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 54 This wenche thikke and wel ygrowen was With camuse nose and eyen greye as glas.

c1475 (a1400) Awntyrs Arthure (Taylor) in J. Robson Three Early Eng. Metrical Romances (1842) 22 Dame Gaynour, with hur gray een.

a1525 Eng. Conquest Ireland (Trin. Dublin) (1896) 98 Reymond..[had] grey eyghen & depe, somdel heyghe nose, neb rody.

1548 Hall's Vnion: Richard III f. lv^v His eyes gray shynynge and quicke.

1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Verd Oeil verd, a gray eye.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) iv. iv. 189 Her eyes are grey as glasse.

1653 J. Davies tr. C. Sorel Extravagant Shepherd i. 2 His sharp Nose, and his gray Eyes half asquint, and almost buried in his head,..made him appear somewhat gastly.

1748 T. Smollett Roderick Random I. xi. 77 A long, withered visage..through the upper part of which, two little grey eyes peeped.

1819 J. G. Lockhart Peter's Lett. to Kinsfolk III. lxii. 103 He is a very sagacious-looking person, with bright grey eyes, and a full round face.

1891 E. Peacock Narcissa Brendon II. 42 Keen, searching, grey eyes.

1929 D. Hammett Red Harvest vii. 78 He goggled at me with curious gray eyes.

1997 J. Wilson Lottie Project (1998) 3 She had grey hair and grey eyes.

6. Belonging or relating to an ecclesiastical order distinguished by the grey or brown habit worn by its members, as Cistercian monks, Franciscan friars, or sisters of the third order of St. Francis. Cf. Grey friar n. 1.

ΚΠ

c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) 1497 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 149 (MED) Greye Monekes of Cistevs.

c1300 Life & Martyrdom Thomas Becket (Harl. 2277) (1845) l. 1228 Tuelf myle he ȝeode grete ynouȝ to a grei abbeye, That me clipeth Clermareys, of greye monekes.

c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 9072 Þe ordre of greye monekes þoru him me broȝte Verst here in to engelond.

c1390 in C. Horstmann Minor Poems Vernon MS (1892) i. 166 A Sexteyn was in an Abbely Of þe Ordre of Monkes grey.

c1440 St. Christopher (Thornton) 987 in C. Horstmann Altengl. Legenden (1881) 2nd Ser. 466/1 The kynge þer made a faire abbaye, And dyd þer-In monkes graye.

c1450 (a1375) Octavian (Calig.) (1979) l. 351 He..þoȝte to wende..To Daunysco, a grey abey, Ther leches wor.

1529 T. More Supplyc. Soulys i. f. v^v The comen people speke but of .iiii. ordres, the whyte, the blakke, the austayne, and the grey.

1567 Gude & Godlie Ballatis (S.T.S.) 205 The Sisteris gray, befoir this day, Did crune within thair cloister.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) iv. i. 131 It was the Friar of Orders gray .

1677 T. Middleton App. Hist. Church Scotl. ii. 17 The Gray Sisters had their Houses At 1. Dundee, 2. Aberdene, 3. Sheens near Edinburgh.

1723 A. de la Mottraye Trav. II. vii. 204 A Monastery of Franciscans of that Order, which they call'd there Gromunkor, or Grey Monks, on account of the Grey Colour of their Habits.

1764 Eng. Illustr. II. 71 Sir Jordan Briset gave fourteen acres of land..for building a religious house..for nuns or Grey monks.

1796 M. Robinson Angelina III. 24 The grey sisters were endowed with five hundred marks a year, to say masses for the souls of the unhappy lovers.

1803 W. Scott Gray Brother in Minstrelsy Sc. Border (ed. 2) III. iii. 411 He..there was aware of a grey friar..‘Now, Christ thee save!’ said the Grey Brother.

1865 J. M. Ludlow Woman's Work in Church iii. 146 At Nancy, in 1696, the Bishop of Toul tried to compel the claustration of the Grey Sisters of the city.

1912 School & Home Educ. Sept. 20/1 In 1539 the Reformation movement drove out the Franciscan order of the Gray Brothers.

1950 Jrnl. Royal Soc. Antiquaries Ireland 80 92 The Cistercians in their primitive austerity wore habits of coarse, undyed wool... The Grey Monks are not to be confused with the ‘Grey Friars’,..the followers of that other great reformer, Francis of Assisi.

2000 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 23 Mar. 48/3 In 1944, after the Holocaust had spread to Hungary, she and her order of ‘Grey Sisters’ hid thousands of Jews, or gave them forged papers.

II. In figurative and extended use.

a. Relating to or characteristic of advancing years or old age; (of advice, etc.) based on long experience, sober, mature.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > source or principle of life > age > old age > [adjective] > relating to or characteristic of

oldOE

aged1561

grey-headed1581

frosty1592

grey1602

veneral1631

senile1661

venerable1726

gerontic1885

post-reproductive1900

1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge iv. v. sig. H4^v I tell thee youth, age knows, yong loues seeme grac't, Which with gray cares, rude iarres, are oft defac't.

1628 O. Felltham Resolves: 2nd Cent. lxv. sig. T5 The Macedonian proued himselfe a better Physician for calumny, by his bounties; then his Philosophers, by their gray advisements.

1693 T. Creech tr. Juvenal in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires xiii. 258 When Sixty Years have spread Their gray Experience o're thy hoary Head!

1756 tr. Voltaire Orphan of China i. ii. 5 Grey wisdom dies by brutal violence.

1775 R. B. Sheridan Rivals 2nd Prol. Is grey experience suited to her youth?

1826 R. W. Emerson Jrnl. 24 Nov. (1909) II. 79 Whoso, alas ! is young, And being young is wise And deaf to saws of gray Advice [etc.].

1866 J. Ruskin Crown Wild Olive Pref. 33 This..you may win, while yet you live; type of grey honour, and sweet rest.

1874 L. Morris Songs of Two Worlds 2nd Ser. 25 Gray wisdom comes with time and age.

1908 G. Hodgson Stud. French Educ. ii. 19 In More.., we find a wit sobered by grey experience.

2009 M. Garvey Stylized vii. 191 Now, in my gray wisdom, I realize that whatever you are is going to come out in your writing.

b. Originally U.S. Of or relating to elderly people, esp. considered as a social, political, or economic group.Recorded earliest in grey power n. at Compounds 1c(a). Cf. grey liberation n., grey pound n. at Compounds 1c(a).

ΚΠ

1970 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 2 Aug. 4/4 Senior citizens in the East-bay decided Saturday to lobby for legislative programs as a bloc of ‘grey power’.

1977 N.Y. Times 19 Aug. a21/4 Congress's well-intentioned efforts on behalf of ‘gray rights’—that is, the right of people not to be discriminated against because of their age.

1987 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 25 Oct. 24/6 (heading) ‘Go grannies, go’ as the grey brigade storms the barricades.

1990 Daily Tel. 8 Aug. 7/1 While the overall population is getting increasingly ‘greyer’, the number of the very young is increasing.

1995 R. B. Woods Fulbright xxxviii. 663 The state's gray voters could vent their feelings over Vietnam.

1998 G. van Egdom in S. Brink Housing Older People xi. 150 The political power of the grey vote is growing.

2006 J. Macnicol Age Discrim. iv. viii. 223 There had been some ‘grey activism’ before the 1950s.

8. Long established, ancient; old, experienced. Sometimes depreciative: outdated. Now rare.

ΚΠ

1662 J. Glanvill Lux Orientalis i. 3 If..this Grey Dogma fairly clear all doubts.

1690 J. Norris Refl. upon Conduct Human Life 94 They are hanging their Heads over an Old Musty Folio,..and stuffing their Memories with Grey Sentences, and Venerable sayings.

1748 W. Shenstone School-mistress xi, in R. Dodsley Coll. Poems (ed. 2) I. 252 Herbs for use, and physick, not a few Of grey renown.

1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iv. vii. 136 Mac-Kinnon's chief, in warfare grey.

1842 E. Miall in Nonconformist 2 249 [The state-church's] errors and superstitions are venerably grey.

1993 D. S. Anderson in H. Beare & W. L. Boyd Restructuring Schools iii. xi. 188 The..surveys reveal a generalized perception of public education as a grey institution, unresponsive to needs.

9. Used in place of or in contrast to black to indicate a less extreme form of the activity, object, person, etc., denoted. Cf. greymail n., grey market n., greyout n.

ΚΠ

1787 F. Grose Superstitions 19 in Provinc. Gloss. The third sort [of witches] are those who can both help and hurt; and, as they seem a sort of mixture between White and Black, and wanting a name, may, without any great impropriety, be named Grey Witches.

1888 J. J. Morse Pract. Occultism iv. 72 Magic has been divided into three forms, Black, White, and Red, while some writers have added to it also the consideration of Grey magic.

1906 Insurance Press 8 Aug. 8/2 A sensational woman writer..proposes to publish each day three lists of insurance companies—the ‘white’ list of companies that are paying ‘dollar-for-dollar,’ a ‘gray’ list of those that will settle in part, and a ‘black’ list of those that deny all liability.

1966 Punch 14 Dec. 900/2 A Hero of Modern Industry..could, I suppose, be described as a grey rather than a black comedy, on the grounds that no one actually gets killed.

1970 Guardian 26 Mar. 26/4 As for the over-prescribing doctors, it was not just the black sheep we had to worry about. It was the grey sheep too.

2000 C. S. Pearson Econ. & Global Environment 365 The convention prohibits dumping of products on a ‘black’ list... For products on a gray list, prior permits are needed.

10.

a. Lacking hope, pleasure, or cheerfulness; dismal, gloomy; sad, depressing.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > [adjective] > gloomy or depressing

darkOE

unmerryOE

deathlyc1225

dolefulc1275

elengec1275

dreicha1300

coolc1350

cloudyc1374

sada1375

colda1400

deadlya1400

joylessc1400

unjoyful?c1400

disconsolatea1413

mournfula1425

funeralc1425

uncheerfulc1449

dolent1489

dolesome1533

heavy-hearted1555

glum1558

ungladsome1558

black1562

pleasureless1567

dern1570

plaintive?1570

glummish1573

cheerless1575

comfortless1576

wintry1579

glummy1580

funebral1581

discouraging1584

dernful?1591

murk1596

recomfortless1596

sullen1597

amating1600

lugubrious1601

dusky1602

sable1603

funebrial1604

damping1607

mortifying1611

tearful?1611

uncouth1611

dulsome1613

luctual1613

dismal1617

winterous1617

unked1620

mopish1621

godforsaken?1623

uncheerly1627

funebrious1630

lugubrous1632

drearisome1633

unheartsome1637

feral1641

drear1645

darksome1649

sadding1649

saddening1650

disheartening1654

funebrous1654

luctiferous1656

mestifical1656

tristifical1656

sooty1657

dreary1667

tenebrose1677

clouded1682

tragicala1700

funereal1707

gloomy1710

sepulchrala1711

dumpishc1717

bleaka1719

depressive1727

lugubre1727

muzzy1728

dispiriting1733

uncheery1760

unconsolatory1760

unjolly1764

Decemberly1765

sombre1768

uncouthie1768

depressing1772

unmirthful1782

sombrous1789

disanimating1791

Decemberish1793

grey1794

uncheering1796

ungenial1796

uncomforting1798

disencouraginga1806

stern1812

chilling1815

uncheered1817

dejecting1818

mopey1821

desponding1828

wisht1829

leadening1835

unsportful1837

demoralizing1840

Novemberish1840

frigid1844

morne1844

tragic1848

wet-blanketty1848

morgue1850

ungladdeneda1851

adusk1856

smileless1858

soul-sick1858

Novemberya1864

saturnine1863

down1873

lacklustre1883

Heaven-abandoneda1907

downbeat1952

doomy1967

1794 W. Blake Earth's Answer in Songs of Innocence & Experience Pl. 31 Her locks cover'd with grey despair.

1837 M. Richardson Concealment I. xvi. 182 It was there, I found out how much you could throw the couleur de rose over my grey existence.

1871 J. Caird What is Relig.? 17 The solace of a life perhaps hard, and grim, and gray.

1913 J. London Valley of Moon xiv. 245 She endured the gray bleakness of the years in the orphan asylum.

1960 Life 11 Apr. 140/1 There are few noble souls in prison—or few, at any rate, who do not finally surrender, die or lose their minds under the thud of the long gray years.

2010 C. Wooding Black Lung Captain xx. 236 He'd forgotten the sad gray feeling that had settled on him lately.

b. Lacking individuality, dull and nondescript; boring, characterless; (also) anonymous, faceless. Sometimes with connotations of conformity or bureaucracy; cf. grey suit n. at Compounds 1c(a).

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > relationship > uniformity > [adjective] > characterless > of persons

characterless1806

grey1893

samey1929

Stepford1972

1893 Contemp. Rev. Aug. 294 The French are a gray people, who live in a gray metropolis, and in a gray country.

1908 C. Marriott Spanish Holiday xvi. 321 There was no colour anywhere; nobody spoke or moved with any vitality. They were grey people in a grey land.

1967 Observer 17 Dec. 25/1 Many of the ‘grey’ citizens have been working for forty years or more for the forgiveness of enemies.

1969 Times 8 Aug. 3/3 The identity of these grey men of politics should be revealed.

1991 Economist 5 Oct. 33/1 The structure of international telecoms networks..used to fascinate grey men in back offices but no one else.

2001 T. White Reinventing IT Dept. x. 247 You dull their senses with your grey, tedious, tiresome, stale, dry standard documentation.

2010 H. Cole Legs Murder Scandal 354 She was privileged and special among the multitude of gray individuals at Whitfield.

11. Of a thing: ambiguous; not easily defined or categorized; not black and white (black and white adj. 3); intermediate between directly opposing notions of good or bad, right or wrong, etc. Cf. grey area n. 1, grey zone n.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > equivocal quality, ambiguity > [adjective]

double?c1225

uncertainc1384

equivoquea1450

amphibille?1450

ambiguousc1487

indifferent?1531

forked1551

amphibological1587

equivocal1601

double-meaning1605

left-handed1610

dilogical1616

two-edgeda1625

biviousa1644

equivocating1645

amphibolous1647

yea-and-nay1648

amphibolical1652

bifarious1656

double-handed1661

squibbling1674

ambigual1683

equivocous1701

ambiguea1734

double-edged1791

multivocala1834

grey1835

amphibolic1873

ambivalent1923

1835 Army & Navy Chron. 3 Sept. 385/2 Respecting cases in courts of justice, they [sc. differences] are not black and white, but gray.

1913 G. M. Trevelyan Clio 50 The truth is not grey, it is black and white in patches.

1957 Gastonia (N. Carolina) Gaz. 27 Mar. 12/5 Whether a gray situation is nearer white than black is a matter of opinion.

1988 R. A. Chapman Ethics in Brit. Civil Service iii. 126 The gradual emergence of a ‘grey class’, an in-between class neither clearly free nor clearly unfree.

2010 R. Ghesquière & K. J. Ims Heroes & Anti-Heroes 10 Most fictional characters are not simply good or bad, but like with most human beings their behaviour is rather grey.

12. South African. Of a residential area: inhabited without segregation by people of differing ethnic backgrounds, despite apartheid laws. Cf. grey area n. 3. Now historical.

ΚΠ

1978 Sunday Times (Johannesburg) 29 Oct. 16/6 There should be black cities where provision is made for the blacks who do not come from the nearby homelands, as well as for blacks where ethnic differences do not play such an important role—the ‘grey cities’.

1987 New Nation (Johannesburg) 21 May 7 Rand Afrikaans University researchers have listed 13 ‘grey’ suburbs in cities across SA.

1993 Weekly Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) 5 Nov. 18 The banks' refusal to lend in areas which are going ‘grey’..will be one of the most critical problems facing a new government.

2011 Star (S. Afr.) (Nexis) 14 May 14 In the bad old days it [sc. Yeoville] set the trend—a grey suburb—proving that people of all cultures could live happily together.

B. n.

a. Grey colour. Also: a particular shade or tint of this.Often with prefixed modifying word indicating intensity, drawing comparison with an object or another colour, or making an association with a thing, place, etc. Many of these are treated at the first elements or as main entries; cf. sense A. 1b.Recorded earliest in iron-grey n. (and see discussion of the Old English evidence in the etymology at that entry).

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > colour > named colours > grey or greyness > [noun] > iron or steel grey

greyOE

iron-greyOE

iron1878

steel1881

steely-grey1884

the world > matter > colour > named colours > grey or greyness > [noun]

greynessa1398

grey?1548

grizzle1611

the world > matter > colour > named colours > grey or greyness > [noun] > drab or dingy grey

grey1664

Quaker colour1773

tattle-tale grey1943

the world > matter > colour > named colours > grey or greyness > [noun] > pearl grey

pearl1600

pearl colour1607

pearl grey1705

grey1931

mother-of-pearl1988

OE Harley Gloss. (1966) 179 Ferrugo i. color purpure subnigrę, isengræg.

a1425 ( H. Daniel Liber Uricrisiarum (Wellcome 225) 268 (MED) We see wele at ee þat whyt gray & whyt ȝalow are not all ane.

1478 in T. Thomson Acts Lords Auditors (1839) 67/1 A kirtill of blew gray.

?1548 Ld. Berners tr. D. de San Pedro Castell of Loue sig. B.vi As for y^e .iii. images standing on y^e walles of y^e towre eche of them of a contrary colour, as tawny, blacke, & gray.

1664 R. Boyle Exper. & Considerations Colours iii. xxxvi. 282 The Mixture..has quickly lost its Colour, turning in a very short time into a dirty Gray.

a1697 J. Aubrey Brief Lives: W. Petty (1898) II. 145 His eies are a kind of goose-grey.

1763 W. Lewis Commercium Philosophico-technicum 319 The true or simple blacks, mixed with white, form different shades of grey.

1800 Philos. Mag. Feb. 45 The colour of the hair..changes to a greyish dun..and in autumn, to a grey.

1817 T. L. Peacock Melincourt II. xxviii. 202 Waistcoats of a duffil grey.

1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 753 Various shades of grey may be obtained.

1855 G. Brimley in Cambr. Ess. I. 276 Sad greys and browns.

1931 Daily Express 18 Mar. 5/3 Fashionable colours are all off-white shades such as palest blues, greys, pinks, and greyish-greens.

1973 R. Hayes Hungarian Game xxxix. 235 Urkowitz' face was turning a shade of fine Oxford gray.

2002 H. Holt Leonora (2003) xviii. 199 The dining-room was done out in shades of grey.

b. A grey-coloured pigment, dye, or paint. Usually with prefixed distinguishing word.Recorded earliest in Payne's grey n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > colour > named colours > grey or greyness > grey pigment > [noun]

grey1832

1832 Libr. Fine Arts Dec. 365 The chiar'-oscuro of this style was principally wrought by the use of a compound colour denominated ‘Payne's gray’.

1889 R. Brydall Art in Scotl. xiv. 288 [Nasmyth] used largely a colour he called peach-stone grey, made from calcined peach-stones.

1902 Dye Stuffs Oct. 457/1 The following recipes are for single-bath dyeing:..Dove Color, 20 per cent. Aniline Gray R.

1993 Model & Collectors Mart Nov. 128/3 Painting is a straightforward British Disruptive Pattern so coat all over with Grey, then paint in the green pattern.

2004 J. Toogood Incredible Light & Texture Watercolor i. 19/3 Davy's Gray usually has white mixed in.

2. As a name for various animals having grey or greyish coloration.

†a. A wolf. Cf. grey wolf n. at Compounds 1c(b). Obsolete.Only in Old English.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [noun] > genus Canis > canis lupus (wolf)

wolfc725

greyOE

Isegrima1300

grey wolf1595

lupus?a1600

witch's horse1865

OE Maxims I 148 Wineleas..mon genimeð him wulfas to geferan... Ful oft hine se gefera sliteð; gryre sceal for greggum, græf deadum men.

†b. The Eurasian badger, Meles meles, which has a grey back. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Mustelidae (weasel, marten, otter, or badger) > [noun] > genus Meles (badger)

brockc1000

bausona1375

greyc1425

das1481

badger?1523

taxus1535

barrow1552

pate1628

sand-badger1873

c1425 Twiti Venery (Vesp. B.xii) 150 And iij othur bestis..That ben neythur of venery ne chace..The grey is one þerof with hyse slepy pace.

Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 209 Grey, beest, Taxus, melota.

c1500 (?a1437) Kingis Quair (1939) clvi There sawe I..the holsum grey for hortis.

a1552 J. Leland Itinerary (1710) I. 92 There is a mighty stronge and usid borow for Greys or Foxes.

1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 33 Of the Badger, otherwise called a Brocke, a Gray, or a Bauson.

1665 in Sussex Archaeol. Coll. (1862) 14 247 To Catlin's maide for a Gray's hed £0 1s. 0d.

1735 Sportsman's Dict. I. at Badger A Badger is known by several other names, as a gray, a brock, a boreson, or a bauson.

1767 Gentleman's Mag. Oct. 489/1 Al Anâk..is by the learned Golius rendered Melis, Taxo, i.e. a Gray, or Badger.

†c. The gadwall, Anas strepera, the male of which has greyish plumage. Obsolete.Cf. grey duck n. at Compounds 1c(b).

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Merginae (duck) > [noun] > member of genus Anas (miscellaneous) > anas strepera (gadwall)

radge1620

gadwall1666

grey1673

rodge1678

Welsh drake1844

speckle-belly1874

grey duck1885

1673 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words 93 The Gadwall or Gray.

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. xii. 264/1 The Gadwall, or Gray: it is a kind of Duck, and Mallard, of a middle size.

1763 R. Brookes New Syst. Nat. Hist. II. 383 The Gadwall, or Grey, is bigger than a Widgeon, and nearly the size of a Duck.

†d. Any of several fishes of a greyish colour; esp. certain forms of salmon, Salmo salar, and trout, S. trutta. Obsolete.Cf. greyfish n., grey trout n. at Compounds 1c(b), grilse n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > order Salmoniformes (salmon or trout) > family Salmonidae (salmon) > [noun] > genus Salmo > salmo salar (salmon) > on return from sea or in first year

grilse1417

peal1533

botchera1609

blue cap1677

grey1677

pug peal1861

grayling1879

1677 Mr. Johnson Let. 16 Apr. in J. Ray Corr. (1848) 127 True salmons, i.e. neither trout, scurfe, nor grey.

1686 F. Willughby & J. Ray De Hist. Piscium i. xii. 23 Salmo griseus. The Gray.

1740 R. Brookes Art of Angling i. v. 25 The Grey I take to be the same kind of Fish which in Scotland they call the Grey-Lord... The body is everywhere stain'd with Grey or Ash-colour'd Spots.

1769 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. (new ed.) III. iv. 248 The Grey..we are uncertain whether this is not a meer variety of the salmon; but on the authority of Mr. Ray, we describe them separate.

1818 H. J. Todd Johnson's Dict. Eng. Lang. Gray, a kind of salmon, having a gray back and sides; probably the same as the gilse.

1845 W. Dunbar in New Statist. Acc. Scotl. IV. 177 Two fish are confounded under this name, Salmo trutta and Salmo eriox, or gray.

e. = grey whale n. at Compounds 1c(b). Also more fully California grey.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > order Cetacea (whales) > suborder Mystacoceti > [noun] > genus Eschrichtius (grey whale)

grey whale1834

grey1849

hardhead1860

rip-sack1860

greyback1869

1849 J. W. Revere Tour of Duty in Calif. xxii. 285 A whale called the California gray—a variety, I believe, new to whalemen.

1884 Standard Nat. Hist. V. 197 The California gray is infested with a crustacean of the genus Cyamus.

1911 Pop. Electr. & World's Advance Sept. 539/1 There were originally two great herds of the California Gray.

1974 New Scientist 31 Jan. 274/3 Debate still continues over whether the greys feed during their more than 8000 mile round trip between the Arctic and the tropics.

2001 D. Russell Eye Whale (2004) 22 The California gray follows a continuous path, generally within a few miles of shore.

f. A European noctuid moth, Hadena caesia, which has dark grey forewings.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Caradrinidae > dianthoecia caesia

grey1866

1866 E. Newman Brit. Butterflies & Moths 391 The Gray. (Dianthœcia cæsia.)

1880 O. S. Wilson Larvæ Brit. Lepidoptera 279 (heading) Dianthæcia cæsia, W.V. The Grey.

1961 H. M. Edelsten & D. S. Fletcher South's Moths Brit. Isles (new ed.) I. 181 The Grey (Hadena caesia subsp. mananii Gregson).

2010 M. Archer et al. Bird Observatories Brit. & Ireland 77 Specialities of the coast include Thrift Clearwing and the Grey Hadena caesia mananii.

†3. Grey fur used for clothing or as a trimming, usually understood to be of the badger (cf. sense B. 2b) or squirrel (esp. a grey form of the red squirrel; cf. grey squirrel n.). Cf. gris n. Obsolete.See also pured grey n. at pured adj. and n. Compounds, ruskin grey n. at ruskin n.¹ and adj. Compounds.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > skin or hide > skin with hair attached or fur > [noun] > of badger

greya1200

brock-skinc1384

a1200 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Trin. Cambr.) 365 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 231 (MED) Ne sal þar ben foh ne grai [?c1250 Egerton grei] ne cunin ne ermine.

?a1300 Maximian (Digby) 110 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 95 Þo ich wes ȝoung and wis, And werede grei and gris, Ich heuede frendes þo.

c1330 (?c1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) l. 4174 (MED) Gij him schred in fou & gray.

c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xv. 215 For I haue seyn hym in sylke and somme tyme in russet, Bothe in grey and in grys, and in gulte herneys.

1415 in F. A. Page-Turner Bedfordshire Wills (1914) 24 It'm i pane paled wt menuer and red gray.

c1450 (a1400) Libeaus Desconus (Calig. A.ii) (1969) l. 839 A veluwet mantyll gay Pelured with grys and gray.

?c1450 tr. Bk. Knight of La Tour Landry (1906) 9 A mantell furred with graie.

1480 Table Prouffytable Lernynge (Caxton) (1964) 43 A pylche of graye [Fr. vne pelice de vaire].

1525 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles II. ccii. [cxcviii.] 622 Gownes of sylke furred with Myneuere and gray.

1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. 805/1 With furred hats of graie on their heads.

1650 Rates Merchandize in Act Redempt. of Captives 61 Furrs..Grayes tawed the timber cont. forty skins.

1702 J. Chamberlayne Present State Great Brit. (1707) i. iii. ii. 256 Of Furrs, Filches, Grays, Jennets..40 Skins in a Timber.

a. Grey fabric or clothing; an item of this.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > of specific colour

purpureeOE

blackc1225

greyc1225

white?c1225

greena1250

yellow1368

violet1380

purplec1390

blue1480

colours1641

tawnies1809

butternut1810

subfusc1853

solid1883

Lovat1908

jungle green1946

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric of specific colour > [noun] > grey

kennet1480

grey1493

surage gray1530

c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) 638 Nis ha [sc. Pride] nawt i claðes..ah under hwit oðer blac, & ase wel under grei ase under grene.

c1436 Domesday Ipswich (BL Add. 25011) in T. Twiss Black Bk. Admiralty (1873) II. 122 Thanne be it takyn of the burgeys for oon meole quyte but ij d., and of on grey ij d.

1493 A. Halyburton Ledger (1867) 5 4 ellis of gray to mak a gon.

1549 Proclam. Edward VI 17 Apr. in All Proclam. sette Furthe (1551) f. xxxix^v Nor that any persone, shall Die any Wolle, to bee conuerted into Clothe, called Russettes, Musters, Marbles, Grayes, Royes, and suche like colours.

a1592 R. Greene Frier Bacon (1594) sig. C Proportiond as was Paris, when in gray, He courted Aenon in the vale by Troy.

1618 in G. Ornsby Select. from Househ. Bks. Naworth Castle (1878) 100 v. yards of gray for Creak, at 16^d a yard.

1640 tr. G. S. du Verdier Love & Armes Greeke Princes iii. 54 He espied a young Hermit in a long Gown of gray.

1656 General-sessions of Peace at St. Johnstone (single sheet) For ilk ell of Grays or Plaiding, four penies the ell only.

1703 T. D'Urfey Old Mode & New Epil. sig. A5 You can't know him, for he's chang'd to Day, And like true Shepherd cloathed all in Grey.

1739 M. D. tr. Marquis d'Argens Jewish Spy I. viii. 58 Some [Fryars] were dres'd in grey, wore a long Beard, and had no Stocking or Shoe.

1832 G. Downes Lett. from Continental Countries I. 293 A blind old man, dressed in gray.

1885 ‘L. Malet’ Col. Enderby's Wife ii. iii. 51 A nice, gentle, little person in grey, who put in an appearance at dinner.

1920 D. H. Lawrence Lost Girl vi. 108 Mr May..all in grey, with his chest perkily stuck out like a robin.

1965 Changing Times July 26/2 Left with a million yards of gray, the industry invented the gray flannel look.

2003 A. Taylor Unpardonable Crime (2004) xviii. 78 She wore greys and lilacs today.

b. A piece of fabric or item of clothing in an unbleached, undyed, or unfinished state. Also: (Calico-printing) = greyback n. 4. Usually in plural. Now chiefly historical.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > treated or processed in specific way > [noun] > unbleached

grey1751

greycloth1794

grey goods1818

greige1874

greige goods1920

1751 J. G. Appeal to Facts 50 Few Woollen Goods have been made there, except coarse Serges and low-priced Kind of Kerseys called Gallowshields-Greys.

1802 G. A. Cooke Topogr. & Statist. Descr. County of Lancaster 227 The town of Blackburn..was formerly the centre of the fabric sent to London, for printing, called Blackburn Greys, which were plains of linen warp, shot with cotton.

1860 C. O'Neill Chem. Calico Printing vii. 74 Greys for the printing machine are in some continental establishments passed through silicate of soda.

1890 W. A. Harris Technol. Dict. Insurance Chem. 49 The ‘greys’ used under the pieces which were being printed were used until they had become..loaded with colour.

1899 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 3rd Ser. 10 367 The curd..is put into cheese hoops, which are placed on little round pieces of wood covered with ‘cheese greys’ (calico).

1904 Fire Prevention & Protection (ed. 2) 389 Among the materials..which are peculiarly liable to spontaneous combustion appear the following:..‘greys’ in calico print works; [etc.].

2002 E. H. Oakes A to Z of STS Scientists 126/2 Hargreaves supported his family as a hand-loom weaver in the Blackburn region, which was famous for its Blackburn Checks and Greys.

c. colloquial. In plural. Grey flannel trousers. Cf. greyers n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for legs > clothing for legs and lower body > [noun] > trousers > types of > made from specific material

shiverines1663

nankeen1770

overall1782

corduroys1791

ducks1825

webs1825

kerseys1833

moleskin1836

cord1837

kerseymeres1840

blue jeans1842

grey1860

mole trousers1860

chaparreras1861

Bedford cord1862

velveteens1862

dungarees1872

moles1879

chaps1884

chaparejos1887

oiler1889

greyers1900

flannels1911

Levi's1926

denim1932

chino1943

wrangler1947

Bedfords1954

sweats1956

sweatpants1957

1860 A. Wills Eagle's Nest vii. 216 I..changed my poor old flannels..for a pair of less way-worn greys.

1932 A. J. Worrall Eng. Idioms 22 I'll wear my greys for tennis to-day as the ground is rather slippery.

1948 D. Ballantyne Cunninghams ii. xxiii. 278 A couple of..boys, wearing sports coats, grays, and open-necked white shirts.

1979 Homes & Gardens June 57/3 The village ground, with a guaranteed vicar in porridge-coloured flannels and a blacksmith in belted greys.

2001 Interzone May 37/2 I was ironing my greys.

d. U.S. The grey uniform of Confederate soldiers in the American Civil War (1861–5). Hence also: a Confederate soldier. Cf. greyback n. 2, blue n. 2c. Now historical.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > soldier by nationality > [noun] > American > specific

Jersey blue1758

shirtman1775

Yorker1776

buckskin1783

Indian fighter1824

blue belly1827

greyback1854

Zouave1860

Zou-Zou1860

greycoat1861

grey1862

Johnny1862

Johnny Reb1862

blue1870

blue coat1885

dogface1932

the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > for specific people > for members of a body or association > naval, military, etc. > types of

regimentals1728

undress1748

regiments1759

regimental1764

dress uniform1774

kit1785

roast beef coat1802

butternut1810

frock-uniform1810

fatigue-dress1834

fatigue1836

fatigue-uniform1836

shirtsleeve order1854

grey1862

scarlet runnerc1864

square-rig1875

rig of the day1877

swagger-dress1901

trench coat1914

hospital blue1919

romper1922

suntan1937

battle-dress1938

army greens1945

mess kit1953

tiger suit1970

1862 in F. Moore Rebellion Rec. (1863) V. ii. 72/2 An Irishman of the Seventeenth New-York came up to the General,..driving three prisoners in gray before him.

1870 Harper's New Monthly Mag. 41 245 Lexington..suffered much by the late civil war. Its streets sometimes were patrolled by the Grays, and at other times guarded by the Blues.

1879 A. W. Tourgée Fool's Errand xxii. 134 I have no hatred, no ill-will, towards any one who wore the gray.

1948 Realty & Building 15 May 11/2 Colonel John was a Johnny Reb who delighted in telling of the exploits of the boys in gray.

2010 R. Williams My Old Confederate Home i. 17 Leathers would give a serious hearing to any man who had worn the gray.

a. A grey-haired or elderly person. In later use also in plural: elderly people considered collectively as a social, political, or economic group; cf. sense A. 7b.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > hair > colour of hair > [noun] > grey, hoary > person having

hoarOE

hoarhead1382

grizzle1390

greya1413

hasard1513

greyhead1535

oldgrey1582

grizzle-pate1797

iron-grey1822

grisard1880

a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iv. l. 127 Tellyng his tale alwey þis olde Greye, Humble in speche.

?c1425 (c1412) T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum (Royal 17 D.vi) (1860) 6 ‘I,’ quod this olde grey, ‘Am here.’

a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) 2879 Vnto Grekes conveyed was..This hoor gray in his char syttyng.

1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid ii. ix. 6 The ald gray, all for nocht, to him tays His hawbrek.

1971 I. Anderson Cross-Eyed Mary (song) in ‘Jethro Tull’ Aqualung (record lyric sheet) Laughing in the playground—Gets no kicks from little boys: Would rather make it with a letching grey.

1987 St. Petersburg (Florida) Times (Nexis) 30 Jan. 3 e The good news about the grays is that they've got more green in their pockets than anybody else.

1995 Independent 27 Jan. 5/1 ‘Greys’ are becoming more mentally and physically active and are spending more time and money on holidays, eating out, visiting friends.

b. Originally and chiefly U.S. slang (in African-American usage). A white person. Chiefly depreciative.

ΘΚΠ

the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > white person > [noun]

white mana1398

Christian1622

European1666

white-face1684

long knife1784

buckra1794

sahib1796

white-skin1803

whitey1811

Pakeha1817

papalagi1817

paleface1823

whitefellow1826

Abelungu1836

haole1843

gringo1849

lightiea1855

umlungu1859

mzungu1860

heaven-burster1861

ladino1877

mooniasc1880

Conchy Joe1888

béké1889

ofay1899

ridge runner1904

Ngati Pakeha1905

kelch1912

pink1913

leucoderm1924

fay1927

Mr Charlie1928

pinkie1935

devil1938

wonk1938

oaf1941

grey1943

paddy1945

Caucasoid1956

Jumble1957

Caucasian1958

white boy1958

pinko-grey1964

honky1967

toubab1976

palagi1977

1943 D. Burley in N.Y. Amsterdam News 10 Apr. 13/4 Walter Green..is getting rich at that new all-white spot where the greys shower him with greens each and every dim.

1965 O. Harrington in J. H. Clarke Harlem 90 The year was 1936, a bad year in most everybody's book. Ellis the cabdriver used to say that even the grays downtown were having it rough.

1970 A. Young Snakes (1971) 35 They dont even be making sense to one another much less to..some of these simple-ass grays.

1996 D. Adebayo Some Kind of Black 22 Greys clad in Levis that their flat-jack backsides could not properly fill out.

6. A horse having a coat with a mixture of white and dark hairs. Cf. sense A. 2.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > colour or marking > [noun] > grey or dun horse

dunc1405

greya1500

iron-grey?1530

grizzlea1620

yellow-dun1767

grullo1903

a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) iv. l. 729 Þar morel, bayerde, don and gray, Withe wondis flyngande ran away.

1536 R. Thorpe Let. 24 May in Lisle Papers (P.R.O.: SP 3/4/20) f. 24 The graye was for yo^r lorship and the chestone baye was for Mr. Myddellton.

1747 New-year's Misc. 35 I don't question a set of his Greys, Which will..redound both to mine, and the dead 'squire's honour, To have his Herse drawn in so noble a manner.

c1784 R. Gorman Let. in M. Leeson Mem. (1797) II. App. 261 I have had a gentleman's phaeton and horses generally to attend me for these last two months, a beautiful pair of grays.

1813 J. Hogg Queen's Wake ii. xii. 158 When good Earl Walter rode the ring, Upon his mettled gray.

1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) xxxvii. 335 Mrs. Mantrap..drives her greys in the Park.

1901 B. Whitby Flower & Thorn xiv. 246 A fast-trotting pair of greys came up the narrow way.

1953 Life 21 Sept. 189/2 Like most grays he has an extremely tender hide.

2004 D. MacCarron Irish Def. Forces since 1922 46/1 (caption) The Mounted Escort trumpeter in 1945, riding a grey.

7. The dull or cold light of dawn or twilight; grey or gloomy light caused by overcast weather. Esp. in the grey of the morning and variants.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > light > naturally occurring light > [noun] > sunlight or sunshine > twilight

evengloamOE

twilighting1387

crepusculum1398

crepusculec1400

twilightc1440

twinlightc1532

grisping1580

grey1592

owl-light1599

gropsing1606

twatter-light1606

twitterlight1608

dusk1622

grasp1650

torchlighta1656

crepuscle1665

mock-shade1669

dimps1693

duskish1696

dimmit1746

darklins1767

twilight glow1819

gloama1821

owlet light1821

sandhya1876

dusk-light1937

1592 R. Johnson Nine Worthies sig. F^v Ere the morning parted with her gray The foming beast as dead as clay did lie.

1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet iii. v. 19 Yon gray is not the Mornings Eye.

1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing v. iii. 27 The gentle day..Dapples the drowsie East with spots of grey .

1691 J. Ray S. & E. Country Words in Coll. Eng. Words (ed. 2) 101 The Gray of the Morning; Break of day, and from thence till it be clear light.

1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 19 Our Ship..was surprised in the Grey of the Morning.

1794 A. Radcliffe Myst. of Udolpho III. vii. 215 She continued to gaze upon it [sc. the vessel], with warm emotion, till the gray of twilight obscured the distance.

1853 C. Boner Chamois Hunting in Mountains of Bavaria xi. 146 The grey of evening spread over the sky.

1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 79 The sober grey of our dim Highland glens.

1905 Harper's Monthly Mag. July 287/1 The gray of the winter afternoon was creeping over the valley.

1995 V. Chandra Red Earth & Pouring Rain (1996) 152 So, two days later, in the grey of early morning, Uday Singh appeared at Arun's gate.

8. In plural. In full Scots Greys (also, now historical, Scotch Greys). A Scottish regiment of dragoons, raised in 1681 as the Royal Regiment of Scots Dragoons, later undergoing several changes of name (see note); the soldiers of this regiment. Also in singular: a soldier of this regiment.Scots Greys is now, as it originally was, an informal name, but in 1877 the regiment was officially renamed as the 2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys), becoming in 1921 The Royal Scots Greys (2nd Dragoons). In 1971 it was amalgamated with the 3rd Carabiniers to form The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys) and now forms part of the Royal Armoured Corps. [Probably so called on account of their grey horses (although originally the regiment also had a grey uniform).]

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > unit of army > named companies, regiments, etc. > [noun] > British

Ulsters1649

Scots Guardsa1675

fusilier1680

guards1682

Scots Dragoons1689

Scots Fusiliers1689

Inniskilling1715

Scots Greys1728

blue1737

Black Watch1739

Oxford blues1766

green linnets1793

Grenadiers1800

slashers1802

the Buffs1806

tartan1817

Gay Gordons1823

cheesemongers1824

Green Jacket1824

The Bays1837

RHA1837

dirty half-hundred1841

die-hard1844

lifeguard1849

cherry-picker1865

lancer-regiment1868

cheeses1877

Territorial Regiment1877

the Sweeps1879

dirty shirts1887

Scottish Rifles1888

shiner1891

Yorkshire1898

imperials1899

Irish guards1902

Hampshires1904

BEF1914

Old Contemptibles1915

contemptibles1917

Tank Corps1917

the Tins1918

skins1928

pioneer corps1939

red devils1943

Blues and Royals1968

U.D.R.1969

1728 True List of Lords Spiritual & Temporal 67 Hon. James Campbell of Rowallen, Esq. Colonel of the Regiment of Scots Greys.

1728 Mem. Eng. Officer 42 Sir Thomas Levington..got together a Party of about five Hundred (the Dragoons, call'd the Scotch Greys, inclusive).

1743 Brit. Glory Reviv'd 11 The Greys have escap'd best, tho' they took most Pains to be demolished.

1753 Scots Mag. June 306/1 A troop of Scots Greys arrived.

1821 J. Galt in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Mar. 639/2 I said that I was the mother of a Scotch Grey, going to see my son's grave at Waterloo.

1882 Ld. Tennyson Charge Heavy Brigade iii. in Macmillan's Mag. Mar. 338 Brave Inniskillens and Greys Whirling their sabres in circles of light!

1918 J. Galsworthy Five Tales 188 A Scots Grey..had mounted a wounded Russian on his horse.

1972 C. Grant Royal Scots Greys 15/1 The Greys were from time to time employed in giving aid to the civil authorities.

2007 D. Gabaldon Lord John & Brotherhood of Blade xv. 198 Two officers of the Scotch Greys..had rescued him from the mob at Tyburn.

9. Gunsmithing. A grey spot on metal indicating a flaw. Now rare.

ΚΠ

1811 Repertory of Arts 2nd Ser. 19 80 The advantages of this method of manufacturing skelps are, that the barrels made from them turn very sound and clear, and are free from grays or flaws.

1884 W. W. Greener Gun & its Devel. (ed. 2) 266 The theory is that the metal is less liable to be burned, the heat being uniform, and freedom from greys and faulty welds.

1899 Jrnl. Mil. Service Instit. Jan. 117 The chief cause of rejection for bad material is the presence of what are known as ‘greys’ on the surface of the metal.

1965 J. O'Connor Shotgun Bk. vii. 85 Barrels made of a combination of iron and steel lack the tensile strength of modern steel, and even the best of them have ‘grays’ caused by impurities in the material.

10. slang (chiefly Australian and New Zealand). A coin with two heads or (later esp.) two tails, used to cheat in gambling games. [Origin uncertain. A suggested connection with Romani grai horse is very unlikely. An allusion to sense B. 6 (perhaps specifically in a pair of greys) has also been suggested, but if so the semantic motivation is not clear.]

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > games of chance > [noun] > double-sided coin

grey1819

1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. 179 Gray, a half-penny, or other coin, having two heads or two tails, and fabricated for the use of gamblers.

1828 G. Smeeton Doings in London 40 Breslaw could never have done more upon cards than he could do with a pair of ‘grays’.

1868 Temple Bar 24 539 The way they do it is to have a penny with two heads or two tails on it, which they call a ‘grey’.

1898 Western Champion (Barcaldine, Queensland) 11 Jan. 4/5 He..took a man down for 23s. by ‘ringing-in a grey’ (a two-tailed penny) on him.

1912 N.Z. Truth 20 Jan. 7 He falls a ready victim to the crook and speiler [sic ] who is adept in the art of ‘ringing in a grey’; i.e., using a double-headed penny.

1928 J. Devanny Dawn Beloved 163 A double-tailer is called a ‘grey’. A double-header a ‘nob’.

1975 L. Ryan Shearers 153 Greys, double tail pennies.

11. The quality of being ambiguous, ill-defined, or intermediate between directly opposing notions of good or bad, right or wrong, etc.; ambiguity, indeterminacy. Also: an instance of this; something not black and white. Cf. black and white n. 2.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > equivocal quality, ambiguity > [noun]

ambiguitya1325

doublenessa1513

ambiguousness1542

double meaning1551

indifferency1596

equivocacy1646

equivocalness1647

ambilogy1656

greyness1663

mealy-mouthedness1697

amphilogy1731

equivocality1735

grey1822

double-edgedness1901

ambivalence1912

ambivalency1912

1822 W. Hazlitt Table-talk II. xv. 359 There is black, and white, and grey, square and round—there are too many anomalies, too many redeeming points, in poor human nature, such as it actually is, for us to arrive at a smart, summary decision on it.

1839 C. Nevile Rev. Mr. Newman's Lect. Romanism 18 A confused theory upon the subject of Church Authority;..a sort of grey, between black and white, neither belonging to one side or the other.

1885 A. S. Orr Handbk. Wks. Robert Browning 326 Nothing given in our experience affords a stable truth—..the black or white of one moment is always the darker or lighter grey of another.

1897 Academy 9 Jan. 47/3 The Englishman says, ‘Black's black—furieusement black; and white's white—furieusement white.’ De Quincey saw many blacks, many whites, multitudinous greys.

1923 J. Hergesheimer Bright Shawl 21 He saw..the good on one side facing the bad on the other. There was no mingling of the ranks, no grey; simply, conveniently, black and white.

1948 Amer. Sociol. Rev. June 284 To disclose the blacks and imply the whites of a quality scale, the middle grays being largely lost.

2010 J. Sandford Staying True 197 I could see the gray of the confusion of conflicting emotions as clearly as I could see some part of it as black and white.

12.

a. Dullness; uneventfulness; (also) absence of hope, pleasure, or excitement.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [noun] > state or quality of being wearisome or tedious

irksomeness1533

wearisomeness1579

inanity1603

tediositya1625

drynessa1637

unliveliness1643

flatness1649

tedium1662

tiresomeness1668

aridity1692

languor1741

dullness1751

uninterestingness1794

ponderousness1801

yawniness1805

unimpressiveness1827

slowness1828

grey1830

fadeness1837

woodenness1854

tristeness1866

boresomeness1883

boringness1893

stodginess1899

monochrome1962

1830 Amer. Monthly Mag. (Boston) Dec. 617 His imagination..could tinge with its own warm coloring the sober gray of reality.

1876 B. De Jongh ‘We are Worldlings’ II. viii. 159 The distant fields, and the palm-trees, steeped in the gaudy light, were strangely out of unison with the grey of his thoughts.

1892 I. Zangwill Children of Ghetto I. 16 To blur the vivid tints of the East into the uniform gray of English middle-class life.

1922 E. Cotton Down Lyric Lanes 28 From the barren grey of life You came to me.

1964 W. Walsh Human Idiom iv. 128 The deadly gray of an appalling poverty.

2003 M. Brodsky Detour 211 The grey of Vitti's foreboding soul when she traverses the terrace in the shadow of Etna.

b. British. A boringly conventional or conformist person; esp. (depreciative) one who does not share the values of late 1960s counterculture. Now disused.In quot. 1967 also referring to members of an older generation; cf. sense B. 5a.

ΚΠ

1967 Observer 17 Dec. 25/1 Many of the ‘grey’ citizens have been working for forty years and more for the forgiveness of enemies... The ‘greys’ would appreciate the co-operation of the ‘bright’ ones in such activities.

1969 Gandalf's Garden vi. 11/1 Greys, those people whose minds have ossified and who have lost the wonder of living and the will to learn what it's all about.

1969 It 4 July 3/3 The whole scene is under the thumbs of the greys. Pretty well everywhere today the dead men, the square men and the greys are running things, calling the tune.

13. Originally U.S. (A name for) a member of any of various supposed species of grey-skinned, humanoid, extraterrestrial beings. Usually in plural.

ΘΚΠ

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabitant > inhabitant according to environment > [noun] > extraterrestrial inhabitant

heavenwareOE

superlunary1649

Selenite1650

lunarian1708

planetarian1778

little green man1802

starling1839

alien1931

space colony1932

space alien1936

ET1944

outworlder1948

off-worlder1957

extra-terrestrial1963

Klingon1968

grey1989

1973 S. T. Friedman in Los Angeles Times 27 Sept. iv. 1/2 They are short... They have been described as ‘humanoid’... They have almost no lips and their eyes are vertical slits... And gray. Yes.]

1989 UFO Sept.–Oct. 37/1 The ETs I've experienced have exhibited a wide range of forms. I have had no contact with the ‘greys’ (from Zeta Reticulum).

1990 Omni Dec. 97/2 So-called because of their pallid, dolphinlike skin and complexion. The most commonly reported alien humanoid entities, Grays are typically described as dwarfish in stature with oversized, fetuslike heads; large, slanted black eyes; and scrawny limbs.

1998 E. Davis TechGnosis (1999) viii. 237 Contemporary contactees also tell gruesome tales about impassive, almond-eyed, and vaguely malevolent Grays more interested in human flesh than language.

2012 School Libr. Jrnl. Rev. (Nexis) 1 Apr. 71 The Steigers..canvas every aspect of alien intel, including types (little green men, the Grays, the Praying Mantises) and their relationships to the U.S. presidency, secret societies, Nazis, and religion.

Phrases

P1. In proverbs.

a. the grey mare is the better horse and variants: used to indicate that a wife dominates, or is more competent than, her husband. Cf. grey mare n. at Compounds 1c(a). Now archaic and rare.The meaning in quot. 1529 is unclear.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > married person > married woman > [phrase] > the wife rules the husband

the grey mare is the better horse1546

1529 T. More Dyaloge Dyuers Maters iii. v. f. lxxvi^v/1 Here were we fallen in a grete questyon of the law, whyther y^e gray mare maye be y^e better horse or not, or whither he haue a wyse face or not that loketh as lyke a foole as an ewe loketh lyke a shepe.]

1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. iv. sig. Giv The grey mare is the better hors.

1570 Mariage Witte & Sci. ii. ii. sig. Bii^v Breake her betymes and bring her vnder by force Or elles the graye Mare, wil be the better horse.

1645 J. Howell Epistolæ Ho-elianæ iv. ix. 11 To suffer the Gray-Mare sometimes to be the better Horse.

1697 E. Ravenscroft Anatomist i. ii. 3 Sir, you know the Wife there wears the Breeches; and if the grey Mare be the better Horse, you'll find it difficult to bestride the Filly.

1726 W. R. Chetwood Voy. & Adventures Capt. R. Boyle 2 She began to tyrannize over my Master,..and soon prov'd, as the Saying is, The grey Mare to be the better Horse.

1798 G. Colman Heir at Law iii. ii. 40 You'll find the gray mare the better horse, in this house, I promise you.

1844 Ainsworth's Mag. 6 17 ‘Ah, ah! mon brave, you are prettily hen-peck—ha! ha!’ ‘Oui, oui, de gray mare is clearly de better horse,’ cried Sauvageon.

1920 Herald & Presbyter 14 Jan. 14/1 ‘Could you tell us, Mr. Thomas,’ asked Mr. Simmons..with a timid glance at his wife, ‘what was in the will you made for Mr. Lowell?’ ‘Evidently the gray mare is the better horse, in this case,’ whispered Kenyon to Sara.

1950 S. P. Best in E. Metaxas Bonhoeffer (2010) xxx Of the Heberleins, the grey mare was undoubtedly the better horse.

b. all cats are grey (in the dark) and variants: in some circumstances the qualities which distinguish people or things from one another become obscured and hence unimportant.

ΚΠ

1550 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue (new ed.) i. v. sig. Avi^v When all candels be out, all cats be grey.

1596 T. Lodge Margarite of Amer. sig. H2^v All cattes are grey in the darke (said Calandra).

1639 J. Taylor Iuniper Lect. xi. 88 All Cats be grey in the darke, and Joane is as good as my Lady.

1654 Trag. Alphonsus iii. 38 By night all Cats are gray, and in the dark, She will imbrace thee for the Prince of Wales.

1713 J. Gay Wife of Bath iii. 33 All Cats are gray, when Light is away.

1771 T. Smollett Humphry Clinker III. 67 My comfit is, he new not which was which; and, as the saying is, all cats in the dark are grey.

1809 E. S. Barrett Setting Sun I. 80 All Cats are grey in the dusk.

1833 Lady's Mag. Feb. 65/1 I will rob the place; and, as all cats are grey in the dark, leave Mark to be secured as the thief.

1887 Cosmopolitan Jan. 313/2 In the dark all cats look gray.

1950 A. Jacobsohn & P. S. Jacobsohn tr. W. Röpke Social Crisis of our Time ii. i. 155 Just as certainly a leaden atmosphere of grey proletarian uniformity will pervade the whole country..; we shall then have uniform dusk in which ‘all cats look grey’.

2004 P. L. Berger Questions of Faith ix. 129 If one neglects the then in favor of the now, religion..becomes a night in which all cats are grey—anything goes.

c. to have a grey head and a green tail: see head n.¹ Phrases 5a.

P2. Scottish, Irish English (northern), and English regional (northern). to go a grey gate and variants: to become bad or wicked; to come to a bad end.

ΚΠ

1721 J. Kelly Compl. Coll. Scotish Prov. 380 You'll gang a gray Gate yet..you will come to an ill End.

1725 A. Ramsay Gentle Shepherd iv. i. 59 I'll ne'er advise my Niece sae gray a Gate, Nor will she be advis'd fou well I wate.

1787 J. Elphinston Propriety Ascertained II. 119 But I dread he'l gae af at the nail wih hemsal: I wos he mayna saw aw staps, or gang a gray gate.

1820 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. June 281 Its a sad and sair pity to behold youthfu' blood gaun a gate sae gray.

1830 W. Carleton Traits & Stories Irish Peasantry I. 197 Only for it that couple's poor orphans wouldn't be left without father or mother as they were; nor poor Hurrish go the grey gate he did.

1846 W. E. Brockett J. T. Brockett's Gloss. North Country Words (ed. 3) I. 200 He has gane a grey-gate.

1885 J. Hamilton Poems 302 An' Jean, the ae daughter, had gane a grey-gate.

1996 C. I. Macafee Conc. Ulster Dict. 155/2 Go a grey gate, go astray, come to a bad end.

P3.

a. in the grey.

(a) Of clothing, fabric, or yarn: in an unbleached, undyed, or unfinished state. Cf. in the greige at greige adj. and n. Phrases.

ΘΚΠ

in the grey1795

the world > matter > colour > named colours > white or whiteness > whitening > [adjective] > bleached > not bleached

unblancheda1475

unbleached1531

unwhited1621

blay1785

in the grey1795

blae-

1795 J. Aikin Descr. Country round Manch. ii. 158 Fustians..were bought in the grey by the Manchester chapmen, who finished and sold them in the country.

1860 S. Jubb Hist. Shoddy-trade 40 Short Ends were sold to the merchants..in the grey.

1876 Textile Colourist 1 317/1 (heading) Warp Threads from No. 2 Cloth in the Grey.

1929 Times 7 Feb. 9/3 There were thousands of piece goods coming into this country ‘in the grey’ to be dyed here.

2005 Greige Polyester/Cotton Printcloth from China (U.S. Internat. Trade Comm. Publ. 3776) i. 17 Greige polyester/cotton printcloth..is often sold ‘in the gray’ by the producing mill to converters, which have the goods finished (e.g., bleached, dyed, printed, etc.).

(b) Clockmaking and Watchmaking. With reference to a metal surface: finished without being polished. Now rare.

ΚΠ

1860 E. B. Denison Rudimentary Treat. Clocks (rev. ed.) 309 Earnshaw was the first watchmaker who had sense enough to set at defiance the vulgar and ignorant prejudice for ‘high finish’ of the non-acting surfaces, and to leave them ‘in the grey’, as it is called.

1876 Horological Jrnl. Dec. 49/2 The motion should be entirely fitted with the frame in the grey.

1920 Jewelers' Circular 7 Apr. 157/1 The repeating mechanism is after the French type with chain, but is finished in the English type in the grey.

b. in the (also a) grey state: = Phrases 3a(a).

ΚΠ

1824 7th Rep. Commissioners Revenues Ireland in House of Lords Sessional Papers 1801–33 CLXII. App. 49 We thought there would be an advantage from bringing in goods in the grey state, and finishing them here.

1841 Bradshaw's Manch. Jrnl. 7 Aug. 242/2 It is no common occurrence now for goods to be sent down from the manufactory in their grey state in the afternoon of one day, and to be offered in the market on the following morning.

1873 Law Times 20 Sept. 78/2 N. received the cotton in a ‘grey state’, and at his own cost increased its value about 25 per cent. by dyeing and dressing it.

1915 Textile Amer. July 34/1 The yarn in each case has been previously dealt with in its grey state on a mill warper.

2006 A. K. R. Choudhury Textile Prepar. & Dyeing iv. 148 There are three methods to remove surface fibres from 100% cotton woven and knit goods, namely singeing in the grey state, [etc.].

P4. a grey head upon green shoulders: see head n.¹ Phrases 3o(b).

Compounds

C1. Compounds of the adjective.

(a) Parasynthetic, as grey-leaved, grey-suited, grey-winged, etc. Cf. the instrumental compounds of the noun at Compounds 2a. See also grey-bearded adj., grey-coated adj., grey-eyed adj., grey-faced adj., grey-headed adj., grey-haired adj., etc.

ΚΠ

1591 Troublesome Raigne Iohn i. sig. E4^v Grey gownd good face, coniure ye, ner trust me for a groate.

1600 T. Dekker Old Fortunatus Epil. sig. L3^v When gray-winged Age sits on their heads.

1637 J. Milton Comus 7 The gray-hooded Ev'n Like a sad Votarist in Palmers weeds Rose from the hindmost wheels of Phœbus waine.

1661 G. Wharton Select & Choice Poems 22 The glittering Tissue, and the gray-friz'd Gown.

?1711 J. Petiver Gazophylacii IX. Table 84 Fine, grey-leaved Cape Cranesbill.

1760 J. Macpherson Fragments Anc. Poetry (ed. 2) 64 The grey-winged arrow flew, and pierced the breast.

1800 J. Donn Hortus Cantabrigiensis (ed. 2) 54 Gray-seeded [sc. Bonduc, or Nicker-tree].

1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel I. 9 Grey-girdled eve, and morn of rosy hue.

1844 W. Barnes Poems Rural Life in Dorset Dial. 122 The grey-boughed withy's a-leanen lowly.

1870 W. Morris Earthly Paradise: Pt. IV 85 And o'er the wrack of Senlac field Full fed the grey-nebbed raven wheeled.

1897 J. Hodgson Hist. Northumbld. IV. 55 The old grey-slated house.

1922 S. Anderson Winesburg Ohio 151 The landlord was interrupted by..a tall grey-mustached man.

1995 J. Roberts Dear Psychiatrist 151 The three magistrates walked in, silent, stern and grey-suited.

(b)

grey-breasted adj.

ΚΠ

1752 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. III. 480 The grey-breasted and reddish-breasted Charadrius.

1829 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom VII. 490 Grey-breasted Parrakeet.

2004 Daily Post (Liverpool) (Nexis) 1 May 22 We came across a species we had really wanted, Grey-breasted seedsnipe, a cross between a wader and a gamebird.

grey-coloured adj.

ΚΠ

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 314/1 Gray coloured as ones eyes be, vair.

1664 R. Hubert Catal. Nat. Rarities 58 Above all these Stones for admiration, is a little stone like a gray coloured Agate.

1738 J. Burton Treat. Non-naturals vi. 299 A Kind of whitish, grey-colour'd Substance, like to an Emulsion.

1883 R. L. Stevenson Treasure Island iii. xiii. 102 Grey-coloured woods.

1996 C. Frankel Volcanoes Solar Syst. ii. 37 The main lava family..consists of the gray-coloured andesites.

grey-crowned adj.

ΚΠ

1822–3 W. Swainson Zool. Illustr. III. Pl. 174 (heading) Grey-crowned Tanager.

1945 S. J. Baker Austral. Lang. xii. 211 The Grey-crowned Babbler is known also as apostle-bird, [etc.].

2003 Birder's World Apr. 2 (advt.) A thick fog settles in on us... Mr. Whitney says, that now this means he won't spot a Gray-crowned rosy-finch, his only real target species.

grey-necked adj.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > larger song birds > family Corvidae (crow) > [adjective] > grey (of hooded crow)

grey-backed1837

grey-necked1894

1782 J. Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds I. 761 (margin) Grey necked H[umming] B[ird].

1894 R. B. Sharpe Hand-bk. Birds Great Brit. I. 12 Of the grey-necked section our Hooded Crow is the most familiar species.

2003 Sun Herald (Sydney) (Nexis) 13 Apr. (Travel section) 8 The rainforest..harbours many rare birds, including the endangered grey-necked picathartes.

b. Modifying the names of other colours to form adjectives and nouns with the sense ‘greyish’, as grey-black, grey-brown, grey-green, grey-greenish, grey-white, etc. See also sense A. 1b, grey-blue n. and adj.

ΚΠ

1566 Exam. John Walsh sig. A.v^v His Familiar would somtyme come vnto hym lyke a gray blackish Culuer.

1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball i. xiii. 21 Butter Burre... Of a greene colour vpon the outside, and of a gray whitishe colour nexte the grounde.

1613 G. Markham Eng. Husbandman: 1st Pt. Former Pt. vi. sig. E2 In these gray white clayes, you shall..see more Wheate sowne then any other Graine.

1679 T. Jordan London in Luster 11 A Princely Shepherdess..in a Robe of gray-green silk and silver.

1706 tr. L. Liger Compl. Florist in tr. F. Gentil Le Jardinier Solitaire 477 Several Branches, cover'd with a grey greenish Lilac Bark.

1804 S. T. Coleridge Let. 5 June (1956) II. 1138 Nothing green meets your eye—one dreary grey-white.

1827 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom V. 353 General colour gray-brownish beneath, and whitish under the throat.

1849 D. Campbell Pract. Text-bk. Inorg. Chem. 329 Glucina, or its compounds..become grey-black.

1891 T. Salvadori Catal. Birds Brit. Mus. XX. 401 Head..of the females above greenish with a grey-bluish tinge.

1958 Climatol. Data: Calif. (U.S. Dept. Commerce. Weather Bureau) 52 218 Funnel cloud had grey-whitish appearance instead of usual black coloring.

1972 M. J. Ursin Life in & around Salt Marshes 33 (caption) Seabeach orach... The leaves are gray-green, the stem tinged with red.

2003 J. van der Vliet Catal. Coptic Inscriptions Sudan National Museum ii. 51 Lower left corner of a stela of grey-pinkish sandstone.

(a)

grey antimony n. Mining (now rare) (also grey antimony ore) = stibnite n.

ΚΠ

1776 R. E. Raspe tr. J. J. Ferber Trav. Italy xvii. 250 Grey antimony in large and long crystals, covered with crystallized native sulphur.

1858 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 148 189 The crystallization lines of grey antimony are at right angles to the receiving surface.

1870 C. L. Bloxam Metals 285 The appearance of grey antimony ore is very characteristic; it commonly resembles a compact bundle of dark grey metallic needles.

1916 L. S. Marks Mech. Engineers' Handbk. 530 Antimony glance (known also as gray antimony ore, antimonite and stibnite) is the most important ore of antimony.

2002 G. Balázs & H. J. Breunig in M. Gielen Unusual Structures Organometallic Chem. x. 401 The Sb₄ molecule..is stable only in the gas phase and rearranges to give grey antimony on condensation.

grey arsenic n. Chemistry the most stable allotrope of arsenic, which is a brittle substance with a steel-grey metallic lustre.

ΚΠ

1868 W. Crookes & E. Röhrig Kerl's Pract. Treat. Metall. I. v. 478 Ores rich in arsenic are at once roasted at a higher temperature, as more white and less grey arsenic are thus formed.

1938 G. H. J. Adlam & L. S. Price Higher School Certificate Inorg. Chem. xlii. 412 Grey arsenic is the form stable at ordinary temperatures.

2007 C. Cooper Arsenic 7/1 Yellow arsenic is chemically the same as gray arsenic, but it is much less dense.

grey astrakhan n. (a) the dark grey curly fleece of newborn or fetal karakul lambs, used for clothing or as a trimming; (b) a coat or other item of clothing made from this.

ΚΠ

1862 Sheffield & Rotherham Independent 20 Feb. 4/3 The Canadian winter dress is becoming and not unserviceable—a round fur cap of grey Astrachan with a flat top; a long coat.

1865 M. Petri Equipm. Infantry 32 Frock coat of grey cloth,..trimmed with grey Astrakhan fur.

1884 West. Daily Press 17 Dec. 3/5 Capes of curled Crimean lamb—so often called grey astrakan.

1923 Lima (Ohio) News 30 Dec. 16/5 (advt.) Girl's Coats... Pollaires and velours with fur collars, Plaids with self or fur collars, as well as smart gray astrakhans, all good models.

1962 E. O'Brien Lonely Girl iv. 36 He bought me a grey astrakhan with a red velvet collar, and a flared skirt.

1978 H. Willetts tr. A. Solzhenitsyn Gulag Archipel. III. vi. iii. 377 He even ventured to protest against the appropriation of a gray astrakhan by the chairman of the Executive Committee.

2006 J. Cowan Spy's Wife 208 Baidukov was wearing the heavy grey overcoat and grey astrakhan fur hat of a colonel general of the Red Army.

grey band n. North American Geology (now chiefly historical) a stratum of bluish-grey flagstone.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > sedimentary rock > [noun] > sandstone > others

firestone1399

hassock1461

red stone1602

penistone1688

bluestone1709

gingerbread1714

brownstone1780

molasse1794

Old Red Sandstone1805

chip sand1808

fox-bench1816

New Red Sandstone1818

grey band1824

arkose1839

cankstone1845

St. Bees Sandstone1865

pietra serena1873

Ham Hill stone1889

1824 A. Eaton Geol. & Agric. Surv. District Erie Canal 36 (heading) Grey band, (or grey feke).

1863 J. D. Dana Man. Geol. 232 Flagstone,—a gray, laminated quartzose sandstone, called ‘gray band’.

1902 Canad. Rec. Sci. 9 120 In a cutting transverse to the grey band, by which a roadway ascends the Niagara escarpment, near Grimsby, the band shows excellent cross bedding.

1966 Lapidary Jrnl. Oct. 911/1 The caprock is of Kodak sandstone representing what in earlier literature is referred to as the Gray Band.

grey bark n. the (powdered) bark of any of several species of cinchona tree (genus Cinchona), containing the alkaloids quinine and cinchonine and used to treat malaria and other fevers.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > medicinal trees or shrubs > [noun] > non-British medicinal trees or shrubs > cinchona tree or bark

Peruvian bark1663

quinquina1681

Jesuits' Bark1704

quinaquina1708

quinquina1740

cinchona1742

quill bark1742

grey bark1781

red bark1782

bark-tree1783

yellow bark1794

cinchona-bark1811

crown bark1823

Loxa bark1825

Suriname bark1844

Lima bark1855

quinine tree1855

1781 London Med. Jrnl. Nov. 341 You may be assured that it [sc. a new kind of bark] is infinitely superior to the grey bark, and should be sought after by practitioners.

1848 A. B. Strong Amer. Flora II. 29 The cinchonine is in greater quantity than the quinine in the grey-bark, while in the yellow-bark, the quinine predominates.

1900 Cycl. Amer. Hort.: A–D 317/1 'Gray bark', from C[inchona] micrantha, C. nitida and C. Peruviana.

2005 W. Sneader Drug Discov. ix. 93 They isolated..cinchonine from samples of grey bark.

grey body n. Physics an idealized object which absorbs and emits, at each wavelength, some constant fraction of the radiation emitted by a black body at the same temperature; cf. black body n.

ΚΠ

1906 Proc. Physical Soc. 20 33 If the temperature of the black body were reduced a little, so as still to be higher than that of the grey body, the grey body would radiate and the black absorb.

1923 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 102 435 These gases have an equilibrium temperature in the neighbourhood of that of a grey body, i.e., 280°.

1989 Times 20 Mar. 17/6 Were it not for the greenhouse effect of the atmosphere, the Earth would be at what is known in astronomy as the grey-body temperature.

2007 J. A. Irwin Astrophysics iv. 139 The Earth, being a grey body, then emits a Planck spectrum at a (globally averaged) temperature.

grey box n. (also with capital initials) any of various Australian eucalyptus trees with greyish bark.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > Australasian trees > [noun] > eucalyptus trees

yellow box1662

gum tree1676

white gum tree1733

whip-stick1782

peppermint1790

red gum tree1790

red mahogany1798

white gum1798

box1801

blue gum1802

eucalyptus1809

box tree1819

black-butted gum1820

bloodwood1827

white ash1830

blackbutt1833

morrel1837

mountain ash1837

mallee scrub1845

apple gum1846

flooded gum1847

Moreton Bay ash1847

mallee1848

swamp gum1852

box-gum1855

manna gum1855

white top1856

river gum1860

grey box1861

woolly butt1862

marlock1863

fever tree1867

red ironbark1867

river white gum1867

karri1870

yellow jacket1876

eucalypt1877

yapunyah1878

coolibah1879

scribbly gum1883

forest mahogany1884

yellow jack1884

rose gum1885

Jimmy Low1887

nankeen gum1889

slaty gum1889

sugar-gum1889

apple box1890

Murray red gum1895

creek-gum1898

eucalyptian1901

forest red gum1904

river red gum1920

napunyah1921

whitewash gum1923

ghost gum1928

snow gum1928

Sydney blue gum1932

salmon gum1934

lapunyah1940

1861 W. H. Archer et al. Catal. Victorian Exhib. Melbourne 230 (table) Eucalyptus dealbata..Grey Box tree.

1969 Age (Melbourne) 24 May 24/5 The estate is natural bushland crowded with grey box, [etc.].

2010 Eastern Courier Messenger (Adelaide) (Nexis) 15 Sept. 23 They allowed important trees smaller than the 2m cutoff to be felled, such as the increasingly scarce Grey Box.

grey bread n. originally Scottish bread with a greyish colour, usually made from rye flour. [In later use partly after German Graubrot.]

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the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > bread > [noun] > other types of bread

sergeant-loafa1348

clear-matin1362

bean-breadc1380

French bread1420

pease-breada1425

bran-breadc1425

grey breadc1430

angels' breadc1440

dough bread?a1500

baker's bread?1550

acorn bread1571

cart-bread1574

chapter-bread1600

diet-bread1617

ember-bread1681

buff coat1688

bust-coat1706

Picentine bread1712

chestnut-bread1814

naan1828

gluten-bread1846

to-bread1854

batch-bread1862

injera1868

coffee cake1879

pan dulce1882

quick bread1882

sour bread1884

Tommy1895

focaccia1905

hard-dough bread1911

hush puppy1918

potica1927

spoon bread1932

bake1933

pitta1936

hard-dough1966

pain de campagne1970

pocket bread1973

ciabatta1985

pain au levain1985

levain1991

c1430 Acts Parl. Scotl. (1844) I. 32/2 Baxtaris..sall bake quhyte brede and gray..eftir as the sesson askis.

c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 245 Þis monke servid hym of passand gray bread & thyn potage & a little salte.

1518 in J. D. Marwick Extracts Rec. Burgh Edinb. (1869) I. 178 At the samyn be of fyne stufe weill baiken and dryet, and the gray breid vj vnces mair than the gray breid baiken within this burgh.

1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) III. 476 Wes nane that tyme that durst so hardy be..to mak him remeid, Or him support with ane byte of gra breid.

1606 W. Arthur & H. Charteris Rollock's Lect. 1st & 2nd Epist. Paul to Thessalonians (1 Thess.) xvi. 201 He is the honester man that will..sit down with gray bread conquest by his labour, nor he who eates all dilicates with idlenesse.

1721 J. Kelly Compl. Coll. Scotish Prov. 218 I am not small Beer thirsty, nor grey Bread hungry.

1858 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 9 Apr. 325/1 The pain bis or grey bread of France was made from flour of second quality, mixed or not with rye flour.

1910 Hazell's Ann. 25 434/2 Grey bread (made from a mixture of wheat and rye) is the sort generally eaten in Germany.

1968 J. Rathbone Hand Out vi. 36 His breakfast..consisted of sour grey bread, white cheese, rose-petal syrup and tea.

2007 I. Denny Fall of Hitler's Fortress City vi. 80 Grey bread..was a more refined but less tasty version of rye bread.

grey cells n. the cells that make up the grey matter of the brain and spinal cord; (colloquial) intelligence, brain power.Uncommon in technical use. In colloquial use frequently in little grey cells and often associated with Agatha Christie's fictional detective, Hercule Poirot; see quot. 1920.

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the world > life > the body > nervous system > cerebrospinal axis > [noun] > grey matter

grey matter1809

grey cells1845

cinerea1882

1845 Lancet 12 July 37/2 It is possible that there may be no greater connexion between the grey cells and the nerve-tubes in the spinal cord than this.

1878 S. Wilks Lect. Dis. Nerv. Syst. i. 166 In the ganglia of the spinal nerves, and even in the cranial, there was pigmentary degeneration of the grey cells.

1920 A. Christie Mysterious Affair at Styles x. 226 ‘This affair must all be unravelled from within.’ He tapped his forehead. ‘These little grey cells. It is “up to them”—as you say over here!’

1960 P. G. Wodehouse Jeeves in Offing iii. 38 You can't hold down an editorial post on an important London weekly paper without being fairly well fixed with the little grey cells.

1976 Exper. Neurol. 53 725 Both the cerebellar and the noradrenaline fibers may synapse on periaqueductal gray cells.

2001 Dreamwatch Mar. 92/3 The game..is actually quite taxing on the little grey cells.

† grey cloak n. Obsolete an alderman who has served as Lord Mayor of the City of London and so is entitled to wear a grey cloak.

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society > authority > office > holder of office > magistrate > municipal magistrate > [noun] > alderman > specific London alderman

grey cloak1621

Father of the City1668

1621 Order of Ld. Maior, Aldermen & Sheriffs 24 They must chuse Maister Recorder for one of theyr Knights, and one gray cloake for the other.

1690–1700 Order of Hospitalls sig. Bii^v xiiij of them to be Aldermen (that is to say) vj Graye clokes and viii callabre.

1690–1700 Order of Hospitalls sig. Biii iij Alderman, whereof one shal be a graycloke.

greycloth n. unbleached or undyed cloth; cf. grey goods n.

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grey1751

greycloth1794

grey goods1818

greige1874

greige goods1920

1794 Analyt. Rev. July 298 It were to be wished, that some good detail of the process of bleaching were given, together with the experiments of Kirwan on the colouring matter of gray cloth.

1803 A. F. M. Willich & J. Mease Domest. Encycl. (Amer. ed.) I. 301/2 Steep the grey cloth for two or three days, then wash.

1895 London Gaz. 25 June 3624 Shires, Charles James..Greycloth Salesman.

1930 Aberdeen Press & Jrnl. 1 Apr. 8/4 Plain greycloth—that is, unbleached cloth, or cloth dyed in the piece.

1959 Listener 9 July 46/2 The weavers manufacture, from the yarn, cloth in an unfinished state, known as grey cloth.

2009 C. B. Kortsch Dress Culture in Late Victorian Women's Fiction ii. 38 Women and children did the carding, spinning, winding, and in some cases, the weaving of plain, cheap greycloth.

† grey cobalt n. Mineralogy Obsolete = cobaltite n.

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the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > sulphides and related minerals > [noun] > cobaltite group > cobalt sulpharsenide

grey cobalt1728

syepoorite1849

cobaltite1868

1728 J. Woodward Catal. Foreign Fossils i. 26 in Catal. Addit. Eng. Native Fossils Grauer Kobold mit Wismut, i.e. Grey Cobalt with Bismuth.

1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 301 Gray cobalt..is a compound of cobalt with iron, arsenic, sulphur, and nickel.

1921 E. Thorpe Dict. Appl. Chem. (rev. ed.) II. 294/1 Sulpharsenide of cobalt occurs as cobalt glance, grey cobalt, or cobaltine, abundantly at Vena (Sweden) and in Norway.

grey copper n. Mining (more fully grey copper ore) a grey sulphide ore of copper; (in later use) spec. = tetrahedrite n.

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the world > the earth > minerals > ore > [noun] > metal ore > copper ore > types of

red copper1507

misy1543

grey copper1590

yellow ore1630

grey orea1728

pitch ore1776

red copper ore1776

fahlerz1796

tile-ore1823

cuprite1850

lettsomite1850

velvet copper-ore1850

yellows1851

meneghinite1852

peacock copper1858

peacock ore1858

horseflesh ore1868

plush-copper1881

the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > sulphides and related minerals > sulpho-salts > [noun] > tetrahedrite

grey copper1590

fahlerz1796

panabase1839

tennantite1839

fieldite1856

freibergite1856

tetrahedrite1868

panabasite1876

malinowskite1878

frigidite1887

schwatzite1887

1421 in N. S. B. Gras Early Eng. Customs Syst. (1918) 502 (MED) De Ertmer Swart pro vi di. barellis cupri grey pr. £iiii x s.]

1590 J. Hester tr. J. Du Chesne Sclopotarie i. 11 Likewise the spirite of Arsnicke, Calaminae or Tuthiae, being mingled with gray or yellowish Copper, dooth not at the first melting vanish away.

1730 J. Andree tr. G. H. Behrens Nat. Hist. Hartz-Forest vi. ii. 106 The following minerals are found there, viz...white and green vitriol, grey-Copper Ore, [etc.].

1832 W. Macgillivray Trav. & Researches A. von Humboldt xxvi. 396 Most of it [sc. Mexican silver] is obtained from sulphuretted silver, arsenical gray-copper..and red silver-ore.

1882 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 1880–81 19 473 Nests of gray copper and Alaskaite in a gangue of quartz and barite.

1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 29 Mar. 17/6 The Bellevue mine..has struck fine looking ore at 186 feet in from the mouth of the tunnel, showing galena and grey copper.

2008 G. Levitan Gold Deposits CIS iv. 113 The quartz-stibnite association contains also gray copper ore.

grey dune n. a mature vegetated sand dune, typically having a grey colour due to an abundance of lichens (esp. those of the genus Cladonia).

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1899 Bot. Gaz. 27 386 The strand is succeeded by the wandering or white dunes, and these by the established or gray dunes.

1954 Vegetatio 5–6 562 A leaching of the stabilized soil may result in the development of a grey dune..characterized by Cladonia and other acidophilous species.

2011 Gorey (County Wexford) Guardian (Nexis) 22 Feb. Coastwatch said it was one of the finest grey dunes in the country.

grey economy n. that sector of an economic system which is conducted by means of informal commercial activity unaccounted for in official statistics; esp. activity of this type regarded as less ethically or legally questionable than the black economy (black economy n. (b) at black adj. and n. Compounds 1e(a)); cf. grey market n. 3.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > management of money > management of national resources > [noun] > political economy > types of economic system

free market1642

peasant economy1883

agriculturism1885

money economy1888

price system1889

external economy1890

peace economy1905

war economy1919

planned economy1924

market economy1929

circular economy1932

managed economy1932

mixed economy1936

market socialism1939

plural economy1939

market capitalism1949

external diseconomy1952

siege economy1962

knowledge economy1967

linear economy1968

EMU1969

wage economy1971

grey economy1977

EMS1978

enterprise culture1979

new economy1981

tiger1981

share economy1983

gig economy2009

1977 Social & Econ. Stud. 26 376 An immense grey economy of ‘working poor’, mostly self-employed or in family business, can be found in many cities.

1983 Economist 2 Apr. 70/3 Street vendors..have sprouted lately as an above-ground grey economy. Their goods—clothes, watches, jewellery—are not stolen, but bought wholesale.

1989 National Inst. Econ. Rev. May 41/1 In order to obtain some idea of the ‘grey economy’ in the clothing industry, we also visited a number of very small clothing ‘workshops’ in Britain.

2007 New Yorker 15 Oct. 74/2 Today, the gray economy..rivals the measurable one.

grey eminence n. a person who exercises power or influence in a certain sphere without holding an official position; = éminence grise n.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > power > influence > [noun] > one who or that which influences > influential person > behind the scenes

power behind the throne1783

wire-puller1824

grey eminence1831

wire-worker1835

éminence grise1838

string-puller1961

1831 E. E. Crowe Hist. France (U.S. ed.) II. ii. 46 Although the latter [sc. Richelieu] never procured for his monkish friend the cardinal's hat which he demanded, still the people called father Joseph his ‘gray eminence’, at once to distinguish him from and assimilate him to his ‘red eminence’ the cardinal.

1945 R. Hargreaves Enemy at Gate 151 Bismarck's ‘grey eminence’, the enigmatic Holstein.

1956 F. Swinnerton Background with Chorus 78 The parts played by men not visibly figuring in ‘movements’—the grey eminences whose unpublished efforts give new ideas currency and new authors, or old authors, great places in literature.

1965 Listener 21 Oct. 614/1 That grey eminence of British communism Mr Palme Dutt.

1994 J. Barth Once upon Time 256 I had the remarkable privilege of an extended though eclectic grand tour..of the gray eminences of the professoriat.

grey flannel suit n. colloquial (originally U.S.) a conventional grey suit regarded as suggestive of the wearer's conservative, bureaucratic, or conformist attitude or his or her lack of individuality, frequently with reference to the perceived atmosphere of conformity in the United States, esp. in the business world, in the 1950s and early 1960s; cf. grey suit n.In man in grey flannel suit frequently with allusion to the title of the work cited in quot. 1955.

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1955 S. Wilson (title) The man in the gray flannel suit.

1956 Science 16 Mar. 476/3 (advt.) Medical Writer. ‘Gray Flannel Suit’ type, 25-35 years old with imagination, science background, and talent for concise, effective prose.

1958 S. Plath Jrnl. 15 Apr. (2000) 370 Read only the great poets: let their voices live in my ear & not the dregs & academic twiddle & pish of the young modern grey-flannel suit poets.

1973 C. Jencks Mod. Movements in Archit. viii. 302 He was characterized as a technician rather than a workman.., a member of a committee rather than an entrepreneur, and a man in a ‘Grey Flannel Suit’.

1995 Amer. Hist. Rev. 100 968/2 Under Kennedy, a sense of possibilities and of freedom were transferred to the re-experiencing of the body (dance, happening, sexuality), as if youth had finally rid themselves of the dull man with the grey flannel suit.

2000 N.Y. Times Mag. 7 May 53/1 America..to the social critics of the 1950's..was a community of conformists... The organization men wore gray flannel suits. The women were stunted by the feminine mystique.

grey goo n. (in a hypothetical scenario) the notional substance which would be all that remains after the consumption of all matter on earth by self-replicating nanobots; the scenario positing such a process and result.

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1986 K. E. Drexler Engines of Creation xi. 172 Among the cognoscenti of nanotechnology, this threat has become known as the ‘gray goo problem’. Though masses of uncontrolled replicators need not be gray or gooey, the term ‘gray goo’ emphasizes that replicators able to obliterate life might be less inspiring than a single species of crabgrass.

1996 Times Higher Educ. Suppl. (Nexis) 16 Feb. 15 A..grey goo calamity might one day be caused by nanotechnology.

2003 Nature 23 Jan. 299/2 Nanotech would not be subjected to suspicious scrutiny at all were it not for the enduring but outdated image of grey goo.

2009 New Yorker (Nexis) 28 Sept. 56 Prince Charles..has foreseen a world reduced to gray goo by avaricious and out-of-control technology.

grey goods n. fabric in an unbleached or undyed state; goods made from such fabric; cf. greige goods n. at greige adj. and n. Compounds.

ΘΚΠ

grey1751

greycloth1794

grey goods1818

greige1874

greige goods1920

1818 Commerc. Directory 1818–20 (James Pigot) 79 (heading) Agents, Commissioners, and Dealers in Grey Goods, Twist, Weft, &c.

1888 Bull. National Assoc. Wool Manufacturers 18 218 Legislation favoring the importation of gray goods, to be dyed or printed here, is incompatible with legislation favoring their manufacture here.

1954 Textile Terms & Defs. 21 Grey goods, woven or knitted fabrics as they leave the loom or knitting machine, i.e. before any bleaching, dyeing, or finishing treatment has been given to them.

2002 E. S. Hunt Medieval Super-companies (new ed.) i. ii. 44 Florentine..merchants..had become expert in finishing imported northern gray goods to suit the preferences of the Mediterranean market.

† grey groat n. Obsolete a thing of little or no value; chiefly in emphatic negative expressions; cf. groat n. 2c, brass farthing n. at brass n. Compounds 3.

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the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant > of little worth

ivy-leafc1000

needle?c1225

sloec1250

peasea1275

strawc1290

bean1297

nutc1300

buttonc1330

leekc1330

trifle1375

cress1377

goose-wing1377

sop1377

niflec1395

vetcha1400

a pin's head (also point)c1450

trump1513

plack1530

toy1530

blue point1532

grey groat1546

cherry-stone1607

jiggalorum1613

candle-enda1625

peppercorn1638

sponge1671

sneeshing1686

snottera1689

catchpenny1705

potato1757

snuff1809

pinhead1828

traneen1837

a hill of beans1863

gubbins1918

1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. xi. sig. Div^v I knew hym, not worth a good grey grote.

1587 W. Harrison Hist. Descr. Iland Brit. (new ed.) ii. ii. 146/1 in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) I Of which portion poore saint Peter did neuer heare, of so much as one graie grote.

c1592 C. Marlowe Jew of Malta iv. iv I'll not leave him worth a grey groat.

1664 J. Wilson Cheats v. v. 79 I can assure you her Grandfather left her not so much as a grey Groat.

1720 T. Gordon Craftsmen 8 He demanded not a grey Groat of them.

1820 W. Scott Abbot I. iv. 90 I would have been his caution for a grey groat against salt water or fresh.

1894 Sc. Notes & Queries Mar. 151/1 Gang to the tree on yonder brae—The leafless aik wi' branches grey;—Aneath its stem Dig deep, till four grey groats ye see.

1923 E. Hamilton Old Days & New xix. 302 Little Jock Graeme..Doesn't care a grey groat if his pony is lame.

† grey-grown adj. Obsolete (chiefly poetic) that has grown grey through old age or experience; also figurative.

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1727 J. Thomson Summer 24 The Daw, The Rook, and Magpie, to the grey-grown Oaks..direct their lazy Flight.

1872 T. Norton Hermit ii. 100 Ere another grey-grown year had roll'd Into eternity.

1893 A. de Vere Legends Saxon Saints 177 He clasped the grey-grown sinner in his arms.

1903 R. Hovey Along Trail 86 This old oak, grey-grown and knurled.

1913 Mother Earth Mar. 22 There is nothing more pathetic..than this gray-grown victim of a gray-grown Morality.

grey gum n. any of several eucalyptus trees with greyish bark; esp. Eucalyptus punctata and E. propinqua of eastern Australia; (also) the wood of any of these.

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1833 W. H. Breton Excursions New S. Wales iv. 279 The principal trees in the colony are the following... Grey gum, for fencing, building, &c.

1924 Queenslander 18 Oct. 10/3 Grey Irongum or Grey Gum (E. punctata and E. propinqua) is often confused with Blue Gum.

2011 P. Hammond Atlas World's Strangest Animals 77/1 Blue gum, grey gum and red river gum seem to be the koalas' favourites.

grey iron n. (more fully grey cast iron) cast iron that has a grey fracture and contains most of its carbon in the form of flakes of graphite.

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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > iron > [noun] > type of iron > cast iron > other types of cast iron

grey iron1665

white iron1665

run metal1741

white cast iron1792

mottled iron1836

tender-floss1839

pot metal1854

semi-steel1858

silicon iron1878

white-heart1911

white-heart1928

1665 D. Dudley Mettallum Martis sig. D The Gray Iron..is most fined, and more sufficient to make Bar-Iron with, and tough Iron to make Ordnance, or any Cast Vessels, being it is..more malliable and tough, then the other two sorts.

1795 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 85 343 Varieties..differently named by artizans, namely..pig, or sow iron; blue, gray, white cast iron;—soft iron; tough iron; brittle iron; hard iron.

1802 Philos. Mag. 12 28 By increasing the dose of carbon you increase the fusibility, and it passes at length into the state of gray cast iron.

1911 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 28 Apr. 1/6 Fire..destroyed the blacksmith and forging shop, the machine shops and the Grey iron and brass founders.

1967 Times Rev. Industry Mar. 76/1 High production costs amounting to over £98 per ton of grey cast iron.

2001 J. R. Davis Alloying 26 Sulfur levels in gray iron are very important and to some extent have been an area of technical controversy.

grey leaf n. (more fully grey leaf spot, grey leaf blight) any of numerous plant diseases in which the leaves develop greyish lesions, esp. due to fungal infection or nutrient deficiency; cf. grey speck n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > type of disease > deficiency diseases > associated with crop or food plants

greenback1926

grey leaf1928

marsh spot1931

tea yellows1931

speckled yellows1938

grey speck1947

1903 Monthly Circular Div. Zool. (Pennsylvania State Dept. Agric.) May 9 The Gray Leaf-blight or disease of cantaloupes and other melons.

1928 F. T. Brooks Plant Dis. ii. 15 On some alkaline soils oats cannot be grown profitably on account of a disease known as Grey-leaf.

1961 News Tribune (Fort Pierce, Florida) 24 July 2/6 Gray leaf spot is most prevalent during the warmer months, when ample moisture is present.

2009 V. Gowariker et al. Fertilizer Encycl. 283/1 If the symptoms of grey leaf develop early when the plants are small..manganese sulphate..can generally correct the deficiency.

grey level n. an individual tint or tone in a greyscale image; the level of intensity or brightness of such a tone or tones.

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1944 Brit. Patent 562,707 3/1 A video signal..has..been established at a level mid-way between zero carrier and the black level, and will correspond approximately, therefore, to a gray level.

1974 Science 18 Oct. 209/3 The..television tubes are capable of showing 16 different colors (or gray levels) at a time.

1982 R. M. Hord Digital Image Processing Remotely Sensed Data iv. 75 To display this data effectively on an image display device with a 0-225 dynamic range requires that a gray-level adjustment be performed.

2008 R. Whitrow OpenGL Graphics through Applic. iii. 71 An intensity histogram is a count of the number of pixels at each grey level within any image.

grey liberation n. (also with capital initials) [after gay liberation (see gay adj., adv., and n. Compounds 2b)] originally U.S. (a notional movement advocating) the liberation of elderly people from social restrictions or discrimination.

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1971 Morning Herald (Uniontown, Pa.) 17 Apr. 4/7 Restaurant owner Joe Ponte may start a movement for us middleaged cats. He'll call it Gray Liberation.

1984 Sports Illustr. (Nexis) 9 Apr. 58 Eyes were on..several venerable members of..‘the gray liberation army’. Among the senior citizens were former UCLA star Bill Barrett.

1999 R. Manheimer Map to End of Time i. 23 ‘You mean now you can be anything you want to in old age.’.. ‘Gray liberation,’ Shep laughed.

grey literature n. documentary material which is not commercially published or publicly available, such as technical reports or internal business documents.

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1975 Q. Rev. Biol. 50 346/1 Many references are from the soft or grey literature, such as progress reports and meeting summaries.

1995 Daily Tel. 12 Jan. 18/5 My company specializes in the acquisition and delivery of what scientists and technologists call ‘grey literature’—technical reports and other documents that cannot be obtained through bookshops.

2010 Nature 8 Apr. 823/3 Michael Fulford..has been piloting a study of the grey literature about Roman Britain, with similarly exciting results.

grey manganese n. Mining (now rare) (also grey manganese ore) either of two minerals containing manganese, manganite and pyrolusite.

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1793 T. King Catal. Duplicates Ores: Pt. 2nd 22 Grey manganese, in coarse plum pudding stone.

1852 F. Overman Treat. Metall. iii. v. 466 The most valuable kind of this mineral is the crystallized variety, called gray manganese—pyrolusite.

1876 P. de P. Ricketts Notes Assaying 120 Manganese occurs in an oxidized form, and its principal ores are..manganite (gray manganese ore).

1919 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. 41 935 The author dissolved crystallized Ilfeld grey manganese ore in hydrochloric acid.

1987 Proc. Internat. Waste Managem. Conf. 170 (table) Mixed sorbent is a mixture of 50% (wt.) of clinoptilotite and 50% (wt.) of gray manganese.

grey mare n. [after the grey mare is the better horse at Phrases 1a] a wife who is the dominant or more competent partner in a marriage.

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society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > married person > married woman > [noun] > wife > domineering wife

archwifec1386

grey mare1700

henpeck1730

1700 R. Cromwell Let. in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1898) 13 117 Shee tells him (as being the gray mare) he could not goe.

1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess v. 116 The gray mare Is ill to live with, when her whinny shrills From tile to scullery.

1876 C. M. Yonge Womankind xxii. 183 The grey-mare may keep down the husband who chose her,..but she cannot restrain her growing-up sons.

1916 M. Hine Individual iv. xxi. 302 A strong character. She's the grey mare in that ménage.

2008 G. Wills tr. Martial Epigrams 197 You have the husband's latch-key, he has none; You are the grey mare, Polla, when all's done.

grey matter n. the darker (less myelinated) of the two types of tissue of which the brain and spinal cord are composed, consisting mainly of nerve cell bodies and dendrites (cf. white matter n. at white adj. and n. Compounds 1g(d)); (gen.) the active or intelligent part of the brain; intelligence, brain power.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > nervous system > cerebrospinal axis > [noun] > grey matter

grey matter1809

grey cells1845

cinerea1882

1809 Philos. Mag. 34 303 The cerebellum issues from fasciculi denominated processus cerebelli ad medullam, which are reinforced, but once only, by fibres furnished to them by the gray matter of what is called the corpus ciliare.

1866 T. H. Huxley Lessons Elem. Physiol. xi. 279 In the Medulla oblongata the arrangement of the white and grey matter is substantially similar to what it is in the spinal cord; that is to say, the white matter is external, and the grey internal. But, in the cerebellum and cerebral hemispheres, the grey matter is external and the white internal.

1894 A. Robertson Nuggets 33 These..thoughts rushed over the grey matter of Bill's brain, as the wind rushes through the tree-tops.

1944 Horizon Mar. 172 The grey matter of the brain-rind was originally skin-tissue.

2007 Independent on Sunday 13 May (Review Suppl.) 3/1 No one with an ounce of grey matter nor a shred of dignity would remain in any ‘real’ magazine that functioned in this sub-soap-opera manner.

grey meal n. Scottish (a) mixed meal and dust from the floor of a mill (now historical and rare); †(b) barley meal (obsolete).

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation of grain > [noun] > siftings or refuse

mill dust1354

roughc1460

overchaving1607

sid1673

grey meal?1771

shag1822

slurry1825

slush1843

slutch1851

?1771 Whole Proc. Jocky & Maggy v. 27 Your groat meal, and gray meal, sand dust and seeds.

1841 A. Crawfurd in Laird of Logan 498 John Braedine, in Kilbirnie, was called before the Presbytery of Irvine, 1647, for calling his minister's doctrines Dust and Gray Meil.

a1877 Shepherd's Dochter in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1886) II. v. 462/2 For mony a time thou 's filled my pock Wi baith oat-meal and grey.

1923 P. Worth Light from Beyond 274 The bread I proffer thee is of homely stuff—Of grey meal, which wert gristed by Mine ain hand.

1990 T. C. Smout & S. Wood Sc. Voices i. 5 In times of scarcity recourse was had to inferior kinds, which are now happily forgotten—viz., grey meal—i.e., a species compounded of oatmeal and mill-dust.

† grey mechoacan n. Obsolete rare. the tuberous root of the plant Mirabilis longiflora (family Nyctaginaceae), of Mexico and the southwestern United States, used as a purgative.

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1890 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon at Mechoacan Grey Mechoacan, the root of Myrabilis longiflora.

grey merchant n. now historical and rare (in Ireland) an itinerant merchant; spec. one who buys up goods before they reach the public market; = forestaller n. 1.

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1542 Act 33 Hen. VIII c. 2. in R. Bolton Statutes Ireland (1621) 185 An Act for gray Merchants.

1697 Act 9 Will. III c. 33 Every Gray-Merchant, Merchant-Traveller, or Pedler, who usually Travels with an Horse, shall pay One pound.

1757 R. Stephenson Inq. State & Progress Linen Manuf. Ireland i. 37 It appears, that in an Act made against Grey Merchants Forestalling, Linen and Linen Yarn were then the most considerable Manufactures and Trade of Consequence among the Natives of this Kingdom.

1989 K. Simms in R. F. Foster Oxf. Hist. Ireland ii. 96 Trading-houses in the bigger cities would pay a local lord for licence to send their ‘grey merchants’ or ‘forestallers’ from house to house among his subjects.

grey midge n. Angling a small grey artificial fly.

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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > means of attracting fish > [noun] > artificial fly > types of

moor flylOE

drake-flya1450

dub-flya1450

dun cut1496

dun fly1496

louper1496

red fly1616

moorish fly1635

palmer1653

palmer fly1653

red hackle1653

red palmer1653

shell-fly1653

orange fly1662

blackfly1669

dun1676

dun hackle1676

hackle1676

mayfly1676

peacock fly1676

thorn-tree fly1676

turkey-fly1676

violet-fly1676

whirling dun1676

badger fly1681

greenfly1686

moorish brown1689

prime dun1696

sandfly1700

grey midge1724

whirling blue1747

dun drake?1758

death drake1766

hackle fly1786

badger1787

blue1787

brown-fly1787

camel-brown1787

spinner1787

midge1799

night-fly1799

thorn-fly1799

turkey1799

withy-fly1799

grayling fly1811

sun fly1820

cock-a-bondy1835

brown moth1837

bunting-lark fly1837

governor1837

water-hen hackle1837

Waterloo fly1837

coachman1839

soldier palmer1839

blue jay1843

red tag1850

canary1855

white-tip1856

spider1857

bumble1859

doctor1860

ibis1863

Jock Scott1866

eagle1867

highlander1867

jay1867

John Scott1867

judge1867

parson1867

priest1867

snow-fly1867

Jack Scott1874

Alexandra1875

silver doctor1875

Alexandra fly1882

grackle1894

grizzly queen1894

heckle-fly1897

Zulu1898

thunder and lightning1910

streamer1919

Devon1924

peacock1950

1724 J. Saunders Compl. Fisherman 226 Grey midge Fly.

1799 tr. Laboratory (ed. 6) II. x. 311 Grey-midge, or gnat.

1888 W. Walker Angling in Kumaun Lakes ii. 16 Shaking out the fine drawn gut casting line with a small grey midge on it, I made a few casts.

1996 M. Morgan Trout & Salmon Flies Wales i. 53 Ken..fishes his Grey Midge on a floating line and keeps the nymph in the surface film.

grey mould n. any of several fungi of a greyish colour which grow on plants and fruit; esp. Botrytis cinerea, which affects numerous plants, and often forms a fluffy growth on strawberries and other soft fruit.

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1777 J. Lightfoot Flora Scotica II. 1072 [Mucor mucedo] Common grey Mould. Anglis.

1891 Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 18 302 A species of grey mould..hastens the decay of the mature [egg-plant] fruit.

1962 New Scientist 13 Dec. 626/3 Grey mould, Botrytis cinerea, arch spoiler of strawberries and raspberries.

2011 Sc. Sun (Nexis) 16 June 46 How can I get rid of grey mould on my gooseberries?

grey-mouldering adj. poetic and literary (now rare) grey (through old age) and decaying; also figurative.

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1740 J. Dyer Ruins of Rome 3 Globose and huge, Grey-mouldring Temples swell.

1882 W. Birtles Musings o'er Flood & Fell 79 Grey-mouldering time Doth beckon thee with loving hand.

1895 Cassell's Family Mag. 81/1 Grey mouldering houses clung to the slopes of the grey mouldering rock.

1977 C. Derrick Escape from Scepticism 149 The grey mouldering remains of last year's autumn.

grey noise n. (originally) noise in which the energy is inversely proportional to frequency; = pink noise n. at pink n.⁵ and adj.² Compounds 2c; (later also) noise in which the energies of component frequencies are such that the noise is perceived as equally loud throughout the frequency range; also figurative and in extended use.The spectrum of grey noise in the later sense shows higher energy at high and low frequencies, where the ear's sensitivity is less, and lower energy at middle frequencies. It differs from white noise, where the energy intensities are equal throughout the frequency range but are not perceived as such, and from pink noise, where they diminish as the frequency increases.

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1955 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 68 654 In 1948, Miller and Taylor reported a series of experiments with interrupted (fluttering) white or gray noise.

1965 U.S. Patent 3,199,048 4 An effective tone control results, and so called ‘grey noise’, that is, white noise with attenuated high frequencies, is produced.

1984 Poetry July 190 It's Saturday with the gray Noise of rain at the window.

2008 S. Paretsky Bleeding Kansas xxii. 159 How did the pioneers stand it, that vast expanse of prairie, where..land and sky and wind blurred into a ball of gray noise?

2012 D. M. Donesky in L. Chlan & M. I. Hertz Integrative Therapies Lung Health & Sleep iv. 75 At every level of treadmill exercise, perceived ‘respiratory effort’ was lower in patients with COPD while listening to music than while listening to gray noise or silence.

grey oak n. any of several American oaks with greyish leaves or bark.

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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > oak and allies > [noun] > other oaks

red oakOE

cerre-tree1577

gall-tree1597

robur1601

kermes1605

live oak1610

white oak1610

royal oak1616

swamp-oak1683

grey oak1697

rock oak1699

chestnut oak1703

water oak1709

Spanish oak1716

turkey-oak1717

willow oak1717

iron oak1724

maiden oak1725

scarlet oak1738

black jack1765

post oak1775

durmast1791

mountain chestnut oak1801

quercitron oak1803

laurel oak1810

mossy-cup oak1810

rock chestnut oak1810

pin oak1812

overcup oak1814

overcup white oak1814

bur oak1815

jack oak1816

mountain oak1818

shingle-oak1818

gall-oak1835

peach oak1835

golden oak1838

weeping oak1838

Aleppo oak1845

Italian oak1858

dyer's oak1861

Gambel's Oak1878

maul oak1884

punk oak1884

sessile oak1906

Garry oak1908

roble1908

1697 in Rec. Early Hist. Boston (1880) VI. 8 From thence to another wallnut tree and so straight to a gray oak.

1797 J. Morse Amer. Gazetteer at Maine The natural growth of this District consists of white pine..maple, beech, white and grey oak, and yellow birch.

1832 D. J. Browne Sylva Americana 261 The Gray Oak is found farther north than any other species in America.

1904 N. Amer. Fauna 24 64 Leaves of the little gray oak (Quercus grisea).

2010 W. Davis & I. Davis Exploring Edges Texas ii. 19 A light breeze rustles through the gray oaks.

grey oat n. now historical a cultivated variety of oat with a greyish hull; esp. a variety of the European wild oat, Avena strigosa, cultivated chiefly in Scotland; cf. Scotch grey n. (b) at Scotch adj. and n.³ Compounds 4.

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1730 G. Rye Considerations Agric. xiv. 63 The wild Grey Oat with Spires, is very common, and I believe is a degenerated Oat from Poverty of Ground, it being difficult to keep the Black Oat free from them.

1806 P. Neill Tour Orkney & Shetl. 14 The former [sc. A. strigosa] is known, in Orkney and in Shetland by the name of black oats, (sometimes grey oats), and is easily distinguished by its numerous awns.

1917 Times 12 Nov. 3/2 White or grey oats are being substituted for black, as the latter suffered more severely from frost last winter.

1983 BioScience 33 101/3 The principal crops, a barley known as bere and grey oats, were relatively primitive strains, better able to resist rain and wind than more advanced varieties.

grey oil n. [after scientific Latin oleum cinereum (1886 or earlier)] now historical any of several medicinal preparations containing mercury and one or more oily substances, typically administered by injection in the treatment of syphilis.

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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > extracted or refined oil > [noun] > oil mixtures

Saracen's soap1526

oil gold-size1874

grey oil1887

1887 Jrnl. Cutaneous & Genito-urinary Dis. 5 38 This gray oil has been found useful as well in local and regional treatment.

1908 Practitioner Sept. 467 The use of grey-oil in subcutaneous injections.

2005 J. Emsley Elements Murder (2006) ii. 44 He invented a plaster to be applied to these open sores. Its active ingredient was grey oil, and it proved effective.

grey ore n. Mining (now rare) a copper sulphide mineral of a grey colour; spec. = chalcocite n. at chalco- comb. form ; cf. grey copper n.

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the world > the earth > minerals > ore > [noun] > metal ore > copper ore > types of

red copper1507

misy1543

grey copper1590

yellow ore1630

grey orea1728

pitch ore1776

red copper ore1776

fahlerz1796

tile-ore1823

cuprite1850

lettsomite1850

velvet copper-ore1850

yellows1851

meneghinite1852

peacock copper1858

peacock ore1858

horseflesh ore1868

plush-copper1881

the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > sulphides and related minerals > [noun] > chalcocite group > copper sulphide

grey orea1728

redruthite1849

marcylite1853

chalcocite1868

a1728 J. Woodward Attempt Nat. Hist. Fossils Eng. (1729) i. 181 A grey Marcasite... It consists mainly of Sulphur and Arsenick, and seems to hold a little Bismuth. The Miners call this Grey-Ore.

1809 A. Henry Trav. & Adventures Canada 212 I found several veins of copper-ore, of that kind which the miners call gray ore.

1907 Queensland Govt. Mining Jrnl. 14 Dec. 641/2 The contractors sinking the shaft..struck a lode at 200 ft., consisting of grey ore, red oxide and carbonites.

2011 W. L. Pohl Econ. Geol. i. 58 (caption) Grey ore in veinlets is largely chalcocite due to supergene enrichment, which reaches 800 m below surface.

† grey oxide n. Chemistry and Pharmacology Obsolete (more fully grey oxide of mercury) a grey-black solid consisting of a mixture of mercuric oxide and mercury, formerly used in antisyphilitic preparations.

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1806 Philos. Mag. 23 57 With phosphoric acid we treated ten grammes of gray oxide, obtained by decomposing by ammonia a solution of a sulphate of mercury at the minimum.

1835 Medico-chirurg. Rev., & Jrnl. Pract. Med. 23 420 The system is very readily and rapidly brought under the influence of mercury by means of the fumes of the grey oxide administered in a proper apparatus.

1856 Lancet 19 July 77/2 He then pointed out the practical objection to the use of the grey oxide of mercury, arising from its very uncertain composition as procured from the shops.

1924 C. M. Campbell & A. K. Detwiller Lazy Colon xviii. 124 Mercurial purgatives... Only the calomel that is changed in the intestine into gray oxide is active.

Grey Panther n. [after black panther n. 2] originally U.S. (in plural) an activist organization in the United States which seeks to promote social justice and the interests and rights of the elderly; (in singular) a member of this organization; (more generally) (chiefly with lower-case initials) an elderly person who is politically or socially active, esp. in support of the rights of the elderly.

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1972 Los Angeles Times 23 Jan. a1/1 The oldsters want freedom now from the constraints that economics and youth have placed upon them... There's even a loosely organized unit in New York that calls itself, whimsically, the Gray Panthers.

1986 W. F. May in T. R. Cole & S. Gadow What does it mean to grow Old? i. 51 Heroes among the elderly include..the intrepid Gray Panther Maggie Kuhn.

1996 Economist 27 Jan. (Econ. of Ageing Suppl.) 5/2 Germany has a few grey panthers stalking the land, but to little effect.

2012 N.Y. Daily News 29 Apr. 14 She's a globetrotting gray panther. As the International Federation on Ageing's representative to the United Nations, Helen Hamlin barely has time to see her kids and grandkids.

grey paper n. strong unbleached paper of a greyish or brownish colour, used chiefly for wrapping; (also) greyish or grey-tinted paper used as an artist's material; cf. brown paper n.

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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > material for making paper > paper > [noun] > shade or strength of papers

grey paper1538

brown paper1542

blue paper1594

rope brown1891

Kraft1907

Manila1926

rope wrapping1937

1538–9 in D. Yaxley Researcher's Gloss. Hist. Documents E. Anglia (2003) 147 xvjd. for di' reme of whight paper. iiijd. for di' a bundell of grey paper.

1549 J. Bale in J. Leland Laboryouse Journey Pref. sig. B i^v Thys stuffe [sc. the contentes of two noble lybraryes] hath he occupyed in the stede of graye paper.

1600 T. Nashe Summers Last Will sig. B4 An other that ranne in det..aboue foureteene thousand pound in lute strings and gray paper.

1684 tr. S. Du Clos Observ. Mineral Waters France 37 Salt or Lead dissolv'd in Common Water, and filtrated thro Grey Paper.

a1691 W. Faithorne Art Graveing (1702) 71 Monsieur Perrier,..one of the best Painters of the Times, shew'd publickly on gray Paper.

1744 Trans. Inverness Sci. Soc. 1 234 4 sheets gray paper , 2 spots pins.

1773 Oxf. Mag. Apr. 143/1 The mineral acids, at first, coagulate the bile, but afterwards render it sufficiently fluid to pass through grey paper.

1828 S. Palmer Let. Sept. in G. Grigson S. Palmer v. 71 I fancy myself working intensely hard for a week on grey paper; the quickest way of copying statues.

1866 R. Redgrave & S. Redgrave Cent. Painters Eng. School I. viii. 227 The groups were..spiritedly drawn from Nature,..in black and white chalk on grey paper.

1900 H. G. Wells Love & Mr. Lewisham xxii. 189 There were parcels and cones in blue and parcels in rough grey paper.

2003 V. C. Foley I think I hear Sleigh Bells xiii. 197 A small box, beautifully wrapped in gray paper with a navy blue bow.

† grey parson n. Obsolete = greycoat parson n. at greycoat n. Compounds 3.

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society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > impost, due, or tax > fixed proportion dues or taxes > [noun] > tithe > collector of > specific

grey parson1784

grey-coated parson1791

greycoat parson1796

tutty men1893

1784 J. Cullum Hist. & Antiq. Hawsted in Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica No. 23. 171 A Grey parson. A layman, who hires the tithes of the parson.

1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue Grey parson, a farmer who rents the tythes of the rector or vicar.

1839 W. Holloway Gen. Dict. Provincialisms (new ed.) 71/2 Grey parson,..a lay impropriator of tithes, or a lay-man who rents them.

grey pea n. the field pea, Pisum arvense.The grey or field pea is considered a variety of the garden pea by some authors, under the name P. sativum.

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a1475 Liber Cocorum (Sloane) (1862) 46 For Gray pese..Þese pese with bacun eten may be As þo whyȝt pese were.

?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. viii And one busshell & an halfe of white pees or grene pees wyll sowe as moch grounde as two busshels of gray pees.

1671 T. Tenison Let. 7 Nov. in H. Oldenburg Corr. (1971) VIII. 345 In ye Terra firma we sow most sorts of grain but most ordinarily, Red Kentish, & Gray, wheat; barley, gray-peas, & Hors-beans.

1766 Compl. Farmer at Pease The common white pea, the gray pea, the pig pea, and some other large winter peas.

1892 I. Zangwill Children of Ghetto iv. 62 There was brisk traffic in toffy, and gray peas and monkey-nuts.

1973 C. A. Wilson Food & Drink in Brit. vi. 202 Even larger quantities of grey peas went to feed her horses and her pigeons over the same period.

2002 C. Spencer Brit. Food ii. 25 It was the grey pea or field pea (Pisum arvense) that was grown, which has an attractive purple flower and grows rapidly to about five feet.

grey pine n. either of two North American pines, a Jack pine, Pinus banksiana (formerly called P. rupestris), and the digger pine, P. sabiniana.

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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > conifers > [noun] > pines and allies

pine treeeOE

pineOE

pine-nut treec1330

pineapplec1390

pineapple treea1398

mountain pine1597

pine1597

mountain pine1601

frankincense1611

rosin flower?1611

black pine1683

Scotch pine1706

yellow pine1709

Jersey pine1743

loblolly pine1760

mugoa1768

Scots pine1774

Scotch fir1777

arrow plant1779

scrub pine1791

Georgia pine1796

old field pine1797

tamarack1805

grey pine1810

pond pine1810

New Jersey pine1818

loblolly1819

Corsican pine1824

celery-top pine1827

toatoa1831

heavy-wooded pine1836

nut pine1845

celery pine1851

celery-topped pine1851

sugar-pine1853

western white pine1857

Jeffrey1858

Korean pine1858

lodge-pole pine1859

jack pine1863

whitebark pine1864

twisted pine1866

Monterey pine1868

tanekaha1875

chir1882

slash-pine1882

celery-leaved pine1883

knee-pine1884

knobcone pine1884

matsu1884

meadow pine1884

Alaska pine1890

limber pine1901

bristlecone pine1908

o-matsu1916

insignis1920

radiata1953

1810 F. A. Michaux Histoire des Arbres Forestiers de l'Amérique Septentrionale I. 16 Pinus rupestris... Grey pine.., dénomination donnée..en Canada.

1908 N. L. Britton N. Amer. Trees 37 This tree [sc. P. sabiniana], also called Gray pine..occurs locally in the foothill region of western California.

1923 L. H. Bailey Cultivated Evergreens iii. 103 The gray pine, Pinus Banksiana, is found farther northward than any other American pine.

2005 M. K. Anderson Tending Wild (2006) ix. 281 Big gray pines..could be climbed with relative ease.

† grey plack n. Scottish Obsolete rare a plack or small coin containing an alloy of silver.

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1591 Act Jas. VI in Acts Parl. Scotl. (1814) III. 526/2 For all vther allayed money quhilk is subiect to refyning as babeis thre penny grottis twelf penny grottis and gray plakkis.

grey plum n. any of several trees yielding a somewhat plum-like fruit; spec. (a) a large tropical African tree, Parinari excelsa (family Chrysobalanaceae); (b) any of several Australian trees of the genus Diospyros (family Ebenaceae), which incorporates the former genus Cargillia; (also) the fruit of any of these trees.

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1825 A. P. de Candolle Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis II. 527 Anglicè dictus Rough-Skinned seu Gray Plum.

1840 C. McIntosh Greenhouse, Hot House & Stove (new ed.) 378 The rough-skinned or grey plum... much esteemed by the natives.

1862 Sydney Morning Herald 11 July 5/4 A species of Cargillia (probably Laxa), or grey plum of the same district [sc. Illawarrra].

1902 G. S. Boulger Wood 251 Myrtle, Black..Cargillia pentamera... North-east Australia. Known also as ‘Grey Plum’.

1947 Jrnl. Ecol. 34 65 In both these forests Cynometra is replaced as climax dominant by the so-called grey plum.

2006 G. J. Harden et al. Rainforest Trees & Shrubs 160 Diospyros pentamera... Myrtle Ebony, Grey Persimmon, Grey Plum.

2011 D. Peterson Moral Lives Animals viii. 160 Chimps living in the Taï Forest of Ivory Coast traditionally crack open and eat the nuts of African walnut, gray plum, and Panda oleosa.

grey poplar n. a poplar tree (genus Populus); spec. the large P. x canescens of Europe, a hybrid between white poplar ( P. alba) and aspen ( P. tremula), much planted in damp areas.

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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > poplars and allies > [noun]

popple1229

popple-tree1229

abele?a1300

poplar1371

black poplar1542

white poplar1542

poppling1570

cotton tree1633

tacamahac1739

Lombardy poplar1766

poplar pine1770

Po poplar1776

grey poplar1782

cottonwood1787

pine poplar1789

liard1809

white-backa1825

necklace poplar1845

silver poplar1847

weather-tree1847

hackmatack1873

bitter-weed1878

balsam-poplar1884

Russian poplar1884

Lombardy1917

1782 J. Scott Poet. Wks. 264 Hears the grey poplars whisper in the wind.

1802 J. E. Smith Eng. Bot. XIV. 1619 Populus canescens... Common White, or Grey, Poplar.

1905 C. W. Stubbs Story Cambr. i. 13 Vast copses of willow and alder and grey poplar, rooted in the floating peat.

2004 A. Hollinghurst Line of Beauty (2005) x. 254 The sigh of a grey poplar.

grey pound n. [after pink pound n. at pink n.⁵ and adj.² Compounds 2c] British the perceived spending power of elderly people as a group; (in plural) money belonging to, or earned by, the elderly.

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1990 Investors Chron. 31 Aug. 12/3 Some already do very nicely..from the grey pound. As you might expect, Marks & Spencer is the favourite emporium of the well-worn and well-heeled.

2002 Managem. Today (Electronic ed.) June 56 Those who have grey pounds are spending them in abundance.

2008 J. Smith Bloke's Guide to Babies 173 In terms of helping out the grandchildren, the grey pound is worth its weight in gold.

grey powder n. (a) chalk mixed with finely divided mercury, originally used medicinally (esp. as a laxative) and later used in fingerprinting (now historical); (b) any of various other, usually aluminium-based, powders used in fingerprinting.

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the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medical preparations of specific origin > mineral medicine > [noun] > medicine prepared from mercury

mercury1617

blue pill1670

calomel1676

mercurial1676

silver-pill1753

blue mass1823

panacea of mercury1823

grey powder1842

the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines of specific form > powder > [noun] > specific powders > prepared from minerals

Irish slate1633

slat1639

calomel1676

grey powder1842

mercurous chloride1859

1842 C. Ridley Let. 4 Dec. in U. Ridley Cecilia (1958) ix. 111 Baby is not quite well. I consulted Sir John Fife, who gave him grey powder.

1890 J. V. Shoemaker Pract. Treat. Dis. Skin 175 Hydrarg. cum creta, or gray powder, is an effective and non-irritating preparation.

1926 D. Paterson & J. F. Smith Mod. Methods Feeding in Infancy & Childhood vi. 88 An occasional grey powder..succeeds when constipation is even more obstinate.

1933 D. L. Sayers Murder must Advertise iv. 105 Hop out to the nearest chemist and get me some grey powder and an insufflator.

1974 G. F. Newman Price viii. 242 Latent prints brought out on the non-absorbent surfaces with grey powder for photographing.

2008 J. E. Girard Criminalistics vi. 140/1 Gray powder, which consists largely of finely ground aluminum, is used on dark-colored surfaces.

grey power n. [after black power n.; compare gay power n. at gay adj., adv., and n. Compounds 2b] the political or economic power of elderly people collectively.

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1970Grey power [see sense A. 7b].

1975 H. L. Wilensky Welfare State & Equality ii. 26 The political pressure for expansion of these programmes..is only partly their own ‘gray power’.

1986 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 28 Dec. 23/1 Politicians recently have re-assessed the formidable ‘grey power’ of elderly citizens in terms of the ballot box.

2000 Independent 17 Apr. (Monday Review section) 3/3 Today is Labour's black Monday when grey power reasserts itself.

grey rot n. a fungal disease of plants caused by Botrytis cinerea, esp. affecting vines and other fruit crops, characterized by grey fungal growth and tissue necrosis; (also) the fungus itself.

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1863 Gardener's Monthly Sept. 286/1 The grey rot had materially injured many [vineyards in the vicinity of Alton].

1906 D. McAlpine Rusts Austral. xix. 75 Beauverie has experimented with Botrytis cinerea, or grey rot, and obtained, in sterilised soil, an attenuated form of the fungus.

2005 J. Livingstone-Learmonth Wines of Northern Rhône v. 434 The grey rot meant you couldn't afford to wait to pick.

grey russet n. now historical a coarse woollen cloth of a brownish-grey colour.

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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric with specific qualities > [noun] > coarse or rough > other

grey russetc1400

raploch1535

roudgea1549

reading1580

burracan1588

stand far off1613

stand-further-off1619

homespun1651

half-thick1693

soldier's cloth1753

toile de ménage1794

rugging1838

stramin1914

c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xv. l. 162 A goune of a graye russet.

1418 in F. J. Furnivall Fifty Earliest Eng. Wills (1882) 36 (MED) Also a gowne of gray russet furred wit Ionetis and wylde Catis.

a1529 J. Skelton Tunnyng of Elynour Rummyng in Certayne Bks. (?1545) 54 In her furred flocket, And gray russet rocket.

1680 Solemn Mock-procession 4 Capuchines in Gray Russet, with a Cord tied about their Middle.

1740 S. Richardson Pamela I. xii. 21 O how I wish'd for my grey Russet again, and my poor honest Dress.

a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) Grey-russet, coarse cloth of a dull grey colour, commonly preceded by the epithet dandy.

1919 E. T. Thurston (title) Sheepskins and grey russet.

1992 L. M. Clopper in B. Hanawalt Chaucer's Eng. 128 (note) His ‘lollares’ garb..is gray russet, a cheap woolen cloth worn by plowmen, hermits, the abjectly poor—and the Franciscans.

greyscale n. and adj. (a) n. (now esp. with reference to digital images) a graded series of grey tints or tones extending from black or dark grey to white or light grey; (also) an individual tint or tone in such a series; (b) adj. of, relating to, or composed of such tints or tones.

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the world > matter > colour > science of colour > [noun] > scale of colours

Newton's scale1816

chromatometer1835

scale1854

greyscale1857

1857 J. Ruskin Elements Drawing i. 42 The grey in the compartment of the grey scale marked with the same number is the grey which must represent that crimson or blue in your light and shade drawing.

1948 Pop. Photogr. Jan. 184/1 (advt.) Gives illuminated, direct readings—without grey scales or test strips.

1961 G. Millerson Technique Television Production iii. 45 (caption) Sample paint-cards and materials are compared on camera with a standard grey-scale chart.

1994 What PC? Oct. 17/3 It comes with a sheet feeder, 300dpi resolution and 256 greyscales.

2010 Dunoon Observer & Argyllshire Standard 30 July 5/5 The greyscale or black and white printed image lets you know where all the shadows and highlights are.

grey slag n. Metallurgy (now historical) a lead-rich residue obtained by a preliminary smelting of lead ore and which is subsequently heated to a higher temperature to give metallic lead.

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1811 Philos. Mag. 38 372 These scoria, which are technically named gray slags, vary considerably in the quantity of lead they contain.

1901 ‘G. Douglas’ House with Green Shutters xiv. 144 How the grey slag would flash below ye!

2005 G. B. Risse New Med. Challenges Sc. Enlightenment vi. 202 Finally the ‘grey slag’ was broken up into lumps while the liquid lead flowed into pots and was ladled to form pigs.

grey sour n. Manufacturing Technology the process of grey souring; an instance of this.

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the world > matter > colour > named colours > white or whiteness > whitening > [noun] > bleaching > bleaching process > specific

souring1756

grey souring1843

grey sour1875

white sour1875

madder bleach1891

kiering1922

1875 Encycl. Brit. III. 816/2 Gray Sour.

1911 Technol. & Industr. Efficiency a. 50 The grey sours remove the excess of lime and other metallic oxides, if present.

1970 Internat. Dyer & Textile Printer 144 47/2 The variations consist of an additional sequence like a grey sour, or a sour after pressure boil.

grey souring n. Manufacturing Technology souring (see souring n. 3) carried out before chemicking.

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the world > matter > colour > named colours > white or whiteness > whitening > [noun] > bleaching > bleaching process > specific

souring1756

grey souring1843

grey sour1875

white sour1875

madder bleach1891

kiering1922

1843 Penny Mag. July Suppl. 290/2 The process of ‘grey souring’, in which the cloth passes through a machine..containing very dilute sulphuric acid.

1907 S. H. Higgins Dyeing Germany & Amer. 28 The processes of washing, liming, grey souring, ashing, chemicking, souring and washing remain somewhat the same.

1968 Internat. Dyer & Textile Printer 140 523/1 The survey data indicate no damage due to grey souring.

grey speck n. (more fully grey speck disease) a disease of oats characterized by grey specks on the leaf-blades, caused by a deficiency of manganese.

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the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > type of disease > deficiency diseases > associated with crop or food plants

greenback1926

grey leaf1928

marsh spot1931

tea yellows1931

speckled yellows1938

grey speck1947

1919 U.S. Dept. Agric. Bull. 756 413 Samuel and Piper found that a deficiency [of manganese] produced a gray-speck disease of oats.

1947 Sci. News 5 88 Manganese is essential for healthy plant life. Its deficiency in soil..leads to plant diseases such as grey speck of oats.

2011 Irish Independent (Nexis) 12 Apr. Mn deficiency is often described as ‘grey speck’ in oats.

† grey steep n. Manufacturing Technology Obsolete a steep or bath used in the process of grey souring.

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the world > matter > colour > named colours > white or whiteness > whitening > [noun] > bleaching > substance used

grey steep1804

1804 Philos. Mag. 18 44 (heading) Bainbie, or Gray Steep.

1876 Textile Colourist 1 226 Mix equal parts of the grey steep liquor and the white steep liquor.

grey stock n. a greyish or brownish brick made of ordinary earth, as distinguished from a place brick or a red stock (red stock n. at red adj. and n. Compounds 1f(c)(i)).

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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > clay compositions > baked clay > brick > [noun] > types of

white brick1468

red brick1587

clinker1659

clinkerc1660

stock-brick1683

Windsor brick1702

grey stock1726

stockc1738

red stock1748

firebrick1749

Welsh lump1798

malm1811

cutting-brick1815

pecking1819

blue brick1823

malm brick1824

Windsor1841

cutter1842

grizzle1843

shuff1843

picking1850

Woolpit brick1887

Hollander1897

Staffordshire1898

Stafford brick1908

misfire1923

klompie1926

1726 Act 12 Geo. I c. 35 in D. Pickering Statutes at Large (1765) XVI. 365 Burn the bricks commonly called grey-stock bricks in clamps.

1793 Misc. in Ann. Reg. 378 The bricks called greystocks, for the outside of houses.

1860–4 Dict. Archit. (Archit. Publ. Soc.) Grey stock, a brick made of common earth and thoroughly burnt in a close clamp; it is so called to distinguish it from the place brick on the one hand, and the red stock or kiln burnt brick on the other.

1902 Builder 4 Jan. 7/2 The areas on one side to those on the other..are all built of hard Grey-stocks.

1998 D. Evinson Catholic Churches of London vi. 129 The severe exterior of grey stock bricks is best viewed from the north.

grey suit n. colloquial an executive, managerial, or business figure whose conventional formal dress is regarded as suggestive of a conservative, bureaucratic, or conformist attitude, a lack of individuality, or (esp. in political contexts) the anonymous exercise of power; usually in plural; cf. grey flannel suit n., men in suits n. at man n.¹ Phrases 3c.

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society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > non-manual worker > businessman > [noun]

man of business1640

homme d'affaires1717

businessman1803

businessperson1834

operator1838

towkay1854

grey suit1969

pinstripe1970

suit1977

pin-striper1979

1969 Boston Globe 17 Feb. 16/5 Since women spend 80 percent of our food money, I wish they might rise and attack the gray-suits with ideas about better packaging.

1981 Washington Post 20 Jan. b4/5 Gray suits crowded around former Texas Gov. John Connally and Henry Kissinger.

1997 Sun 21 Aug. 51/5 Surely the grey suits who plan the programme running-order can see the sense in scheduling the football before the second-rate film.

2011 Independent 27 June (Viewspaper section) 24/1 Rarely have I seen so many grey suits looking pale and wiping tears.

grey tin n. Chemistry †(a) bismuth (obsolete); (b) a grey powdery allotrope of tin, to which ordinary (white) tin is converted at low temperatures.

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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > base metal > [noun] > tin > types of

white tin1562

mine tin1602

grain tin1668

phosphor tin1668

pillion1778

grey tin1804

prillion1821

1804 W. Nicholson tr. A.-F. de Fourcroy Gen. Syst. Chem. Knowl. V. 266 Bismuth..has been successively named, according to the various and often erroneous notions which each author gave of it, grey tin, grey lead and saturn, white antimony, [etc.].

1879 Pop. Sci. Rev. 3 425 Specimens of the gray tin described by Fritzsche were found to have a density of 6.020, 6.002, and 8.930.

1933 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 37 540 Tin..becomes increasingly brittle at lower temperatures, until, at 18°C., the change to its allotropic form, ‘grey tin’, commences.

1975 H. M. Rosenberg Solid State i. 7 Tin also has a diamond-structure allotrope ‘grey tin’ which is stable below about −40°C.

2010 D. L. Reger et al. Chemistry (ed. 3) xx. 874 Gray tin is a nonmetallic form that is quite brittle and is not an electrical conductor.

grey water n. domestic waste water other than that from toilets, esp. considered as sufficiently lightly polluted to be suitable for recycling or reuse; cf. black water n. 1c.

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1970 Pop. Sci. Aug. 99/1 The gray water from your home is comparatively harmless, needs little treatment, and can often be used for industrial purposes or for irrigation.

1992 Harrowsmith Oct. 106 Another system gathers and purifies rainwater, then recycles the greywater and converts solid waste into compost for the rooftop greenhouse.

2007 Wired Jan. 114/4 Wastewater from the process flows to a cistern, where it mixes with collected storm water and runoff. The resulting gray water is used for landscaping.

grey willow n. any of several willows with greyish leaves or down; esp. Salix cinerea, a Eurasian shrub or small tree with oval leaves.

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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > willow and allies > [noun] > other types of willow

red willow1547

water willow1583

goat's willow1597

rose willow1597

sweet willow1597

French willow1601

siler1607

palm-withy1609

sallowie1610

swallowtail willow1626

willow bay1650

black willow1670

crack-willow1670

grey willow1697

water sallow1761

almond willowa1763

swallow-tailed willow1764

swamp willow1765

golden osier1772

golden willow1772

purple willow1773

sand-willow1786

goat willow1787

purple osier1797

whipcord1812

Arctic willow1818

sage-willow1846

pussy willow1851

Kilmarnock willow1854

sweet-bay willow1857

pussy1858

palm willow1869

Spaniard1871

ground-willow1875

Spanish willow1875

snap-willow1880

diamond willow1884

sandbar willow1884

pussy palm1886

creeping willow1894

bat-willow1907

cricket bat willow1907

silver willow1914

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics ii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 71 With Osiers thus the Banks of Brooks abound, Sprung from the watry Genius of the Ground: From the same Principles grey Willows come.

1788 Trans. Royal Soc. Edinb. 1 25 The grey willow is a tree which does not bleed.

1861 Trans. Illinois State Agric. Soc. 1859–60 4 448 Mr. Overman has the Pennsylvania Gray Willow—the most rapid growing variety he has ever known.

1951 Dict. Gardening (Royal Hort. Soc.) IV. 1852/1 S. cinerea. Grey Willow...almost wholly covered with grey down.

2005 Westerly (Rhode Island) Sun 2 Oct. 3/1 The large gray willow, a dense shrub or small tree that spreads rapidly and closely resembles a native pussy willow.

grey wine n. [after French vin gris (see vin gris n. at vin n. Compounds)] a lightly-tinted pale wine (now typically a rosé) made from black grapes, originally produced in the Champagne region of north-eastern France.

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1698 M. Lister Journey to Paris 161 Vin de Rheims..is also a pale or gray wine.

1727 S. J. Vineyard 54 Altho' these Wines are White..they are in Champaign called Grey Wines, by reason of their being drawn from the Black Grape.

1868 Albion 31 Oct. 518/2 The grey wine is obtained by treading the grapes for a quarter of an hour before they go to press.

1907 Outing Mag. May 135/2 They pledge old Père Rochefort, the landlord, in the good gray wine of Bar-le-Duc.

2003 J. B. Robinson Sapphire Sea (2008) ix. 116 ‘Betsilo gray wine’, said Lonny... The grapes were grown in the highlands by a Swiss expatriate.

greywood n. (a) wood of the sycamore, Acer pseudoplatanus, that has been dyed a grey colour, typically used in inlay work; cf. harewood n.; (b) greyish wood of the southeast Asian tree Terminalia alata (family Combretaceae), used in furniture and veneers.

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society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood of specific trees > [noun] > sycamore

sycamorec1384

harewood1664

greywood1881

1881 Cabinet Maker & Art Furnisher 1 Aug. 21/2 The ivory door, designed for an inlaid door of ivory, greywood, and ebony, with painted panels and medallions illustrating music.

1934 Archit. Rev. 76 70/1 Sycamore has also been used in decorative work and furniture, dyed and known as ‘greywood’ or steamed and known as ‘weathered’ sycamore.

1967 Independent Press-Telegram (Long Beach, Calif.) 15 Dec. (Queen Mary Suppl.) qm13/2 Greywood—comes from India, is grey and an unusual wood.

2011 Times (Nexis) 30 Mar. 7 The dining room is painted light blue over Indian greywood panelling.

(b) In the names of animals with grey or greyish coloration; see also grey goose n. 1, grey squirrel n.

grey bass n. any of several fishes of a greyish colour; esp. the white bass, Morone chrysops, of North America.

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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > family Percidae (perches) > [noun] > unspecified and miscellaneous types

perch1381

coracine1625

black-tail1735

grey bass1747

salmon1798

whiting perch1803

brasse1847

1747 H. Glasse Art of Cookery xxi. 163 Gray Bass comes with the Mullet.

1885 G. Francis Sportsman's Guide Northern Lakes 33 Several of the lakes of Douglas county, contain..a bass variously designated: Oswego, silver and gray bass.

1919 Official Bull. (Dept. Agric. Ohio) Apr. 15 When a customer buys a Sheephead as Gray Bass or White Perch and pays Bass or Perch prices for the same, a buyer has been lost for Bass and Perch properly named.

2009 P. Thompson Freshwater Game Fish N. Amer. viii. 170 White Bass... Morone chrysops... Local Names: Sandbass, Gray bass, Silver bass, [etc.].

grey bird n. British regional and U.S. regional any of various birds of a greyish colour; esp. (in Britain) the song thrush, Turdus philomelos.

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1726 C. Ellison Most Pleasant Descr. Benwel Village 180 Sonorous sweet Grey-Bird; Which did resound, With Noise profound.

1872 Amer. Naturalist 6 396 The mountain mockingbird, familiarly known to the settlers as the ‘gray bird’, is said to have similarly increased.

1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 64 Linnet (Linota cannabina)... Grey: or Grey bird (Westmoreland; North of Ireland). From its dull colouring in winter.

1907 Sat. Rev. 9 Mar. 299/1 You find fieldfares and missel-thrushes in flocks, and the gray-bird, as the song-thrush is called.

1996 J. D. Rising Guide Identification & Nat. Hist. Sparrows U.S. & Canada 140 Residents of Sable I., Nova Scotia, where the Ipswich Sparrow breeds, call it the ‘gray bird’.

grey-cheek n. North American (in full grey-cheek thrush) = grey-cheeked thrush n. at grey-cheeked adj. Compounds.

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1882 J. M. Wheaton in Rep. Geol. Surv. Ohio IV. ii. 208 I incline to the opinion that the Olive-back and Gray-cheek Thrushes are distinct species.

1945 Bull. Mass. Audubon Soc. Mar. 43 Two thrushes of annual interest to students are the migrant Olive-back and the Gray-cheek.

2003 Times Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) (Nexis) 15 June (Islander section) d12 Neville once recorded three ‘firsts’ all in one day in Muncho Park in northern B.C.—a grey cheek thrush, a blackball warbler and an American tree sparrow.

grey crow n. the hooded crow, Corvus corone cornix; cf. greyback n. 1e.

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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > larger song birds > family Corvidae (crow) > [noun] > genus Corvus > corvus cornix (hooded crow)

hooded crow?a1513

Royston crow1611

pied crow1648

scarecrow1676

grey crow1715

hoodie1789

Harry Denchman18..

hoodie-crow1816

bunting crow1831

Norway crow1848

saddleback1864

greyback1884

Kentish crow1893

sparrow-duck1895

1715 T. Morer Short Acct. Scotl. 107 Grey Crows..are very numerous in this country.

1878 Midland Naturalist 1 94 The mischievous Irish or grey crow, and the red crow or chough, are more common in some parts than the black crow.

1936 Times 17 Apr. 15/6 A grey crow drifting high overhead in an apparently aimless and innocent manner revealed the identity of the egg-stealer.

1967 A. L. Rand & E. T. Gilliard Handbk. New Guinea Birds 460 The grey crow is a fairly common bird in the treetops in the forest.

2002 J. McGahern That they may face Rising Sun (2003) 82 A few summers ago I took up Jamesie's gun against a few grey crows.

grey currawong n. a grey crow-like passerine bird, Strepera versicolor (family Cracticidae), of southern Australia.

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1929 Emu 29 200 I well remember a trip to Madden's Plains.., our objective being the nest of a Grey Currawong (Strepera versicolor) containing half-fledged young.

1994 J. Flegg & N. Longmore Birds Austral. 350 Grey currawong... Large, variably grey bell-magpie with variable amounts of white in wing.

2010 R. Miller in A. Davies & R. Miller Biggest Twitch viii. 262 We drove to the Ferntree Café, where Curry, the Grey Currawong, was a regular visitor.

grey dagger n. a common Eurasian noctuid moth, Acronicta psi, having grey forewings with black dagger-shaped markings, the caterpillar of which is sometimes a pest of fruit trees and ornamental shrubs.

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1766 M. Harris Aurelian 32 The Grey Dagger. The caterpillar of the Dagger is produced by a small light green Egg.

1842 Bradshaw's Jrnl. 3 212/2 The eyes..of the grey dagger moth ( Acronycta Psi)..shine in the dark with considerable brilliancy when flying.

1920 P. J. Fryer Insect Pests & Fungus Dis. Fruit & Hops Pl. iii, (caption) Grey dagger (occasionally found in fruit).

2008 P. Adams Sister (2009) vi. 73 Orchards of plums and pears were nurtured..for the leaves that tempted caterpillars of the Grey Dagger.

† grey dog n. chiefly Scottish Obsolete the Scottish deerhound.

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1758 T. Fairfax Compl. Sportsman 107 Grey dogs are to be coveted, because they are cunning, never faulter, and grow not discouraged in the quest.

1808 J. Walker Ess. Nat. Hist. xiii. 475 Canis Scoticus venaticus. Gesn.—Scot. The Grey Dog.

grey drake n. an adult female mayfly of the genus Ephemera; (Angling) an artificial fly made in imitation of this.Cf. green drake n. at green adj. and n.¹ Compounds 1d(b).

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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Ephemeroptera > member of

drake-flya1450

hemeraa1592

ephemeron1626

ephemeran1643

ephemeraa1676

drake1676

grey drake1676

yellow-dun1676

greentail1681

grannom1787

ephemeral1817

shad-fly1825

ephemerid1872

1676 C. Cotton Compl. Angler vii. 69 The Grey-Drake, which in all shapes, and dimensions is perfectly the same with the other [sc. the Green Drake], but quite almost of another colour.

1740 R. Brookes Art of Angling 17 The May-fly, the Green-drake, and the Grey-drake.

1884 G. F. Braithwaite Salmonidæ Westmorland vi. 26 The most beautiful species of our ephemera, the green and grey drakes.

1900 ‘J. Bickerdyke’ Angling for Game Fish (rev. ed.) 41/1 The Green Drake sheds its skin, and turns into what is known as the Grey Drake.

1988 Field & Stream Oct. 68/3 The old Grey Drake artificial..has long been as good an imitation as there is.

2001 B. Jacklin & G. LaFontaine Fly Fishing Yellowstone (2004) ii. 45 You can have some exceptional fishing while the Grey Drakes are hatching.

grey duck n. any of several ducks of a greyish colour; esp. the gadwall, Anas strepera, or (in New Zealand) the Pacific black duck, A. superciliosa.

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the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Merginae (duck) > [noun] > member of genus Anas (miscellaneous) > anas strepera (gadwall)

radge1620

gadwall1666

grey1673

rodge1678

Welsh drake1844

speckle-belly1874

grey duck1885

1637 T. Morton New Eng. Canaan ii. iv. 68 Ducks, there are of three kindes, pide Ducks, gray Ducks, and black Ducks in greate abundance.

1766 tr. F. Hasselquist Voy. & Trav. Levant 210 (heading) The grey Duck.

1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 157 Gadwall... Grey duck.

1935 N.Z. Free Lance Christmas Ann. 14 Oct. 31 The native grey duck or ‘parera’..is one of the Dominion's finest sporting birds.

1997 D. Sternberg & J. Simpson Duck Hunting 20/1 (caption) Gadwall. The drake has gray-barred side feathers, accounting for the name gray duck.

2004 T. Wheeler Falklands & S. Georgia 56 The crested duck (Anas specularioides specularioides), known locally as the grey duck, is one of the most common ducks in the Falklands.

grey duiker n. the common duiker, Sylvicapra grimmia, which has greyish-brown fur and is widespread across sub-Saharan Africa.

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1873 J. Tyler Livingstone Lost & Found xlv. 729 Antelopes of various kinds abound [in Natal], such as the red ourebi, grey duiker, blue buck etc.

1940 Zoologica 25 277 Sylvicapra grimmi—Gray duiker.

1968 Q. Rev. Biol. 43 287/2 The grey duiker occurs throughout the Northern and Southern Savannas and also in the arid zones.

2013 L. Tucker Saving White Lions xxiv. 280 A gray duiker..has ventured too close to the pride's enclosure.

grey eagle n. either of two large birds of prey of a greyish colour: †(a) the young bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, formerly thought to represent a separate species (obsolete); (b) (also more fully grey eagle buzzard) the black-chested buzzard eagle, Geranoaetus melanoleucus, of South America.

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1694 Philos. Trans. 1693 (Royal Soc.) 17 989 There are Three sorts of Eagles, the largest I take to be that they call the Grey Eagle.

1737 J. Brickell Nat. Hist. N.-Carolina 173 The Gray Eagle, is much of the colour of our Kite or Glead.

1823 Port Folio Jan. 48 A friend of mine..believed it to be what is usually called the gray eagle, and was much surprised at the gradual metamorphosis.

1911 W. H. Koebel Uruguay xxiii. 273 Far rarer are the large grey eagle, and the cuerbo, or black vulture.

2005 Birmingham Post (Nexis) 19 Mar. 54 Ebore the Grey Eagle Buzzard.

greyface n. a cross-bred sheep with a grey speckled face produced from a Scottish Blackface ewe and a Border Leicester ram, common in parts of northern England and Scotland; such sheep considered collectively as a breed.

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1906 Trans. Highland & Agric. Soc. Scotl. 28 10 Blackface ewes..are crossed with a Border Leicester ram to bring grey-face lambs for the early lamb market.

1971 Country Life 25 Nov. 1477/3 The Masham and Greyface have been shown to give a rather higher lambing average.

2004 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 14 Sept. 22 We need the hill breeds to produce the cross-bred ewes such as Mules and Greyfaces for flocks in the uplands and on lower ground.

grey falcon n. any of several birds of prey of a greyish colour, esp. (a) (in early use) the hen harrier, Circus cyaneus, or the peregrine falcon, Falco peregrinus (b) (in later use) F. hypoleucos of arid regions of Australia.

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the world > animals > birds > order Falconiformes (falcons, etc.) > family Accipitridae (hawks, etc.) > [noun] > genus Circus (harrier) > circus cynaeus (hen-harrier)

St Martin's fowl?a1513

hen harrier1544

grey falcon1678

faller1848

rabbit-hawk1851

miller1885

St Martin's bird1894

1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. ii. ix. 79 (margin) Aldrovands grey Falcon.

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. xi. 233/1 The Grey Falcon... The whole Body..is..Cinereous, tending to blew.

1775 S. Ward Mod. Syst. Nat. Hist. V. 111 The grey falcon is about the size of a raven.

1831 J. Rennie Montagu's Ornithol. Dict. (ed. 2) 230 Grey Falcon, a name for the Hen Harrier.

1847 J. Craig New Universal Dict. Grey-falcon, the common or Peregrine Falcon.

1907 A. H. S. Landor Across Widest Afr. I. xxx. 316 In the daytime swarms of hawks, grey falcons and eagles..describe circles above the dense smoke arising from the fires.

1998 B. Taylor & B. van Perlo Rails 516/2 Possible predators include Grey Falcon (Falco hypoleucos) and Wedge-tailed Eagle.

† grey fin n. Obsolete a greyish form of the brown trout, Salmo trutta, native to rivers in Scotland and Northern England.

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the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > order Salmoniformes (salmon or trout) > family Salmonidae (salmon) > [noun] > genus Salmo > trout (unspecified and miscellaneous) > salmo eriox (bull-trout)

whitlinglOE

scurf1483

sewin1532

sullayne1570

bull-trout1653

shuin1655

sea-trout1745

truff1818

grey fin1839

swallow-smolt1847

1839 T. T. Stoddart Songs & Poems i. 6 We'll get neither yallow nor grey-fin, Jock, Nor bull-heid nor sawmon ava.

1853 H. R. Schoolcraft Information Indian Tribes U.S. III. iv. 147 Seven kinds [of salmon] are usually said to visit the Columbia; two of which, it is probable, are the bull trout and grey fin of the English waters.

1888 Jrnl. National Fish Culture Assoc.1887 56 In the Barle the grey fin is the only one [variety of parr] I have seen.

greyfish n. (a) Scottish regional the saithe or coalfish, Pollachius virens, esp. a juvenile one; cf. greylord n. (now historical); (b) North American any of several types of greyish dogfish used as food.

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the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > superorder Paracanthopterygii > order Gadiformes (cod) > [noun] > family Gadidae > pollachius virens (coal-fish) > at certain stage of growth

greyhead1692

greylord1698

greyfish1703

greybeard1742

1703 M. Martin Descr. W. Islands Scotl. 384 The Grey Fish of the largest size are not to be had in any quantity without going further into the Ocean.

1863 W. F. Campbell & J. F. Campbell Life in Normandy I. 283 It was some time before I knew that stainloch, grey-fish, seath, cudding, and poddly, were all one fish at different ages.

1917 Science 13 Apr. 367/2 Under the name of grayfish it [sc. dogfish] is now being successfully canned and marketed.

1955 Norseman Sept. 321/1 These [sc. piltocs and sillocks] are, when fully-grown, known as ‘coal’ or greyfish, and can attain the size of a cod.

2000 Canberra Times (Nexis) 16 Jan. a26 In the United States, shark is sometimes referred to as ‘greyfish’.

grey fly n. †(a) the cockchafer, Melolontha melolontha (obsolete); (b) (in later use) the stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans.

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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Lamellicornia Scarabaeoidea > family Scarabaeidae > member of (dung-beetle)

sharnbudc1000

dora1450

clock1568

sharn-bug1608

dung beetle1634

grey fly1638

dunghill beetle1658

comb-chafer1712

tumble-turd1754

tumble-dung1775

dung-chafer1805

tumble-bug1805

tumbler1807

bull-comber1813

straddle-bug1839

lamellicorn1842

scarabaeidan1842

shard-beetle1854

watchman1864

scarabaeoid1887

scarabaeid1891

minotaur1918

the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Diptera or flies > [noun] > suborder Cyclorrhapha > family Oestridae > genus Oestrum or Oestrus > member of

breezea800

gad-bee1510

gadfly1569

gad-breeze1665

garabee1692

grey fly1752

trumpet-fly1752

botfly?a1775

bot-bee1825

1638 J. Milton Lycidas in Obsequies 21 in Justa Edouardo King What time the gray-fly winds her sultry horn.

1752 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. III. 31 The grey Fly or trumpet Fly.

a1862 H. D. Thoreau Cape Cod (1865) vii. 129 Probably he would not hear much of the ‘gray-fly’ on his way to Virginia.

1906 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 67 65 Of the biting ‘flies’, cattle are sometimes attacked by..the cleg or grey fly (Stomoxys).

2006 D. V. David & T. N. Ananthakrishnan Gen. & Appl. Entomol. (ed. 2) viii. 803 The grey fly [sc. Stomoxys calcitrans] can be distinguished from the houseflies by its somewhat smaller size.

grey fowl n. any of various greyish fowl; esp. the red grouse, Lagopus lagopus scoticus, in its winter plumage, or (with distinguishing word) several breeds of domestic fowl.

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the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Tetraonidae (grouse) > [noun] > genus Lagopus > lagopus mutus (ptarmigan)

ptarmigan1599

white partridge1610

snow-hen1648

white game1678

lagopus1693

grey fowl1712

rype1744

white grouse1771

rock grouse1785

tanmerack1792

ripa1830

snow-grouse1884

lagopode1901

1712 J. Morton Nat. Hist. Northants. vii. 431 The Gad-wall or Grey fowl..has a blunt or round-ended one [sc. Train].

1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering II. 12 And for the moor-fowl, or the grey-fowl, they lie as thick as doo's in a dooket.

1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 26 Nov. 5/1 In the full pride of the steely winter plumage the November grouse or grey-fowl seems to revel in conscious ability to outwit all enemies.

1913 B. A. Gates Campine Hist. i. 6 The old English Bolton Grey fowl was closely related to the modern Campine.

2012 M. D. Radencich Classic Salmon Fly Patterns 118/2 The Scots Grey fowl is a breed of chicken from around Lanarkshire.

grey fox n. the fox, Urocyon cinereoargenteus, which has grey upperparts and is native to North America and northern South America.

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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [noun] > miscellaneous types of

grey fox1781

pampas fox1923

1781 T. Pennant Hist. Quadrupeds I. 241 Grey fox.

1884 Standard Nat. Hist. V. 411 The well-known species, the Gray Fox (V. cinereo-argentatus), shares the characters of the coast fox, but is larger.

1938 D. C. Peattie Prairie Grove xxv. 170 The elk were gone, and so were the cougar, fisher, gray fox.

2004 Backwoods Home Mag. Jan. 56/2 The gray fox, less common, is equally pretty.

grey grub n. chiefly U.S. the greyish larva of any of various insects that are pests of cultivated plants; esp. those of noctuid moths of the genus Agrotis; cf. cutworm n.

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1771 A. Young Farmer's Tour E. Eng. II. 389 The rows [of turnips], at 18 inches, were attacked by a grey grub.

1876 3rd Rep. Vermont State Board Agric. 1875–6 567 The larva of this moth [sc.Agrotis tessellata] is sometimes called the gray grub.

1904 Amer. Florist 8 Oct. 438/2 The plants are small, and a good many have been destroyed by the grey grub.

2000 Herbert River Express (Austral.) (Nexis) 9 Sept. 5 The Innisfail district, over a period of time, had suffered losses from grey grubs.

grey hairstreak n. a small lycaenid butterfly, Strymon melinus, with predominantly grey wings, which is common from North America to northern South America.

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1895 Insect Life Mar. 354 (heading) Gray hair-streak butterfly and its damage to beans.

1942 Florida Entomologist 25 11 S. melinus (Hubner), the Gray Hairstreak, was common the latter part of April and again the second week in October.

2001 J. Glassberg Butterflies through Binoculars: West 102 Scrub-Hairstreaks (genus Strymon). Of this largely tropical group of roughly 60 species, only Gray Hairstreak ranges widely north of Mexico.

grey heron n. a heron with predominantly grey plumage; (in later use) spec. the large Ardea cinerea, found throughout temperate Eurasia and parts of Africa, which typically nests colonially in tall trees.

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a1771 S. Parkinson Jrnl. Voy. South Seas (1773) i. 70 The birds sacred to Ethooa [sc. on the island of Yoolee-Etea], of which there are two that fly about their morais, the grey heron, and a blue and brown king-fisher.

a1796 J. Sibthorp in R. Walpole Mem. European & Asiatic Turkey (1817) v. 76 The purple and the grey heron frequent the marshes of Bœotia.

1870 P. Gillmore Figuier's Reptiles & Birds 362 Every one knows the Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), at least by reputation.

1957 D. A. Bannerman Birds Brit. Isles VI. 68 The great white egret..is in habit more like the grey heron and the purple heron and less like the egrets.

2010 Guardian 23 Aug. 33/1 Back in 1975..only two species of heron bred here [sc. in Britain] at all—the grey heron, and what we now call the great bittern.

grey jumper n. Australian (now rare) the apostlebird, Struthidea cinerea (family Corcoracidae), a songbird of inland Australia with chiefly grey plumage.

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1898 E. E. Morris Austral Eng. Grey-jumper, name given to an Australian genus of sparrow-like birds, of which the only species is Struthidea cinerea, Gould.

1912 Catal. Birds' Eggs Brit. Mus. V. 503 Eggs of the Apostle bird or Grey Jumper are of an oval shape and slightly glossy.

1931 N. W. Cayley What Bird is That? 60 Apostle-bird Struthidea cinerea... Also called Grey Jumper and Twelve Apostles.

grey kangaroo n. either of two large Australian kangaroos of a greyish colour, the eastern grey kangaroo, Macropus giganteus, and the western grey kangaroo, M. fuliginosus.

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1793 W. Tench Compl. Acct. Settlem. Port Jackson xvii. 171 Hitherto I have spoken only of the large, or grey kanguroo, to which the natives give the name of Pat-ag-a-ràn.

1827 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom V. 202 Gray Kangaroo.

1953 H. G. Lamond Big Red 11 A grey kangaroo sat in a huddled position at the foot of a gidyea tree.

2004 T. Flannery Chasing Kangaroos ii. 17 Experiments..revealed that the two grey kangaroos had different breeding cycles and were thus unlikely to mate in the wild.

grey linnet n. now historical the linnet, Carduelis cannabina, which is predominantly greyish-brown.

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1751 G. Edwards Nat. Hist. Birds IV. 179 I should have named it [sc. the Grey Finch] the Grey Linnet, but that we have already a Bird in our Country so called, though it be of a brown Colour.

1834 Hist. Berwickshire Naturalists' Club 1 No. 1. 22 The mellow call-note of the grey linnet was..heard.

1900 Trans. Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club 44 201 Linnet... L[ocal] N[ames]. Common Linnet, Grey Linnet, Red Linnet, Brown Linnet.., Rose Linnet.

2006 K. C. Grier Pets Amer. i. 62 Gray linnets, siskins, chaffinches, starlings, and English robins, among others, were also imported throughout the nineteenth century.

grey lizard n. now rare any of several greyish lizards; esp. either of two European lizards formerly in the genus Lacerta, the viviparous lizard, Zootoca vivipara, or the wall lizard, Podarcis muralis.

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1728 R. Bradley Dict. Botanicum App. at Myrtillus I have observ'd that wherever this Plant grows, there are many Vipers and Grey Lizards.

1801 R. Southey Thalaba I. iv. 192 And his awakened ear Heard the grey Lizard's chirp.

1922 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 7 Oct. 1257/1 Dr. S. Icard of Marseilles took up the subject recently, inquiring into..the long survival of the tail in the gray lizard and the wall lizard (Lacerta muralis).

1956 J. Stuart Year of my Rebirth 115 First, the gray lizard is harmless. I've heard that the smooth-skinned red-green lizard is poisonous.

greylord n. British regional the saithe or coalfish, Pollachius virens; cf. greyfish n.

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greyhead1692

greylord1698

greyfish1703

greybeard1742

1698 M. Martin Late Voy. St. Kilda 30 The coast of St. Kilda, and the lesser Isles, are plentifully furnished with variety of..Cod, Ling..Turbat, Graylords, Sythes.

1707 G. Miège Present State Great Brit. ii. ii. 15 Grey-lord, in size and shape like a Salmon.

1856 W. Thompson Nat. Hist. Ireland IV. 183 At Portaferry (Co. Down) it [sc. the coal-fish] passes under four names: the fry are called Gilpins; next size Blockan; then Greylord; and to the very large fish the term Glashan is applied.

1902 J. Bickerdyke Pract. Lett. Sea Fishers xxiv. 247 The young fish are also named..gilpins, blockan, and graylord.

2007 H. Fearnley-Whittingstall & N. Fisher River Cottage Fish Bk. iii. 432 Coley,..regional names for it, including blockan, coalfish, cuithe, gilpin, greylord, piltock, saithe, sillack and sillock.

grey meerkat n. (a) Selous' mongoose, Paracynictis selousi, a solitary nocturnal mongoose of southern Africa; (b) the meerkat or suricate, Suricata suricatta.

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1901 Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1 2 Mr. W. E. de Winton exhibited a specimen of the large Grey Meerkat (Cynictis selousi de Winton).

1953 J. R. Ellerman et al. Southern Afr. Mammals 139 (heading) Suricata suricatta Schreber, 1776... Grey Meerkat; Slendertailed Meerkat; Suricate.

1984 D. Macdonald Encycl. Mammals I. 151/3 (heading) Selous' mongoose or Gray meerkat.

2008 N.Z. Herald (Nexis) 16 June Don't forget to visit the mischievous grey meerkats from southern Africa.

grey millet n. the common gromwell, Lithospermum officinale; cf. graymill n.

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1785 T. Martyn tr. J.-J. Rousseau Lett. Elements Bot. xvi. 186 The true Gromwell, which name is a corruption from Gray Millet, is not very common.

1884 Cassell's Encycl. Dict. IV. i. 66/3 Gromwell..gray-millet... Anciently administered for the cure of gravel.

1922 H. S. Salt Call of Wildflower xvi. 126 On the lawns that skirt the Knott [sc. Arnside Knott] one often sees..the gromwell or ‘grey millet’, and the beautiful little dwarf orchis.

2004 L. Fallows Wild Flowers Northern Eng. I. 55 (heading) Gromwell. Grey Millet.

grey mullet n. any of various silver-grey marine fishes of the family Mugilidae, several of which (esp. the widespread striped mullet, Mugil cephalus) are locally important food fishes.

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1694 P. Falle Acct. Isle of Jersey ii. 75 For Scale-fish, we have..Mullets, both grey and red, the Last a firm and most delicious Fish.

1788 G. Keate Acct. Pelew Islands xxiv. 302 The grey mullet, which they crimped, and frequently eat raw.

1813 J. Forbes Oriental Mem. I. iii. 53 The robal, the seir-fish, the grey mullet, and some others, are very good.

1931 E. G. Boulenger Fishes xvi. 128 The Grey Mullet (Mugil cephalus ) has a practically world-wide distribution.

2012 Herald Express (Torquay) (Nexis) 9 Feb. 63 This is a wonderful, versatile recipe you can make with a number of different species, mackerel works well, as does grey mullet.

grey nurse n. (also more fully grey nurse shark) a large shark, Carcharias taurus, of warm coastal waters worldwide; also called sand tiger.

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1852 G. C. Mundy Our Antipodes I. xii. 390 The ‘school-shark’ is dealt with as above. But if the ‘grey-nurse’, or old solitary shark be hooked, the cable is cut [etc.].

1917 Chambers's Jrnl. Sept. 589/2 The gray nurse, like the white shark, is noted for its daring ferocity.

1969 Man (Austral.) Mar. 12/2 There's even been grey nurse hooked here, and a blue marlin that had been hunted over from the deep-sea beds.

2004 Winnipeg Free Press 29 June a12 An Australian diver..says he speared a grey nurse shark in self-defence.

grey owl n. any of several grey-brown owls; esp. the tawny owl, Strix aluco, or (in later use) (U.S.) the eastern screech owl, Megascops (or Otus) asio.

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the world > animals > birds > order Strigiformes or owl > [noun] > family Strigidae > genus Strix > strix aluco (tawny owl)

jenny whooper1600

aluco1657

grey owl1673

ivy-owl1674

brown owl1678

tawny owl1766

wood-owl1809

hoot owl1885

1673 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words 83 The common gray or Ivy-Owl.

1772 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 62 386 (heading) Strix, 8. Nebulosa. New Species. The grey Owl.

1846 J. Brown Amer. Angler's Guide (ed. 2) vi. 105 The cream colored feather of the gray owl.

1900 Trans. Norfolk & Norwich Naturalists' Soc. 7 582 In my memory there were twenty Grey Owls, (the Tawny Owl..) where there are now one.

1939 Morning Herald (Uniontown, Pa.) 12 Apr. 7/7 Two workmen discovered a gray owl, its wingspan estimated to exceed three feet.

2008 T. Warhol Owls iii. 29 The gray owls usually make their daytime roosts at the bases of branches near the trunks of trees.

grey parrot n. the African grey parrot, Psittacus erithacus (cf. African grey n. at African n. and adj. Compounds 2b); (formerly also) any other parrot of (or formerly of) the subfamily Psittacinae.

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1598 W. Phillip tr. J. H. van Linschoten Disc. Voy. E. & W. Indies ii. 198/2 Grey parrots, Psittagen , or Sparweers.

a1625 W. Finch Observ. in S. Purchas Pilgrims (1625) IV. vi. 416 On land are great numbers of gray Parrets, as also store of Guinny Hennes.

1735 J. Atkins Voy. Guinea 197 The Country affords Plantains, Goats, Fowls, and particularly grey Parrots, all cheap.

1856 C. Knight Eng. Cycl.: Nat. Hist. IV. 486 The ash-coloured of Gray Parrot, Psittacus erythacus,..is a native of Africa.

1952 K. Lorenz King Solomon's Ring (1962) vii. 96 Colonel von Lukanus also possessed a grey parrot which became famous through a feat of memory.

1963 A. Wilson Wild Garden 67 Another grey parrot..sat on our balcony, recalling the Armistice by repeating over and over again the word ‘mufti’.

2010 Observer 21 Mar. (Guide to Pets section) 30/1 Grey parrots are quieter, but only the smaller senegal parrot is guaranteed not to have near-neighbours reaching for the earplugs.

grey partridge n. any of several greyish game birds; esp. (a) the common partridge of Europe, Perdix perdix; (b) (in India) the grey francolin, Francolinus pondicerianus.In quot. 1587: (perhaps) the bobwhite quail, Colinus virginianus.

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the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Phasianidae (pheasants, etc.) > [noun] > member of genus Francolinus > francolinus pondicerianus (grey partridge)

grey partridge1894

teetar1895

1587 R. Hakluyt tr. R. de Laudonnière Notable Hist. Foure Voy. Florida f. 6 As we passed throw these woods we saw nothing but Turkeycocks flying in the forrests, Partridges gray and redde, litle different from ours, but chiefly in bignesse.]

1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Griesche Perdrix griesche, the ordinarie, or gray, Partridge.

1787 G. Greive tr. F. J. de Chastellux Trav. N.-Amer. II. 324 The colour of his wings of a red grey, like our grey Partridges.

1894 A. Newton et al. Dict. Birds: Pt. III 692 (note) In India the name Grey Partridge is used for Ortygornis ponticerianus, which is perhaps a Francolin.

1954 J. Corbett Temple Tiger 126 We picked up..four grey partridge, two bush quail, and three hare.

2006 Field July 47/3 Although there were fewer redlegs than grey partridges present on the ground, the guns shot as many redlegs as they did greys.

grey pate n. a juvenile goldfinch, Carduelis carduelis, which has a greyish head without the bold markings of the adult.

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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > arboreal families > family Fringillidae (finch) > [noun] > subfamily Carduelinae > genus Carduelis > carduelis carduelis (goldfinch)

goldfincheOE

goldspinka1522

carduel?1530

thistle-finch1589

thistlewarp1598

fool's coata1682

grey pate1728

tailor-warbler1783

redcap1785

sheriff's man1796

goldie?1800

King Harry1824

sweet-william1848

tailor1848

thistle-bird1872

thistle-feeder1904

1728 Bird Fancier's Recreation 62 You may catch young Ones, which we call grey Pates, in June, July, and August.

1871 Bell's Life in London 14 Jan. 11/4 Seven cock goldfinches..were all ‘grey pates’, or young birds without any red on the head.

1904 Avicultural Mag. Oct. 24 The ‘grey-pate’ stage of the two species [sc. Common Goldfinch and Himalayan Goldfinch].

2003 Cage & Aviary Birds 6 Dec. 9/1 It is not uncommon to witness a grey pate (young goldfinch) running with a young bullfinch hen.

grey perch n. any of several greyish perch-like fishes; esp. (U.S.) the freshwater drum, Aplodinotus grunniens, or the white perch, Morone americana, both of North America.

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1849 H. W. Herbert Frank Forester's Fish & Fishing 248 The Grey Perch (Lucioperca Grisea) would seem to be a permanent variety of the above [sc. Lucioperca Americana]), if not a distinct species.

1897 H. S. Thomas Rod in India xviii. 253 The Grey Perch, Chrysophrys berda, is a similar esturial perch, to be taken with similar tackle, and in the same places as Lutianus roseus.

1911 Fisheries U.S. 1908 (U.S. Dept. Commerce & Labor) 313/1 ‘Grey perch’ [is applied] to the freshwater drum (Aplodinotus grunniens).

2009 J. Freeze They shall be Remembered i. 12 Yellow perch were running in the fresh water streams and ponds while grey perch and shad were caught in the salt water.

grey petrel n. a large grey-brown petrel with a white belly, Procellaria cinerea (family Procellariidae), of southern oceans; = pediunker n.Also called brown petrel.

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the world > animals > birds > order Procellariiformes > [noun] > member of family Procellariidae (petrel) > member of genus Procellaria > other types

petrel1602

Antarctic petrel1777

grey petrel1782

sea-nymph1875

whale-bird1875

pediunker1910

1782 W. Ellis Authentic Narr. Voy. Capt. Cook & Capt. Clerke II. xxix. 197 We..and saw a flock of ducks, and many small grey petrels.

1845 R. Howitt Australia 57 The albatrosses and grey petrels..are, in the midst of all this uproar, quite at home.

1934 Evening Post (Wellington, N.Z.) 23 June 17 The brown or grey petrel, which breeds on the Macquarie and the Antipodes Islands, occasionally visits the New Zealand coast.

2011 R. W. Doughty & V. Carmichael Albatross & Fish x. 135 The Grey Petrels..plunged into the water to retrieve the sinking baits.

grey phalarope n. the phalarope, Phalaropus fulicarius, which has grey and white plumage in winter, the underparts changing to a brick-red colour during the breeding season in the high Arctic; cf. red phalarope n. at red adj. and n. Compounds 1e(b)(ii).

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1771 J. R. Forster Catal. Animals N. Amer. 15 (table) Phalarope..Grey..Red..Brown.

1882 A. Newton Yarrell's Hist. Brit. Birds III. 315 The Red-necked Phalarope is at once distinguished from the Grey Phalarope..by its smaller size, with a longer and more slender beak.

a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) I. xx. 585 In the case of the emu and..Rhea, the cock bird does all the brooding; and so it is with the grey phalarope and a few other queer birds where the female does the courting.

2009 Daily Tel. 16 Jan. 3/2 A birdwatcher waited several hours to catch sight of a grey phalarope, a bird that visits Britain rarely.

† grey pie n. Obsolete any of several greyish passerine birds; esp. the great grey shrike, Lanius excubitor, or (formerly) the tropical mockingbird, Mimus gilvus.

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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > non-arboreal (larks, etc.) > [noun] > family Laniidae (shrike) > genus Lanius > lanius excubitor

mattagess1575

French pie1674

grey pie1678

murdering pie1688

white whisky john1772

1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. ii. xi. 87 The French do, not without reason, call it [sc. Lanius or Butcher] the Grey Pie.

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. xi. 235/1 The Bucher Bird, or Shrike..This Bird is of some called..a Grey Pie.

1783 W. B. Tegetmeier Reprint of Boddaert's Table des Planches Enluminéez d’Hist. Nat. (1874) 43 Grey pie of Brasil.

1838 W. Swainson Nat. Arrangem. & Relations Flycatchers (Naturalist's Libr.: Ornithol. X) 102 One of these appears to be the Grey Pie of Edwards.

1920 R. Carpenter Plainsman & Other Poems 121 The grey pie whistles, the sheep-bird calls.

grey pike n. chiefly North American any of several greyish pike-like fishes; esp. the walleye, Sander vitreus, or the sauger, S. canadensis.

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1827 Westm. Rev. Apr. 328 Several species of fish are particularly referred to [in Finnish myths]... Halewa Hauki, the grey pike (esox lucius).

1936 Pop. Mech. July 144 a/1 Among its [sc. the walleyed pike's] many names are gray pike, ground pike, green pike, etc.

2001 S. T. Ross Inland Fishes Mississippi 518/1 Sauger. Local names: gray pike, horsefish, jack, [etc.].

grey plover n. any of several wading birds that are greyish in their winter plumage; spec. an Arctic-breeding plover, Pluvialis squatarola, which has a black breast in the breeding season; = black-bellied plover n. at black-bellied adj. Compounds.

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the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > [noun] > family Charadriidae > genus Pluvialis > pluvialis squatarola (grey plover)

sea plover1634

whistling plover1668

strand plover1772

squatarole1819

whistling field bird1819

grey plover1838

whistling field plover1872

Swiss plover1874

pilot1880

the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > [noun] > family Charadriidae > genus Pluvialis > pluvialis apricaria (Eurasian golden plover)

green plover1550

spotted plover1750

golden plover1766

yellow plover1793

grey plover1885

squealer1888

the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Scolopacidae (snipes, etc.) > [noun] > genus Calidris > calidris canutus (knot)

knot1452

gnat1616

marl1699

sea-snipe1767

greyback1813

red-breasted sandpiper1813

grey plover1885

a1549 in Gentleman's Mag. May (1813) 427/1 Plovers grey the dosen, iij s.

1673 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words 91 The Grey-plover, Pluvialis cinerea.

1750 J. Birket Jrnl. 5 Aug. in Voy. N. Amer. (1916) 1 I observed a flock of Gray Plover.

1838 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 617/2 The gray plover (Charadrius squatarola)..distinguished..by a very small hind toe.

1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 195 Knot (Tringa canutus)... The sober tints of its feathers in winter have caused it to be called..Grey plover (Scotland).

1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 180 Golden plover... From the colour of the plumage, which varies according to age and the season of the year, they are called...Grey plover (Ireland).

a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) II. 880 We think of the grey plover, the interesting turnstone, the jack-snipe.., the sanderling, and the bar-tailed godwit.

2006 Independent 5 July 9/4 Migrants..such as Bar-tailed godwits, grey plovers, knots and dunlins.

grey rat n. the brown or Norway rat, Rattus norvegicus.

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1779 J. Ross New Vermin-catcher's Compan. 5 Many people will call the grey rats, Hanover Rats.

1860 R. F. Burton in Jrnl. Royal Geogr. Soc. 1859 29 220 The huts are as usual haunted by the grey rat and the musk-rat.

1920 West Virginia Med. Jrnl. 15 281 On March 25th the patient was bitten on the right index finger by a large grey rat.

2008 Philadelphia Daily News (Nexis) 9 Dec. 3 They are not the gray rats with large teeth living in sewers.

grey sandpiper n. now rare either of two greyish wading birds, the grey plover, Pluvialis squatarola, and (in New Zealand) the grey-tailed tattler, Tringa (or Heteroscelus) brevipes, which winters in the Pacific area.

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1776 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. (ed. 4, octavo) II. ii. 456 (heading) Grey Sandpiper.

1802 G. Montagu Ornithol. Dict. at Sandpiper In the Grey Sandpiper there is no back toe, but only a sort of spur, very small.

1901 Trans. & Proc. N.Z. Inst. 1900 33 253 Of the shore-birds, or waders, we have..the grey sandpiper (Heteractitis brevipes), and the greenshank.

1987 B. A. Lane Shorebirds Austral. v. 107/2 A small to medium-sized grey sandpiper with conspicuous orange legs and a long, upturned bill.

† grey school n. Scottish regional Obsolete a large salmon, Salmo salar, of a run occurring late in the spawning season.

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1804 R. Graham Fisherman's Let. to Proprietors & Occupiers of Salmon Fisheries in Solway 8 in J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. 508/1 Those too, it is probable, spawn sooner than the last and largest species, called the Grey Scool, which appear in the Solway and rivers about the middle of July.

1894 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Apr. 556/2 The river was well stocked with the ‘grey school’; it had run low, however, and a vicious frost set in.

1901 Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist. Apr. 83 The so-called ‘Grey-School’ which keeps the bad company of these bull-trout—both inferior classes of fish.

grey seal n. a large greyish seal, Halichoerus grypus, of the North Atlantic, typically found in the vicinity of rocky shores.

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1792 T. Pennant Arctic Zool. I. (ed. 2) 183 The first is the Grey Seal, Grâ Siäl, which when just born is wholly yellow.

1879 E. P. Wright Animal Life 124 The Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) is met with around the north and west coasts of Scotland.

1958 Times 20 May 4/3 An annual cull should be carried out..to limit further increases in the grey seal population.

2002 G. M. Eberhart Mysterious Creatures II. 381/2 The Gray seal (Halichoerus grypus ) can grow to 7 feet 6 inches in Canadian waters.

grey shark n. any of numerous sharks of a greyish colour; esp. a requiem shark (family Carcharhinidae).

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the world > animals > fish > subclass Elasmobranchii > order Pleurotremata > [noun] > family Carcharinidae > carcharinus americanus (grey shark)

grey shark1804

1804 G. Shaw Gen. Zool. V. 346 Grey shark.

1881 Cassell's Nat. Hist. V. 31 The Grey Shark is sometimes eleven or twelve feet long.

1910 H. N. Baruch Fisherman's Paradise 41 We had run into a school of grey sharks that mingle with tarpon and have acquired some of their traits.

1981 R. M. Alexander Chordates (ed. 2) iv. 112 Its [sc. the upper jaw's] range of movement is small in dogfish, but large in the grey sharks (family Carcharinidae [sic]).

2012 Mercury (S. Afr.) (Nexis) 27 Jan. 27 The water has been clean but a bit on the cold side, and a few grey sharks have been caught.

grey shrike n. any of several greyish shrikes of the genus Lanius; esp. the great grey shrike, L. excubitor; frequently with distinguishing word.

ΚΠ

1781 J. Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds I. 183 (margin) Grey S[hrike].

1849 P. H. Gosse Nat. Hist.: Birds 117 The Grey Shrike..is known by the appellations of Butcher-bird, Mattagass, Mountain Magpie, Murdering Pie, Shreek, and Shrike.

1902 J. A. Owen & G. S. Boulger Country Month by Month (new ed.) 181 The lesser grey shrike is a very occasional visitant to our country, but the great grey shrike, another member of the family, visits us fairly often.

2002 G. E. Watson in W. M. F. Jashemski & F. G. Meyer Nat. Hist. Pompeii xvi. 383/1 An overly large gray shrike is perched on the top of an oleander.

grey skate n. the common or blue skate of the eastern Atlantic, Dipturus batis, which is the largest known skate.

ΚΠ

1807 Scots Mag. May 363/2 The proper Skate (Raia Batis,) in which the row of spines stops at the rump, leaving the back smooth, is here called grey skate.

1910 Brit. Sea Anglers' Soc. Q. Mar. 89 The grey skate holds the record for the largest fish taken with rod and line in British waters.

2010 P. M. Kyne & C. A. Simpfendorfer in J. C. Carrier et al. Sharks & their Relatives II. ii. 41 Thickbody skate Amblyraja frerichsi and gray skate Dipturus batis have been documented to ~2600 m.

grey snail n. the garden snail, Helix aspersa.

ΚΠ

a1637 G. Markham Compl. Farriar (1639) xvii. 145 Take a fat sucking whelpe, flay it, and boyle it, then stop the bodie as full as it can hold of gray snayles, and blacke snayles.

1728 T. Trowell Kentish Farrier 56 An handful of grey snails, shells and all.

1878 Garden 26 Jan. 91 The grey snail often invades the beds.

1905 Monthly Bull. Div. Zool. (Pennsylvania State Dept. Agric.) May 185 The large grey snails or slugs..are of no use in the economy of mankind.

2012 Telegraph (Nexis) 28 June 22 The enthusiastic forager of the non-protected, common ‘grey’ snails may get put off at the preparation stage: they must be starved in a container for 10 days.

grey snake n. any of various greyish snakes; esp. the venomous Hemiaspis damelii (family Elapidae) of Queensland, Australia.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Colubridae > miscellaneous types of

grey snake1703

garter-snake1775

boomslang1793

scarlet snake1842

blunt head1869

tiger-snake1869

house snake1870

ground-snake1885

lycodont1887

mole snake1893

sling-snake1895

file snake1912

mussurana1914

the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Elapidae or Najidae > miscellaneous types of

grey snake1703

copperhead1878

shield snake1910

taipan1933

1703 W. Dampier Voy. New Holland ii. 40 Small Black and small Grey-Snake; the great Land, and the great Water-Snake.

1863 J. G. Wood Illustr. Nat. Hist. (new ed.) III. 134 The Grey Snake of Jamaica (Dromicus ater).

1911 Register (Adelaide) 29 June 5/3 On Monday Mr. Larssen killed a grey snake about 3 ft long.

2012 L. K. Kurtis et al. Queensland's Threatened Animals 24/2 The Grey Snake is not inclined to bite unless provoked or roughly handled and is not considered dangerous.

grey snapper n. any of several tropical game and food fishes of a greyish colour, chiefly of the family Lutjanidae; esp. Lutjanus griseus of the Caribbean and West Atlantic (also called mangrove snapper n. (b) at mangrove n.¹ Compounds 2).

ΚΠ

1795 C. Chisholm Ess. Malignant Pestilential Fever W. Indian Islands 28 Black, red, and grey snappers..are amongst the best of the sea-fish.

1876 G. B. Goode Catal. Fishes Bermudas 54 Gray Snapper... Its extreme cunning..has gained it the soubriquet of ‘Sea Lawyer’.

1954 Cairns Post (Austral.) 2 July 3/3 The Dan Higgins trophy for the largest grey snapper [was won] by J. Jeffreys.

2010 N. Toppino Insiders' Guide Florida Keys & Key West 210/2 The mangrove snapper, or grey snapper (Lutjanus griseus), though often haunting the coral reef, also can be found inshore in mangrove habitats.

grey snipe n. chiefly North American (now rare) any of several greyish wading birds; esp. the short-billed dowitcher, Limnodromus griseus.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Scolopacidae (snipes, etc.) > [noun] > limnodromus griseus (dowitcher)

grey snipe1756

red-breasted snipe?a1808

dowitcher1841

brown-back1844

1756 P. Browne Civil & Nat. Hist. Jamaica 477 Tringa 2. Subcinerea... The larger grey Snipe with a white neck.

1870 Game Laws Pennsylvania in Fur, Fin & Feather (1872) 120 No person shall kill, capture, take..any gray snipe.

1904 Smithsonian Misc. Coll. 72 185 From the thoracic cavity of a Gray Snipe, Gallinago Wilsonii, Dr. Warren obtained five Flukes 18 mm. long.

1957 Anderson (Indiana) Herald 26 Dec. 20/2 Such delicacies as gray snipe, blue geese, white geese and mallards.

grey trout n. †(a) a form of the European brown trout, Salmo trutta (formerly regarded as a distinct species, S. eriox) (obsolete); (b) (North American) the lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush, or the weakfish, Cynoscion regalis.

ΘΚΠ

salmon-trout1421

scurf1483

grey trout1557

cock1677

sea-trout1745

slob trout1849

fossack1884

the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > family Sciaenidae (drums) > [noun] > member of genus Cynoscion (squeteague)

bass1530

trout1604

weakfish1686

sea bass1765

corvina1787

salmon1798

sheep's head1836

squeteague1838

grey trout1856

white trout1861

roncador1867

shad-trout1884

squit1884

bastard trout1888

wheat-fish1888

yellowfin1888

1557 W. Turner in C. Gesner Historiæ Animalium (1558) IV. 1296 Accepi eundem in alijs Britanniæ prouincijs uocari a Gray trout, & in alijs a Skurf.

1655 T. Moffett & C. Bennet Healths Improvem. xix. 188 Gray-trouts..lurk..like the Alderlings under the roots of great Alders.

1794 W. Hutchinson Hist. Cumberland I. 96 Fishes. Grey trout,..the redfin, minnow, loach.

1856 C. Lanman Adventures Wilds U.S. II. 79 The principal fish which it yields are the common trout, tuladi or great gray trout, and a small species of white fish.

1944 Ld. Alanbrooke Diary 18 Sept. in War Diaries (2001) 595 Up at 6 am and out to troll for grey trout in the main Oriskany Lake.

2006 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 19 May f4 Island fishing includes crab, gray trout, striped bass and flounder.

grey wagtail n. a migratory Eurasian wagtail, Motacilla cinerea, with a grey back and variable amounts of yellow on the underparts, which typically frequents fast-flowing streams and rivers.

ΚΠ

1676 F. Willughby & J. Ray Ornithologiæ ii. xvii. 172 Motacilla cinerea... The grey Wagtail.

1758 G. Edwards Gleanings Nat. Hist. I. 106/1 Though he [sc. Albin] calls it the Yellow, his description is not other than what he has transcribed out of Willughby, relating to the Grey Wagtail.

1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 44 Grey wagtail (Motacilla melanope)... Oat seed bird (Yorkshire).

1937 A. W. Boyd Diary 5 Mar. in Country Diary Cheshire Man (1946) 134 For over a month a grey wagtail has been living in a ditch near my house.

2006 Bird Watching Aug. 101/2 Less usual was a pair of Grey Wagtails breeding in a building in Central Swindon some way from water.

grey warbler n. (a) any of several greyish Old World warblers, esp. of the genus Sylvia (frequently with distinguishing word); (b) a small New Zealand songbird, Gerygone igata (family Acanthizidae) (also called grey gerygone).

ΚΠ

1829 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom VI. 444 The Gray Warbler... White-Throat of the English.

1870 Trans. & Proc. N.Z. Inst. 1869 2 48 Then we might note where..the grey warbler (Piripiri) with quivering notes flustered near its cosy, dome-shaped nest.

1905 E. E. Oliver Hill Station Matheran ii. 207 The Allied Grey Warbler... Sylvia affinis.

2002 T. Stevenson & J. Fanshawe Birds E. Afr. 394 (heading) Red-winged Grey Warbler Drymocichla incana.

2011 C. L. Miller Implementing Sustainability iii. 80 Some native birds such as the tui, kereru, fantail and grey warblers have proved to be highly adaptable.

grey whale n. a medium-sized, migratory baleen whale, Eschrichtius robustus, now chiefly of the North Pacific, with grey patches on its dark skin.

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the world > animals > mammals > order Cetacea (whales) > suborder Mystacoceti > [noun] > genus Eschrichtius (grey whale)

grey whale1834

grey1849

hardhead1860

rip-sack1860

greyback1869

1834 R. M. Martin Hist. Brit. Colonies II. iv. 328/1 The gray whale is longer than the above mentioned [sc. the true Greenland balænæ].

1861 Harper's Mag. Oct. 595/2 These must be the California or gray whales, so abundant on this coast.

1955 Sci. Amer. Jan. 67/1 Some cetologists believe that the gray whale survived along our Atlantic seaboard until historic times.

2007 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 19 Oct. d8/1 Gray whales were blowing on the horizon.

grey wolf n. the common wolf of Eurasia and North America, Canis lupus, which is typically grey in colour; also (and in earliest use) figurative.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [noun] > genus Canis > canis lupus (wolf)

wolfc725

greyOE

Isegrima1300

grey wolf1595

lupus?a1600

witch's horse1865

1595 T. W. tr. P. Leroy et al. Pleasant Satyre 84 If any of my gouernment thrust in himselfe to speak of peace, I runne vpon him as a grey or russet woolfe.

1629 W. Davenant Trag. Albovine iii. i. Sig. F3^v Thou gumblest like a gray Wolfe.

1768 T. Smollett Present State All Nations I. 195 Lapland, in common with Norway, is infested by a great number of grey wolves and bears.

1814 M. Lewis & W. Clark Trav. Missouri (1815) I. 206 We caught in a trap a large gray wolf.

1904 Grand Rapids Evening Press 8 June 4 In plain words, a gray wolf, in Chicago phraseology, is a professional grafter.

1936 D. McCowan Animals Canad. Rockies iii. 30 The grey wolf, also known as timber wolf and formerly as buffalo wolf, is grey in colour with a liberal sprinkling of black and brown in the coat.

2009 J. Struthers Red Sky at Night 34 For centuries, wild grey wolves (Canis lupus) roamed around Britain.

C2. Compounds of the noun.

a. Instrumental.Some of the following could be construed as parasynthetic uses of the adjective: compare Compounds 1a.

grey-brindled adj.

ΚΠ

1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. II. iv. iii. 164 The great Northeast sends up evermore his grey brindled dawn.

1859 Notes & Queries 30 July 100/1 The story of an old grey-brindled mastiff.

1891 Daily News 3 Dec. 5/1 Our wild cat..was a fine, powerful animal, grey brindled.

2007 B. Plott Story of Plott Hound 90 Boss was a large, heavy-boned saddleback... Tige was a smaller, gray-brindled dog.

grey-clad adj.

ΚΠ

a1745 J. Richardson Morning Thoughts (1776) 258 I see the dawn, the grey-clad nymphs retire.

1793 W. Wordsworth Descr. Sketches in Misc. Poems (1820) I. 126 Though now along the shade Where erst at will the grey-clad peasant strayed, Gleam war's discordant garments through the trees.

1895 Cent. Mag. Aug. 499/1 Gray-clad, white-bonneted sisters of charity.

1993 G. Donaldson Ville 342 Nothing but a column of gray-clad manchildren facing a long line of girlfriends and mothers.

grey-lit adj.

ΚΠ

1841 Southern Literary Messenger Mar. 245/1 With its grey-lit light the orient sky is shaded with rainbow tints of mellow lustre.

1869 D. G. Rossetti Poems (1870) 193 Thine eyes gray-lit in shadowing hair above.

1973 T. Crouse Boys on Bus i. vii. 167 In the greylit darkness, they were peering at a wall that contained fourteen TV screens.

2008 C. J. Holcroft Canyon v. 47 They waded their way out..into grey-lit day.

grey-speckled adj.

ΚΠ

1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball iv. xxvi. 484 Two graynes, harde, rounde, gray speckled, blackish.

1671 J. Ogilby tr. O. Dapper et al. Atlas Chinensis 590 These Wizards have many times horrible Toads that sit near them, with a thick gray speckled Skin.

1808 R. Forsyth Beauties Scotl. V. 60 Grey-speckled diver (loon).

1859 E. Curry tr. Sick-bed of Cuchulainn in Atlantis 2 105 Steeds with gray-speckled manes.

1998 P. Powell Pagoda 61 She was tall and robust, with gray-speckled eyes.

grey-streaked adj.

ΚΠ

1677 N. Cox Gentleman's Recreation (ed. 2) i. 40 White, and black and white, and grey streak'd white, are also the most beautiful.

1829 Edinb. Lit. Jrnl. 2 May 340/1 The streets are neatly paved..with a grey-streaked marble.

1939 Appleton (Wisconsin) Post-Crescent 2 Oct. 12/3 The pine siskin looks much like a sparrow with its forked tail and gray-streaked body.

2009 R. Jordan & B. Sanderson Gathering Storm xliii. 678 Romanda, gray-streaked hair up in a bun, sat primly in a yellow dress.

† grey-streaken adj. Obsolete rare

ΚΠ

1854 R. S. Surtees Handley Cross (new ed.) xx. 148 Grey-streaken locks.

grey-tinted adj.

ΚΠ

1800 H. Wigstead Remarks Tour N. & S. Wales 9 The grey tinted distant Welsh hills.

1870 M. Bridgman Robert Lynne I. vii. 106 That's what makes life appear so dull and gray-tinted to me.

1998 R. Robotham Zachary's Wings (1999) ii. viii. 164 She found herself outside a storefront bar with gray-tinted windows.

greywork n. [probably after Middle Low German grāwerk, grāwark, grauwerk] now historical grey furs collectively; goods made of grey fur; cf. sense B. 3.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > skin or hide > skin with hair attached or fur > [noun]

panec1300

greywork1311

pelure?c1325

furrurea1387

peltrya1450

peltry warea1450

furs1555

bundwork1663

peltage1698

peltries1763

furrieries1784

society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with skins > [noun] > furriery > product of

greywork1311

1311 Liber Horn in D. A. Trotter Multilingualism in Later Medieval Brit. (2000) 162 Grisovere [glossed] graiwerk.

1349 in M. T. Löfvenberg Contrib. Middle Eng. Lexicogr. & Etymol. (1946) 21 (MED) [A tun full of fells called] Greywerk.

a1399 in W. G. Benham Oath Bk. Colchester (1907) 7 A Tymber Grey Werk, j quart.

1480 Table Prouffytable Lernynge (Caxton) (1964) 2 Of makers of greywerke.

a1500 (a1451) in Ld. Clermont Wks. J. Fortescue (1869) I. 553 They brynge grete Merchandyse, as..23 Grey werke, 24 Rede werke, and all maner of 25 Peltry.

1891 A. Chase & E. Clow Stories Industry II. 66 ‘Gray work’ comprises the furs of the gray squirrel and of the domestic cat.

1985 E. W. Moore Fairs of Medieval Eng. i. i. 58 Of some £375 spent by royal agents on greywork, no less than £207..was marketed at the fairs of Boston..and Ely.

† greyworker n. Obsolete a furrier.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > workers with specific materials > worker with skins or hides > [noun] > worker with furs

furrourc1330

greyworker1480

furrier1575

1480 Table Prouffytable Lernynge (Caxton) (1964) 43 Vedast the graywerker Solde whiler to my lady A pylche of graye.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	grey
释义	greygrayadj.n. Brit. /ɡreɪ/, U.S. /ɡreɪ/ Forms: α. early Old English greig, Old English græi an (weak declension, accusative, transmission error), Old English græw, Old English gregg- (inflected form, rare), Old English–early Middle English græg, Old English–Middle English grei, late Old English–early Middle English greg, Middle English greȝe, Middle English greiȝe, Middle English greyȝe, Middle English–1500s greie, Middle English–1500s greye, Middle English– grey, 1500s grea, 1500s gree. β. Middle English grae, Middle English grai, Middle English–1600s graie, Middle English–1600s graye, Middle English– gray, 1800s gry (Irish English (Wexford)); Scottish pre-1700 gra, pre-1700 grae, pre-1700 graye, pre-1700 1700s– gray. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian grē, Middle Dutch grau, graeu, grou (in Old Dutch only in the place name Grawenvene (1132); Dutch grauw), Old Saxon -grē (only in appulgrē dapple grey, perhaps showing formal influence from Old Frisian; Middle Low German grā, grāwe), Old High German grāo (inflected grāw-; Middle High German grā, German grau), Old Icelandic grár, Old Swedish grar (Swedish grå), Old Danish gra, graa (Danish grå); further etymology uncertain and disputed. Further etymology. Perhaps related to classical Latin rāvus (see note at roan adj.), although this form presents a number of phonological difficulties; perhaps (if an original meaning ‘shining’ is assumed) ultimately < the same Indo-European base as Old Church Slavonic zĭrěti to see, look, and (with different ablaut grade) Lithuanian žėrėti to shine, sparkle, glisten. If this possible ulterior etymology is accepted, the word may perhaps be very distantly related to the Germanic adjective with the meaning ‘grey’ reflected by e.g. Old Frisian grīs , Middle Dutch, Dutch grijs , Old Saxon grīs (Middle Low German grīs ), Old High German grīs (rare; Middle High German grīs , German greis ), a Latin or Romance borrowing of which is ultimately reflected by French gris gris adj., and a North Germanic nominal cognate of which is reflected by grice n.¹ Form history. The evidence of the Germanic cognates, especially the Old High German evidence, suggests that the Germanic base showed a w -extension and, similarly to other colour adjectives, inflected as a wa -stem; compare e.g. sallow adj., yellow adj. The Old English word shows stem-final w only in the rare form grǣw . This form (attested as weak inflected grǣwan and also in the compound deorcegrǣw dark grey) seems to show i-mutation of original long ā , and is perhaps comparable to Old High German grāwi , a rare by-form of Old High German grāo , which in addition to w shows the reflex of a j -suffix (and inflects as a regular ja -stem). In the more common Old English stem form grǣg the final g (occasionally also spelt i , ig ) perhaps also represents the reflex of a j -suffix, which in this case seems to adjoin the stem immediately, although the details of the phonological development are unclear and disputed (for a comparable variation of the stem-final consonant see e.g. forms of glee n.). Alternative suggestions have been offered which would involve interpreting the final g as a velar palatalized after the preceding front vowel of the stem (i.e. as an original g ) rather than as an inherited semivowel. Spelling variation in Old English and later developments cannot throw any light on this issue. The preceding stem vowel is apparently West Saxon ǣ , Anglian ē , as expected, and either of these, in either case, would regularly yield early Middle English ei after vocalization of the word-final consonant. Spelling history from late Middle English onwards. The variation between spellings in ei , ey , etc., and in ai , ay , etc., in later Middle English results from the general Middle English merger of the ei and ai diphthongs. Among words of similar phonological shape in Old English, see clay n. for similar variation followed by eventual selection of a spelling in ay as standard, but whey n. and (disregarding the divergent modern pronunciation) key n.¹ for similar variation followed by eventual selection of a spelling in ey . The present word is distinguished by the fact that both spelling types continued in frequent use for a very long time, and different spellings have been selected as standard in U.S. English (gray ) and in British English (generally grey , although individual usage can vary). Concerning contemporary variation N.E.D. (1900) noted: ‘With regard to the question of usage, an inquiry by Dr. Murray in Nov. 1893 elicited a large number of replies, from which it appeared that in Great Britain the form grey is the more frequent in use, notwithstanding the authority of Johnson and later English lexicographers, who have all given the preference to gray. In answer to questions as to their practice, the printers of The Times stated that they always used the form gray; Messrs. Spottiswoode and Messrs. Clowes always used grey; other eminent printing firms had no fixed rule. Many correspondents said that they used the two forms with a difference of meaning or application: the distinction most generally recognized being that grey denotes a more delicate or a lighter tint than gray. Others considered the difference to be that gray is a ‘warmer’ colour, or that it has a mixture of red or brown.’ For other attempts that have sometimes been made to distinguish between the two spellings semantically compare:1835 G. Field Chromatogr. xx. 166 Gray denotes a class of cool cinereous colours, faint of hue; whence we have blue grays, olive grays, green grays, purple grays, and grays of all hues, in which blue predominates... In this sense, the semi-neutral Gray is distinguished from the neutral Grey, which springs in an infinite series from the mixture of the neutral black and white:—between grays and greys, however, there is no intermediate, since where colour ends in the one, neutrality commences in the other, and vice versa.1867 G. W. Samson Elem. Art Crit. v. i. 483 Professional, if not primitive English usage has made a distinction between gray and grey. The spelling gray may with propriety be employed to designate admixtures in which simple black and white are employed. The form grey may indicate those admixtures which have the same general hue, but into which blue and its compounds more or less slightly enter.1925 C. Platt Pop. Superstitions vi. 134 An attempt has been made to differentiate between ‘grey’ and ‘gray’—many artists claiming that the old spelling should only be used for mixtures of white and black; the other form being reserved for those tones where some other colour has been introduced.2008 Threepenny Rev. Spring 113 16 Actual editing consists so much of petting and patting beautiful writing. With the poets, that means allowing for differences... Allow ‘grey’ and ‘gray’ in the same volume (the former greenish and the latter more blue: the opposite of what I'd guessed). Notes on specific senses. The theory that some early uses of the adjective imply brightness (compare senses A. 1a and A. 5) rests in part on the hypothesis that the original meaning of the Germanic base is ‘shining’ and has been disputed (see C. P. Biggam Grey in Old Eng. (1998) 80–4, and compare E. R. Anderson Folk-taxon. in Early Eng. (2003) 124–8). Earlier currency of senses A. 3b and B. 2b is perhaps implied respectively by surnames and place names (see below). With sense B. 3 compare gro n. 1 and its likely Scandinavian models, and also Old English grāscinnen made of miniver (see skin n.). Compare also ( < French) gris n. The following Old English example has sometimes been interpreted as showing an early compound of two colour words grǣghǣwe ( < grey adj. + haw adj.; compare Compounds 1b), but Dict. Old Eng. at grǣg, sense 2h, interprets it as showing two separate words (thus in the manuscript; perhaps transferred from a missing gloss of Latin glauca (nominative) in the putative source: Aldhelm Aenigmata 21. 1 Corpore sulcato, nec non ferrugine glauca, Sum formata, fricans rimis informe metallum ):eOE Cleopatra Gloss. in W. G. Stryker Lat.-Old Eng. Gloss. in MS Cotton Cleopatra A.III (Ph.D. diss., Stanford Univ.) (1951) 193 Ferrugine, græg, hæwe isene oþþe sinderome. With uses in animal names at Compounds 1c(b) compare sense A. 1c, and also grey goose n. Occurrence in charter bounds and place names. The word occurs commonly in boundary markers in Anglo-Saxon charter bounds; compare:eOE Bounds (Sawyer 298) in D. Hooke Pre-Conquest Charter-bounds Devon & Cornwall (1994) 105 Fram smalan cumbes heafde to græwan stane.OE Bounds (Sawyer 738) in W. de G. Birch Cartularium Saxonicum (1893) III. 435 Andlang mid slædes on þa grægan hane, of þære grægan hane andlang hearpdene. The word is also attested early in place names, as Greitreu , Herefordshire (1086; now Greytree), Greherst , Derbyshire (1086; also Grayhirst (13th cent.); now lost), etc. Those in the former Danelaw may have originally shown the early Scandinavian cognate (compare Old Icelandic grár and the discussion at gro n.), as is apparently the case in Grarigg , Westmorland (second half of the 12th cent.; now Grayrigg). Some place names appear to show use of the word as noun, as Greshull' , Berkshire (1198; also early 13th cent. as grægsole in a copy of a 10th-cent. charter; now Grazeley), Graysty , Cheshire (1308; now Gresty), and perhaps Graiwella , Hampshire (1167; now Greywell). They have frequently been assumed to imply earlier currency of the word in the sense ‘badger’ (see sense B. 2b), but are perhaps more likely to show the sense ‘wolf’, which is attested in Old English verse (see sense B. 2a). Surname evidence. The word occurs early as a surname, e.g. Baldwin Grai (1173), Willelmus Grei (1198), William le Greie (1296), and these attestations perhaps imply earlier currency of sense A. 3b. Also attested early as a surname element, e.g. Greiberd (1207; see sense A. 3a and greybeard n.), Artur Grayfot (1243), Gilbertus Greyschanke (c1273), Ralph Greyeye (13th cent.; compare sense A. 5), etc. Some surnames show a northern Middle English variant gra-, which perhaps reflects the influence of the early Scandinavian cognate. A. adj. I. With reference to colour. 1. a. Designating the colour of ash, lead, flint, an overcast sky, etc., being intermediate between black and white, or composed of a mixture of black and white with little or no positive hue, or of a mixture of black and white with another colour (esp. blue or brown); of or having this colour.In early use perhaps sometimes implying brightness, in Old English esp. that of metal (see note in etymology, and cf. sense A. 5).In Old English glosses rendering a number of Latin colour adjectives in senses that are not always entirely clear, including classical Latin croceus (see croceous adj.), ferrūgineus (see ferrugineous adj.), and glaucus (see glaucous adj.). In quot. OE² at α. perhaps with reference to the colour of a textile dye as in the probable source of the gloss ( Isidore Origines 19. 28. 8); cf. sense A. 1d(a). ΘΚΠ the world > matter > colour > named colours > grey or greyness > [adjective] greyeOE grisc1386 grizzlec1425 grison1438 kennet-colour1530 grisy1590 grizzly1594 grisard1607 α. eOE Épinal Gloss. (1974) 26 Glaucum, hæuui uel grei. eOE Corpus Gloss. (1890) 54/2 Feruginius, greig. eOE Metres of Boethius (partly from transcript of damaged MS) (2009) v. 8 Oft smylte sæ suðerne wind græge glashlutre grimme gedrefed [read gedrefeð],..onhrerað hronmere. OE Genesis A (1931) 2865 Ac hine se halga wer gyrde grægan sweorde. OE Harley Gloss. (1966) 114 Croceus, i. rubicundus, rubeus, geolu uel græg. OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 178 Nis na Godes wunung on ðam grægum stanum.., ac he wunað on heofonum. c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham Poems (1902) 140 Sonne and mone and sterren greyȝe. c1450 J. Capgrave Solace of Pilgrims (Bodl. 423) (1911) 73 (MED) The hed of petir is a brood face with mech her on his berd and þat is of grey colour be twix whit and blak. a1475 Sidrak & Bokkus (Lansd.) (Ph.D. diss., Univ. of Washington) (1965) 8940 Watir is grey of nature. 1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 ii. iii. 19 It stucke vpon him as the sunne In the grey vault of heauen. View more context for this quotation 1623 W. Traheron & E. Grimeston tr. P. Mexia Imperiall Hist. 87 This affection extended it self euen to the Emperours themselves: as now to Vitellivs, who fauoured the grey colour. 1706 Philos. Trans. 1704–05 (Royal Soc.) 24 1741 There were remaining some exceeding small Particles of Tobacco, that were not turn'd into these Grey Ashes. 1756 P. Browne Civil & Nat. Hist. Jamaica ii. ii. 228 The seeds are of a grey colour. 1821 W. M. Craig Lect. Drawing iii. 184 Your next proceeding will be to insert the grey tints. 1882 ‘Ouida’ In Maremma I. 178 The plain grew yellower and the sky greyer. 1927 Contemp. Rev. July 97 The chi moth is wonderfully concealed when it rests on a grey stone wall. 1987 M. Ondaatje In Skin of Lion (1988) 155 Cato sits dead centre, at the food table, the pipe smoke moves live and grey around him. 2001 B. Broady In this Block there lives Slag 23 The prams were all expensive, grey steel and rainbow-canopied. β. c1330 (?c1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) 4093 Þemperour..doþ make onan A piler of gray marbel ston.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 9886 Þis castel..It es hei sett a-pon þe crag, Grai [Gött. Gray] and hard.c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 1330 (MED) He mas to graue sum in grete & sum in gray marble.1527 L. Andrewe tr. H. Brunschwig Vertuose Boke Distyllacyon sig. Fij^v It is rede that the graye water snakes engendreth them with the eale.1571 T. Hill Contempl. Mankinde xxii. f. 99^v In colour like vnto the gray skie, not shyning or glistering.1762 J. Macpherson Fingal iii. 41 From the gray mist of the ocean, the white-sailed ships of Fingal appear.1816 S. T. Coleridge Christabel 4 The night is chill, the cloud is gray.1874 J. S. Blackie On Self-culture 14 Ask yourself..not what you saw printed on a gray page, but what you see pictured in the glowing gallery of your imagination.1938 Life 4 Apr. 7/2 The picture of Anthony Eden on the cover shows him wearing a gray topper.1970 Bull. Atomic Scientists Apr. 2/3 So much particulate is produced each morning from coal or oil burning that the air has a gray color, rather than the brown of nitrogen dioxide.2003 Philadelphia May 119/3 The Rosenbluths' house is..built of gray stone. b. With prefixed noun or adjective: denoting a particular shade of this colour.For many of these see the first element, as: black-, blue-grey, etc.; bluish-, brownish-, pinkish-grey, etc.; bluey-, mousy-, pearly-grey, etc.; ash-, flint-, pewter-, sea-grey, etc.; French, Oxford grey, etc. See also dapple-grey adj., iron-grey adj., silver-grey adj., etc.In quot. OE¹ rendering elbus, post-classical Latin form of classical Latin helvus dull yellow, dun, probably with reference to the description of the colour as ‘intermediate between black and white’ in Isidore Origines 19. 28. 7. ΚΠ OE Antwerp-London Gloss. (2011) 102 Elbus, deorcegræg. OE Maxims II 31 Ea of dune sceal flodgræg feran. 1445 in W. Brown Yorks. Deeds (1922) 8 (MED) [A mare of] myrkgray [colour]. 1590 Edinb. Test. XXII. f. 197^v, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Blew Tua dosone of blew gray bonnettis. 1640 J. Parkinson Theatrum Botanicum iii. xxxiv. 420 The rootes are a number of very small blackish gray fibres or threds. 1666 J. Davies tr. C. de Rochefort Hist. Caribby-Islands i. vi. 35 While it is young the bark is..of a dark-grey colour. 1724 D. Defoe Fortunate Mistress 262 A plain Coach, no gilding or painting, lin'd with a light-grey Cloath. 1770 J. R. Forster tr. P. Kalm Trav. N. Amer. I. 82 A pale-grey limestone. 1842 T. B. Macaulay Battle Lake Regillus in Lays Anc. Rome 104 High on a gallant charger Of dark-grey hue he rode. 1859 R. H. Semple tr. P. Bretonneau et al. Mem. Diphtheria 272 Thin elastic layers, of a whitish-grey colour. 1883 Truth 31 May 747/1 A very becoming gown of silver-grey surah. 1915 T. N. Dale Calcite Marble & Dolomite Eastern Vermont 15 The marble..is of a general medium-gray shade. 1958 I. Murdoch Bell i. 19 He wore dark grey flannels and a white open-necked shirt. 2002 M. Kurlansky Salt (2003) xii. 200 Several acres of barren, whitish brown or whitish gray earth. c. Of an animal: having grey or greyish fur, feathers, etc. Also: (of the fur, feathers, etc., of an animal) grey or greyish in appearance.See also Compounds 1c(b). ΚΠ OE Andreas (1932) 371 Hornfisc plegode..ond se græga mæw wælgifre wand. OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1900) II. 324 Þa læg se græga wulf þe bewiste þæt heafod. a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 1723 Sep or got, haswed, arled, or grei, Ben don fro iacob fer a-wei. c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer Parl. Fowls (Fairf. 16) (1880) l. 335 There was the tiraunte with his fethres donne And grey, I mene the goshauke. 1575 G. Gascoigne Noble Arte Venerie lxvi. 184 As touchyng their heare, they haue a grey coate..waxyng greyer and greyer the elder that they bee. 1593 G. Gifford Dialogue Witches sig. Bi Shee had three or foure imps, some call them puckrels, one like a gray catte, an other like a weasell. 1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 736 One of them hath a backe of a siluer colour,..and this is Ictinus canus, a gray Kite-wolfe. 1686 R. Blome Gentlemans Recreation xxiii. 109/2 They differ from House-Rats, being grayer and longer Haired. 1750 G. Hughes Nat. Hist. Barbados 70 The Grey Gaulding. This bird is seldom seen in this island. 1793 J. Leslie tr. Comte de Buffon Nat. Hist. Birds VIII. 244 The top of the neck is clothed with similar grey feathers. 1829 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom VI. 403 The King of the Ant-eaters..is about the size of a quail, and its grey plumage is agreeably variegated. 1880 E. F. Sandeman Eight Months in Ox-waggon 236 A small grey bird with a reddish beak, the size of a sparrow, had flown alongside and round the waggon for the last mile of our trek. 1919 S. Anderson Winesburg Ohio 27 For a long time there was a feud between the baker and a grey cat that belonged to..the druggist. 1947 N.Z. Listener 10 Jan. 21/3 He loved the feel of the soft grey fur of the opossums he caught. 2006 Science 11 Aug. 783/1 A small songbird with gray feathers and an eye-catching white rump. d. Of clothing, fabric, or yarn. (a) Of a grey hue or tint.In quot. ?c1225 probably alluding to an ecclesiastical order; cf. sense A. 6.See also grey hodden at hodden n. 2a. ΚΠ ?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 11 Her in is religiun naut iþe wide hod..ne in þe greiȝe cuuel. 1466 Expenses J. Paston's Funeral in Paston Lett. (1904) IV. 230 For grey lynen cloth and sylk frenge for the hers. a1500 (?a1375) Hermit & Outlaw (BL Add. 22577) in Englische Studien (1890) 14 171 (MED) That othyr was a gode ermyte, Off grey clothyng was hys abyte. ?1562 W. Ward tr. R. Roussat Most Excellent Bk. Doctour & Astrologien Arcandam xii. sig. P.iiii Thei be cholerick, wherby thei be balde, & thei must weare grey apparell or black, and not red, grene, white, or blewe. 1595 R. Parry Moderatus iii. sig. B2^v Handsomly tucked vp in their holi-day peticoates and grey frize rugges. 1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors 207 Clad in a grey Garment. 1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 251 I had Pistols under my grey Frock. 1756 C. Lennox tr. P. M. de L'Écluse des Loges Mem. Maximilian de Bethune II. xii. 58/2 He commonly went clad in a coat of grey cloth. 1815 M. Elphinstone Acct. Kingdom Caubul iii. ii. 369 At that season, they also wear brown and grey woollen great coats. 1884 Austral. Jrnl. Apr. 460/1 An elegant dinner dress is composed of grey silk, with cherry-coloured flounced brocade. 1920 Lady Gregory Dragon i. 43 I'd sooner go earning my wages footing turf, with a skirt of heavy flannel and a dress of the grey frieze! 1929 Boys' Life June 30/3 Their uniform consisted of high top shoes, grey wool socks [etc.]. 2011 T. Brown Aftermath 273 She wore..a demure gray dress with a high collar. (b) In an unbleached, undyed, or unfinished state. Cf. Phrases 3a(a), Phrases 3b, greycloth n. at Compounds 1c(a). ΚΠ 1768 R. Dossie Mem. Agric. I. 182 The cotton dyed in this manner, being wrought in stripes with unbleached, or, as it is called, grey cotton, will endure the treatment requisite in the cleansing and bleaching cotton, without any damage to the colour. 1843 Merchants' Mag. Dec. 576/1 Gray or unbleached cottons, viz: long cloths, domestics, &c. 1913 Tariff Schedules (U.S. House of Representatives, 62nd Congr. 3rd Sess.) IV. l. 4539 In examining the undyed yarns—the gray yarns—have you found gum in those yarns? 1993 J. C. Jarillo Strategic Networks v. 106 The Benettons..would knit and assemble a large part of their production undyed (‘grey’). 2. Of a horse: having a coat with a mixture of white and dark hairs. Cf. sense B. 6, dapple-grey adj. 1, and pommely grey adj. at pommely adj. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > colour or marking > [adjective] > grey greyOE ferrauntc1300 walnyedc1440 OE Prognostics (Tiber.) (2007) 299 Gif him þince þæt he on fealewum horse oððe on grægium ride, þæt biþ god swefen. ?c1335 in W. Heuser Kildare-Gedichte (1904) 171 Mine hed is hore and al forfare, Ihewid as a grei mare. 1390–1 in L. T. Smith Exped. Prussia & Holy Land Earl Derby (1894) 5 Edmundo Bugge pro j equo grey. 1420 in F. J. Furnivall Fifty Earliest Eng. Wills (1882) 53 I will..þat Acris Mersk haue þe grey geldyng. a1450 Partonope of Blois (Univ. Coll. Oxf.) (1912) 7516 Hedyr I brought an ambeler gray. a1500 in Medium Ævum (1972) 41 237 A gray hors in a gravell way, And a brown bay is best at all assay. ?1530 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry (rev. ed.) f. xxx Put..to your graye mares a whyte hors, so that he be nat al white skynned about the mouth. 1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. i. sig. N^v But vnder him a gray steede he did wield. a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) iii. iv. 278 Ile giue him my horse, gray Capilet. View more context for this quotation 1659 W. Greenwood Βουλευτηριον 122 A Horse-race to be run between a gray Mare..and a bay Gelding. 1703 G. Farquhar Twin-rivals ii. 21 The old Coach with the Grey Horses, I give to Mrs. Clearaccount here. 1799 W. Scott tr. J. W. von Goethe Goetz of Berlichingen i. 18 Ah! what a charming grey steed! 1842 T. B. Macaulay Battle Lake Regillus in Lays Anc. Rome 117 Horses black and grey. 1897 Times 17 Feb. 8/2 The intended reorganization..will not prevent the Scots Greys retaining their gray horses. 1925 Woman's World (Chicago) Apr. 62/3 Saddling Kitty took longer than she expected. The gray mare looked quizzically at her. 1999 R. Tremain Music & Silence (2000) ii. 275 Some way off, she hears the grey horse whinny. 3. a. Of the hair: grey or white in appearance, or turning white, through loss of pigmentation, typically as a result of ageing.Recorded earliest in greybeard n. (as a surname).In quot. OE rendering Latin cycneus ‘swanlike’ in cycnea canities , lit. ‘swanlike hoariness’, with reference to old age. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > hair > colour of hair > [adjective] > grey, hoary grey1207 hoarc1290 frostya1450 forhoaredc1450 grizzled1458 hoary1530 hoared1557 greyish1567 wintry1579 silver1590 silveredc1600 silver-grey1607 frosted1628 iron-grey1809 iron-greyed1826 grizzly1843 OE Aldhelm Glosses (Brussels 1650) in L. Goossens Old Eng. Glosses of MS Brussels, Royal Libr. 1650 (1974) 268 Usque cigneam [vetulae senectutis] caniciem : oþ ða wyluenan harnysse, oþ þa græi an [perh. by alteration from græ an, prob. read græian] harnysse [OE Digby 146 oþ þa grægan wylfenan harnesse].] 1207 Curia Regis Rolls (1931) V. 62 (MED) Ricardus Brito [essoniavit se] per Greiberd. c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) i. 1672 Sche koude hem schew boþe in hed & berd Ful hor and grey, in craft sche was so lered. a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) vi. 870 His hed vnkempt, his lokkis hor & gray. c1450 King Ponthus (Digby) in Publ. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer. (1897) 12 41 (MED) She suld haue hir..mantyll of sylke and a circle of golde vpon hire gray hede. a1475 J. Russell Bk. Nurture (Harl. 4011) in Babees Bk. (2002) i. 168 Wyntur, with his lokkys grey, febille & old, Syttynge vppon þe stone, bothe hard & cold. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Prov. xx. D A gray heade, is an honoure vnto y^e aged. 1577 R. Stanyhurst Treat. Descr. Irelande iv. f. 17/2, in R. Holinshed Chron. I In which Well such as loath gray heares are accustomed to diue. 1581 J. Marbeck Bk. Notes & Common Places 60 Like an olde man in a graie beard. 1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing v. i. 65 I..with grey haires and bruise of many daies, Do challenge thee. View more context for this quotation 1653 R. Saunders Physiognomie ii. 169 Hairs, viz. black, red, flaxen, and white or grey. 1725 I. Watts Logick ii. iii. §2 Remember that a grey Beard does not make a Philosopher. 1769 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) I. xxiii. 174 Can grey hairs make folly venerable? 1797 R. Southey Ballad King Charlemain xviii [He] kiss'd his long grey grizzle beard. 1816 Ld. Byron Prisoner of Chillon 1 My hair is grey, but not with years. 1867 A. Trollope Last Chron. Barset I. xxiv. 206 He was bald, or becoming bald; and his whiskers were grey, or were becoming grey. 1906 Westm. Gaz. 25 Jan. 4/2 There is nothing radically pensionable about old age; grey hairs are not in themselves a claim on society. 1936 Motor Boating Feb. 211/1 His hair was gray, his back bent. 2001 Financial Times 27 Jan. (Weekend Suppl.) I/6 Adler..visibly simmers beneath his dignified grey beard. b. Of a person: having such hair; grey-haired. Also occasionally of an animal: having hair or fur which is turning grey through age. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > hair > colour of hair > [adjective] > grey, hoary > having hoarc1290 grey?c1335 grey-haireda1425 hasard1513 grey-headed1535 hoar-headed1561 hoary1580 grizzleda1616 silver-headed1643 silver-haired1665 ?c1335 in W. Heuser Kildare-Gedichte (1904) 170 Elde makiþ me geld and growen al grai. 1480 Table Prouffytable Lernynge (Caxton) (1964) 42 He may no more for age He is alle graye. ?1575 C. Vitell tr. H. Niclaes Prouerbia xxii. f. 45^v The Counsaile of the Wise which are becom graye with Age. 1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 ii. v. 458 That gray iniquity, that father ruffian. View more context for this quotation 1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §739 Divers with us that are grown Gray. 1683 tr. F. Pallavicino Whore's Rhetorick ii. 131 There only remained with me a little Fox, that was grown grey with age. 1742 E. Young Complaint: Night the Second 26 Who knows not this, tho' Grey, is still a Child. 1785 W. Cowper Task ii. 633 We grow early gray, but never wise. 1833 W. H. Maxwell Field Bk. 5/1 The length of the teeth is no criterion whatever; nor can the countenance be depended upon until the horse becomes very old and grey. 1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. xvi. 290 He had grown somewhat stouter, and somewhat greyer, in the last ten years. 1898 J. Hutchinson Archives Surg. IX. No. 36. 343 He was a thin grey man. 1918 Atlantic Monthly Aug. 171/1 Had he turned gray, he might have looked less shabby; but dark thin locks still clustered above his high crown. 1984 N.Y. Mag. 16 Jan. 42/3 I never noticed she was gray; I thought she was still blond. c. Of a person's face or complexion: pallid through tiredness, illness, or old age. ΚΠ 1844 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 56 743 [The] sexton, with his hard grey face, (A living tombstone!) 1867 Brit. Jrnl. Homœopathy 25 55 She had fallen away rapidly, had a dingy grey complexion, and coughed hard. 1883 C. T. Brooks tr. J. P. F. Richter Invisible Lodge iv. 30 An old visage gray with age. 1924 G. Wescott Apple of Eye iii. ii. 250 Jule's face was grey. ‘Sit down. Rest,’ they said to him. 1963 N.Y. Times 21 May 34/1 He moved..toward the fence, his face gray... Then he collapsed. 2012 Daily Record (Glasgow) (Nexis) 15 Dec. 4 His eyes were bloodshot, he seemed thinner than ever and looked ill because his face was grey. d. Originally and chiefly U.S. slang (in African-American usage). Of a person: white. Also: having light skin; of mixed race. Chiefly depreciative. ΚΠ 1943 D. Burley in N.Y. Amsterdam News 10 Apr. 13/4 Thommy (Brooklyn) Jones, soldiering out west, married a fine grey social worker. 1953 Jet 24 Dec. 48 Bruce..had the unidentified photo of a grey chick in his..dormitory room. 1962 H. Simmons Man walking on Eggshells 201 A gray boy ain't never lived under the social conditions to know what the blues is all about. 1981 W. D. Myers Hoops 92 You should have..busted that gray chick's nose. Nothing them la-di-da niggers hate worse than you putting them down in front of their ace whiteys. 2000 H. M. Dalmage Tripping on Color Line 20 Think about all the terms for multiracialism: multiracial, mixed race.., gray ladies, wiggers. 2008 J. Horn Dr. Onan ii. 18 These gray dudes always running down how the city is unsafe because of..the blacks. 4. Designating dull or cold light, esp. that of dawn or twilight. Also: (of a day, the weather, etc.) overcast, clouded over; dull, gloomy. Cf. sense B. 7. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > dimness or absence of brightness > [adjective] > specifically of light > of daylight grey?a1300 half-dark1576 ?a1300 (c1250) Prov. Hendyng (Digby) xxxiii, in Anglia (1881) 4 197 (MED) Ofte morewen grei bigrowen [a1325 Cambr. growith grime], Seþ man þe day faire dowen, And ful briȝt on hende. c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) 1024 Þer wer gestes to go vpon þe gray morne. a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) II. 145 Luke telliþ..eerli and in þe grey day [L. valde diluculo], camen wymmen to se þe sepulcre. 1447 O. Bokenham Lives of Saints (Arun.) (1938) 6246 To matynys in þe grey morwenyng, To hys oratorye he go wyth-oute lettyng. c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 2044 Begynnys sone in þe gray day as any gleme springis. 1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. DDv^v Lyke as the gray mornyng breketh and springeth before the presence of the sonne. 1532 (?a1405) J. Lydgate Minor Poems (1934) ii. 411 The same tyme, I herde a larke synge Ful lustely, agayne the morowe gray. 1576 G. Gascoigne Droomme of Doomes Day sig. P.viii^v You know not when the Lord commeth, ouer night, at mydnight, or in the gray morning. 1654 J. Sheffield Rising Sun 142 Sometimes at Sun rise the morning is gray, dark, duskish, and the day the fairer. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. sig. N4^v Now came still Eevning on, and Twilight gray Had in her sober Liverie all things clad. View more context for this quotation a1732 T. Boston Memoirs (1776) x. 286 It was a grey day, with some pleasant blinks. 1780 W. Cowper Progress of Error 82 Grey dawn appears. 1816 Ld. Byron Prisoner of Chillon 14 For all was blank, and bleak, and grey, It was not night—it was not day. 1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. ii. 19 In the gray light of the evening. 1895 National Rev. June 561 It was at mid-day, but the weather was grey and cloudy. 1929 L. W. Reese Victorian Village 3 Racing up through Saint John's churchyard on a gray afternoon. 1963 P. A. Sorokin Long Journey iii. vii. 129 In the grey twilight of the July night I saw a stormy sea of soldiers, workmen, sailors. 1997 C. Higson et al. Fast Show: Ser. 3 (BBC TV script for Darlington filming 27 July–10 Aug.) 7 (stage direct.) It's a bleak, grey morning. 5. Of eyes: having a grey or (in early use) bright pale iris. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > eye > [adjective] > types of eyes by colour redeOE grey?a1300 ?a1300 Maximian (Digby) 266 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 100 Min heien so grei so glas, Min her so feir bihonge. a1350 in G. L. Brook Harley Lyrics (1968) 41 Gret hire wel, þat swete þing wiþ eȝen gray. c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) 5881 Wyþ eȝene graye, and browes bent. c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Reeve's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 54 This wenche thikke and wel ygrowen was With camuse nose and eyen greye as glas. c1475 (a1400) Awntyrs Arthure (Taylor) in J. Robson Three Early Eng. Metrical Romances (1842) 22 Dame Gaynour, with hur gray een. a1525 Eng. Conquest Ireland (Trin. Dublin) (1896) 98 Reymond..[had] grey eyghen & depe, somdel heyghe nose, neb rody. 1548 Hall's Vnion: Richard III f. lv^v His eyes gray shynynge and quicke. 1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Verd Oeil verd, a gray eye. a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) iv. iv. 189 Her eyes are grey as glasse. View more context for this quotation 1653 J. Davies tr. C. Sorel Extravagant Shepherd i. 2 His sharp Nose, and his gray Eyes half asquint, and almost buried in his head,..made him appear somewhat gastly. 1748 T. Smollett Roderick Random I. xi. 77 A long, withered visage..through the upper part of which, two little grey eyes peeped. 1819 J. G. Lockhart Peter's Lett. to Kinsfolk III. lxii. 103 He is a very sagacious-looking person, with bright grey eyes, and a full round face. 1891 E. Peacock Narcissa Brendon II. 42 Keen, searching, grey eyes. 1929 D. Hammett Red Harvest vii. 78 He goggled at me with curious gray eyes. 1997 J. Wilson Lottie Project (1998) 3 She had grey hair and grey eyes. 6. Belonging or relating to an ecclesiastical order distinguished by the grey or brown habit worn by its members, as Cistercian monks, Franciscan friars, or sisters of the third order of St. Francis. Cf. Grey friar n. 1. ΚΠ c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) 1497 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 149 (MED) Greye Monekes of Cistevs. c1300 Life & Martyrdom Thomas Becket (Harl. 2277) (1845) l. 1228 Tuelf myle he ȝeode grete ynouȝ to a grei abbeye, That me clipeth Clermareys, of greye monekes. c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 9072 Þe ordre of greye monekes þoru him me broȝte Verst here in to engelond. c1390 in C. Horstmann Minor Poems Vernon MS (1892) i. 166 A Sexteyn was in an Abbely Of þe Ordre of Monkes grey. c1440 St. Christopher (Thornton) 987 in C. Horstmann Altengl. Legenden (1881) 2nd Ser. 466/1 The kynge þer made a faire abbaye, And dyd þer-In monkes graye. c1450 (a1375) Octavian (Calig.) (1979) l. 351 He..þoȝte to wende..To Daunysco, a grey abey, Ther leches wor. 1529 T. More Supplyc. Soulys i. f. v^v The comen people speke but of .iiii. ordres, the whyte, the blakke, the austayne, and the grey. 1567 Gude & Godlie Ballatis (S.T.S.) 205 The Sisteris gray, befoir this day, Did crune within thair cloister. a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) iv. i. 131 It was the Friar of Orders gray . View more context for this quotation 1677 T. Middleton App. Hist. Church Scotl. ii. 17 The Gray Sisters had their Houses At 1. Dundee, 2. Aberdene, 3. Sheens near Edinburgh. 1723 A. de la Mottraye Trav. II. vii. 204 A Monastery of Franciscans of that Order, which they call'd there Gromunkor, or Grey Monks, on account of the Grey Colour of their Habits. 1764 Eng. Illustr. II. 71 Sir Jordan Briset gave fourteen acres of land..for building a religious house..for nuns or Grey monks. 1796 M. Robinson Angelina III. 24 The grey sisters were endowed with five hundred marks a year, to say masses for the souls of the unhappy lovers. 1803 W. Scott Gray Brother in Minstrelsy Sc. Border (ed. 2) III. iii. 411 He..there was aware of a grey friar..‘Now, Christ thee save!’ said the Grey Brother. 1865 J. M. Ludlow Woman's Work in Church iii. 146 At Nancy, in 1696, the Bishop of Toul tried to compel the claustration of the Grey Sisters of the city. 1912 School & Home Educ. Sept. 20/1 In 1539 the Reformation movement drove out the Franciscan order of the Gray Brothers. 1950 Jrnl. Royal Soc. Antiquaries Ireland 80 92 The Cistercians in their primitive austerity wore habits of coarse, undyed wool... The Grey Monks are not to be confused with the ‘Grey Friars’,..the followers of that other great reformer, Francis of Assisi. 2000 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 23 Mar. 48/3 In 1944, after the Holocaust had spread to Hungary, she and her order of ‘Grey Sisters’ hid thousands of Jews, or gave them forged papers. II. In figurative and extended use. 7. a. Relating to or characteristic of advancing years or old age; (of advice, etc.) based on long experience, sober, mature. ΘΚΠ the world > life > source or principle of life > age > old age > [adjective] > relating to or characteristic of oldOE aged1561 grey-headed1581 frosty1592 grey1602 veneral1631 senile1661 venerable1726 gerontic1885 post-reproductive1900 1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge iv. v. sig. H4^v I tell thee youth, age knows, yong loues seeme grac't, Which with gray cares, rude iarres, are oft defac't. 1628 O. Felltham Resolves: 2nd Cent. lxv. sig. T5 The Macedonian proued himselfe a better Physician for calumny, by his bounties; then his Philosophers, by their gray advisements. 1693 T. Creech tr. Juvenal in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires xiii. 258 When Sixty Years have spread Their gray Experience o're thy hoary Head! 1756 tr. Voltaire Orphan of China i. ii. 5 Grey wisdom dies by brutal violence. 1775 R. B. Sheridan Rivals 2nd Prol. Is grey experience suited to her youth? 1826 R. W. Emerson Jrnl. 24 Nov. (1909) II. 79 Whoso, alas ! is young, And being young is wise And deaf to saws of gray Advice [etc.]. 1866 J. Ruskin Crown Wild Olive Pref. 33 This..you may win, while yet you live; type of grey honour, and sweet rest. 1874 L. Morris Songs of Two Worlds 2nd Ser. 25 Gray wisdom comes with time and age. 1908 G. Hodgson Stud. French Educ. ii. 19 In More.., we find a wit sobered by grey experience. 2009 M. Garvey Stylized vii. 191 Now, in my gray wisdom, I realize that whatever you are is going to come out in your writing. b. Originally U.S. Of or relating to elderly people, esp. considered as a social, political, or economic group.Recorded earliest in grey power n. at Compounds 1c(a). Cf. grey liberation n., grey pound n. at Compounds 1c(a). ΚΠ 1970 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 2 Aug. 4/4 Senior citizens in the East-bay decided Saturday to lobby for legislative programs as a bloc of ‘grey power’. 1977 N.Y. Times 19 Aug. a21/4 Congress's well-intentioned efforts on behalf of ‘gray rights’—that is, the right of people not to be discriminated against because of their age. 1987 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 25 Oct. 24/6 (heading) ‘Go grannies, go’ as the grey brigade storms the barricades. 1990 Daily Tel. 8 Aug. 7/1 While the overall population is getting increasingly ‘greyer’, the number of the very young is increasing. 1995 R. B. Woods Fulbright xxxviii. 663 The state's gray voters could vent their feelings over Vietnam. 1998 G. van Egdom in S. Brink Housing Older People xi. 150 The political power of the grey vote is growing. 2006 J. Macnicol Age Discrim. iv. viii. 223 There had been some ‘grey activism’ before the 1950s. 8. Long established, ancient; old, experienced. Sometimes depreciative: outdated. Now rare. ΚΠ 1662 J. Glanvill Lux Orientalis i. 3 If..this Grey Dogma fairly clear all doubts. 1690 J. Norris Refl. upon Conduct Human Life 94 They are hanging their Heads over an Old Musty Folio,..and stuffing their Memories with Grey Sentences, and Venerable sayings. 1748 W. Shenstone School-mistress xi, in R. Dodsley Coll. Poems (ed. 2) I. 252 Herbs for use, and physick, not a few Of grey renown. 1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iv. vii. 136 Mac-Kinnon's chief, in warfare grey. 1842 E. Miall in Nonconformist 2 249 [The state-church's] errors and superstitions are venerably grey. 1993 D. S. Anderson in H. Beare & W. L. Boyd Restructuring Schools iii. xi. 188 The..surveys reveal a generalized perception of public education as a grey institution, unresponsive to needs. 9. Used in place of or in contrast to black to indicate a less extreme form of the activity, object, person, etc., denoted. Cf. greymail n., grey market n., greyout n. ΚΠ 1787 F. Grose Superstitions 19 in Provinc. Gloss. The third sort [of witches] are those who can both help and hurt; and, as they seem a sort of mixture between White and Black, and wanting a name, may, without any great impropriety, be named Grey Witches. 1888 J. J. Morse Pract. Occultism iv. 72 Magic has been divided into three forms, Black, White, and Red, while some writers have added to it also the consideration of Grey magic. 1906 Insurance Press 8 Aug. 8/2 A sensational woman writer..proposes to publish each day three lists of insurance companies—the ‘white’ list of companies that are paying ‘dollar-for-dollar,’ a ‘gray’ list of those that will settle in part, and a ‘black’ list of those that deny all liability. 1966 Punch 14 Dec. 900/2 A Hero of Modern Industry..could, I suppose, be described as a grey rather than a black comedy, on the grounds that no one actually gets killed. 1970 Guardian 26 Mar. 26/4 As for the over-prescribing doctors, it was not just the black sheep we had to worry about. It was the grey sheep too. 2000 C. S. Pearson Econ. & Global Environment 365 The convention prohibits dumping of products on a ‘black’ list... For products on a gray list, prior permits are needed. 10. a. Lacking hope, pleasure, or cheerfulness; dismal, gloomy; sad, depressing. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > [adjective] > gloomy or depressing darkOE unmerryOE deathlyc1225 dolefulc1275 elengec1275 dreicha1300 coolc1350 cloudyc1374 sada1375 colda1400 deadlya1400 joylessc1400 unjoyful?c1400 disconsolatea1413 mournfula1425 funeralc1425 uncheerfulc1449 dolent1489 dolesome1533 heavy-hearted1555 glum1558 ungladsome1558 black1562 pleasureless1567 dern1570 plaintive?1570 glummish1573 cheerless1575 comfortless1576 wintry1579 glummy1580 funebral1581 discouraging1584 dernful?1591 murk1596 recomfortless1596 sullen1597 amating1600 lugubrious1601 dusky1602 sable1603 funebrial1604 damping1607 mortifying1611 tearful?1611 uncouth1611 dulsome1613 luctual1613 dismal1617 winterous1617 unked1620 mopish1621 godforsaken?1623 uncheerly1627 funebrious1630 lugubrous1632 drearisome1633 unheartsome1637 feral1641 drear1645 darksome1649 sadding1649 saddening1650 disheartening1654 funebrous1654 luctiferous1656 mestifical1656 tristifical1656 sooty1657 dreary1667 tenebrose1677 clouded1682 tragicala1700 funereal1707 gloomy1710 sepulchrala1711 dumpishc1717 bleaka1719 depressive1727 lugubre1727 muzzy1728 dispiriting1733 uncheery1760 unconsolatory1760 unjolly1764 Decemberly1765 sombre1768 uncouthie1768 depressing1772 unmirthful1782 sombrous1789 disanimating1791 Decemberish1793 grey1794 uncheering1796 ungenial1796 uncomforting1798 disencouraginga1806 stern1812 chilling1815 uncheered1817 dejecting1818 mopey1821 desponding1828 wisht1829 leadening1835 unsportful1837 demoralizing1840 Novemberish1840 frigid1844 morne1844 tragic1848 wet-blanketty1848 morgue1850 ungladdeneda1851 adusk1856 smileless1858 soul-sick1858 Novemberya1864 saturnine1863 down1873 lacklustre1883 Heaven-abandoneda1907 downbeat1952 doomy1967 1794 W. Blake Earth's Answer in Songs of Innocence & Experience Pl. 31 Her locks cover'd with grey despair. 1837 M. Richardson Concealment I. xvi. 182 It was there, I found out how much you could throw the couleur de rose over my grey existence. 1871 J. Caird What is Relig.? 17 The solace of a life perhaps hard, and grim, and gray. 1913 J. London Valley of Moon xiv. 245 She endured the gray bleakness of the years in the orphan asylum. 1960 Life 11 Apr. 140/1 There are few noble souls in prison—or few, at any rate, who do not finally surrender, die or lose their minds under the thud of the long gray years. 2010 C. Wooding Black Lung Captain xx. 236 He'd forgotten the sad gray feeling that had settled on him lately. b. Lacking individuality, dull and nondescript; boring, characterless; (also) anonymous, faceless. Sometimes with connotations of conformity or bureaucracy; cf. grey suit n. at Compounds 1c(a). ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > relationship > uniformity > [adjective] > characterless > of persons characterless1806 grey1893 samey1929 Stepford1972 1893 Contemp. Rev. Aug. 294 The French are a gray people, who live in a gray metropolis, and in a gray country. 1908 C. Marriott Spanish Holiday xvi. 321 There was no colour anywhere; nobody spoke or moved with any vitality. They were grey people in a grey land. 1967 Observer 17 Dec. 25/1 Many of the ‘grey’ citizens have been working for forty years or more for the forgiveness of enemies. 1969 Times 8 Aug. 3/3 The identity of these grey men of politics should be revealed. 1991 Economist 5 Oct. 33/1 The structure of international telecoms networks..used to fascinate grey men in back offices but no one else. 2001 T. White Reinventing IT Dept. x. 247 You dull their senses with your grey, tedious, tiresome, stale, dry standard documentation. 2010 H. Cole Legs Murder Scandal 354 She was privileged and special among the multitude of gray individuals at Whitfield. 11. Of a thing: ambiguous; not easily defined or categorized; not black and white (black and white adj. 3); intermediate between directly opposing notions of good or bad, right or wrong, etc. Cf. grey area n. 1, grey zone n. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > equivocal quality, ambiguity > [adjective] double?c1225 uncertainc1384 equivoquea1450 amphibille?1450 ambiguousc1487 indifferent?1531 forked1551 amphibological1587 equivocal1601 double-meaning1605 left-handed1610 dilogical1616 two-edgeda1625 biviousa1644 equivocating1645 amphibolous1647 yea-and-nay1648 amphibolical1652 bifarious1656 double-handed1661 squibbling1674 ambigual1683 equivocous1701 ambiguea1734 double-edged1791 multivocala1834 grey1835 amphibolic1873 ambivalent1923 1835 Army & Navy Chron. 3 Sept. 385/2 Respecting cases in courts of justice, they [sc. differences] are not black and white, but gray. 1913 G. M. Trevelyan Clio 50 The truth is not grey, it is black and white in patches. 1957 Gastonia (N. Carolina) Gaz. 27 Mar. 12/5 Whether a gray situation is nearer white than black is a matter of opinion. 1988 R. A. Chapman Ethics in Brit. Civil Service iii. 126 The gradual emergence of a ‘grey class’, an in-between class neither clearly free nor clearly unfree. 2010 R. Ghesquière & K. J. Ims Heroes & Anti-Heroes 10 Most fictional characters are not simply good or bad, but like with most human beings their behaviour is rather grey. 12. South African. Of a residential area: inhabited without segregation by people of differing ethnic backgrounds, despite apartheid laws. Cf. grey area n. 3. Now historical. ΚΠ 1978 Sunday Times (Johannesburg) 29 Oct. 16/6 There should be black cities where provision is made for the blacks who do not come from the nearby homelands, as well as for blacks where ethnic differences do not play such an important role—the ‘grey cities’. 1987 New Nation (Johannesburg) 21 May 7 Rand Afrikaans University researchers have listed 13 ‘grey’ suburbs in cities across SA. 1993 Weekly Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) 5 Nov. 18 The banks' refusal to lend in areas which are going ‘grey’..will be one of the most critical problems facing a new government. 2011 Star (S. Afr.) (Nexis) 14 May 14 In the bad old days it [sc. Yeoville] set the trend—a grey suburb—proving that people of all cultures could live happily together. B. n. 1. a. Grey colour. Also: a particular shade or tint of this.Often with prefixed modifying word indicating intensity, drawing comparison with an object or another colour, or making an association with a thing, place, etc. Many of these are treated at the first elements or as main entries; cf. sense A. 1b.Recorded earliest in iron-grey n. (and see discussion of the Old English evidence in the etymology at that entry). ΘΚΠ the world > matter > colour > named colours > grey or greyness > [noun] > iron or steel grey greyOE iron-greyOE iron1878 steel1881 steely-grey1884 the world > matter > colour > named colours > grey or greyness > [noun] greynessa1398 grey?1548 grizzle1611 the world > matter > colour > named colours > grey or greyness > [noun] > drab or dingy grey grey1664 Quaker colour1773 tattle-tale grey1943 the world > matter > colour > named colours > grey or greyness > [noun] > pearl grey pearl1600 pearl colour1607 pearl grey1705 grey1931 mother-of-pearl1988 OE Harley Gloss. (1966) 179 Ferrugo i. color purpure subnigrę, isengræg. a1425 ( H. Daniel Liber Uricrisiarum (Wellcome 225) 268 (MED) We see wele at ee þat whyt gray & whyt ȝalow are not all ane. 1478 in T. Thomson Acts Lords Auditors (1839) 67/1 A kirtill of blew gray. ?1548 Ld. Berners tr. D. de San Pedro Castell of Loue sig. B.vi As for y^e .iii. images standing on y^e walles of y^e towre eche of them of a contrary colour, as tawny, blacke, & gray. 1664 R. Boyle Exper. & Considerations Colours iii. xxxvi. 282 The Mixture..has quickly lost its Colour, turning in a very short time into a dirty Gray. a1697 J. Aubrey Brief Lives: W. Petty (1898) II. 145 His eies are a kind of goose-grey. 1763 W. Lewis Commercium Philosophico-technicum 319 The true or simple blacks, mixed with white, form different shades of grey. 1800 Philos. Mag. Feb. 45 The colour of the hair..changes to a greyish dun..and in autumn, to a grey. 1817 T. L. Peacock Melincourt II. xxviii. 202 Waistcoats of a duffil grey. 1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 753 Various shades of grey may be obtained. 1855 G. Brimley in Cambr. Ess. I. 276 Sad greys and browns. 1931 Daily Express 18 Mar. 5/3 Fashionable colours are all off-white shades such as palest blues, greys, pinks, and greyish-greens. 1973 R. Hayes Hungarian Game xxxix. 235 Urkowitz' face was turning a shade of fine Oxford gray. 2002 H. Holt Leonora (2003) xviii. 199 The dining-room was done out in shades of grey. b. A grey-coloured pigment, dye, or paint. Usually with prefixed distinguishing word.Recorded earliest in Payne's grey n. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > colour > named colours > grey or greyness > grey pigment > [noun] grey1832 1832 Libr. Fine Arts Dec. 365 The chiar'-oscuro of this style was principally wrought by the use of a compound colour denominated ‘Payne's gray’. 1889 R. Brydall Art in Scotl. xiv. 288 [Nasmyth] used largely a colour he called peach-stone grey, made from calcined peach-stones. 1902 Dye Stuffs Oct. 457/1 The following recipes are for single-bath dyeing:..Dove Color, 20 per cent. Aniline Gray R. 1993 Model & Collectors Mart Nov. 128/3 Painting is a straightforward British Disruptive Pattern so coat all over with Grey, then paint in the green pattern. 2004 J. Toogood Incredible Light & Texture Watercolor i. 19/3 Davy's Gray usually has white mixed in. 2. As a name for various animals having grey or greyish coloration. †a. A wolf. Cf. grey wolf n. at Compounds 1c(b). Obsolete.Only in Old English. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [noun] > genus Canis > canis lupus (wolf) wolfc725 greyOE Isegrima1300 grey wolf1595 lupus?a1600 witch's horse1865 OE Maxims I 148 Wineleas..mon genimeð him wulfas to geferan... Ful oft hine se gefera sliteð; gryre sceal for greggum, græf deadum men. †b. The Eurasian badger, Meles meles, which has a grey back. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Mustelidae (weasel, marten, otter, or badger) > [noun] > genus Meles (badger) brockc1000 bausona1375 greyc1425 das1481 badger?1523 taxus1535 barrow1552 pate1628 sand-badger1873 c1425 Twiti Venery (Vesp. B.xii) 150 And iij othur bestis..That ben neythur of venery ne chace..The grey is one þerof with hyse slepy pace. Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 209 Grey, beest, Taxus, melota. c1500 (?a1437) Kingis Quair (1939) clvi There sawe I..the holsum grey for hortis. a1552 J. Leland Itinerary (1710) I. 92 There is a mighty stronge and usid borow for Greys or Foxes. 1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 33 Of the Badger, otherwise called a Brocke, a Gray, or a Bauson. 1665 in Sussex Archaeol. Coll. (1862) 14 247 To Catlin's maide for a Gray's hed £0 1s. 0d. 1735 Sportsman's Dict. I. at Badger A Badger is known by several other names, as a gray, a brock, a boreson, or a bauson. 1767 Gentleman's Mag. Oct. 489/1 Al Anâk..is by the learned Golius rendered Melis, Taxo, i.e. a Gray, or Badger. †c. The gadwall, Anas strepera, the male of which has greyish plumage. Obsolete.Cf. grey duck n. at Compounds 1c(b). ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Merginae (duck) > [noun] > member of genus Anas (miscellaneous) > anas strepera (gadwall) radge1620 gadwall1666 grey1673 rodge1678 Welsh drake1844 speckle-belly1874 grey duck1885 1673 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words 93 The Gadwall or Gray. 1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. xii. 264/1 The Gadwall, or Gray: it is a kind of Duck, and Mallard, of a middle size. 1763 R. Brookes New Syst. Nat. Hist. II. 383 The Gadwall, or Grey, is bigger than a Widgeon, and nearly the size of a Duck. †d. Any of several fishes of a greyish colour; esp. certain forms of salmon, Salmo salar, and trout, S. trutta. Obsolete.Cf. greyfish n., grey trout n. at Compounds 1c(b), grilse n. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > order Salmoniformes (salmon or trout) > family Salmonidae (salmon) > [noun] > genus Salmo > salmo salar (salmon) > on return from sea or in first year grilse1417 peal1533 botchera1609 blue cap1677 grey1677 pug peal1861 grayling1879 1677 Mr. Johnson Let. 16 Apr. in J. Ray Corr. (1848) 127 True salmons, i.e. neither trout, scurfe, nor grey. 1686 F. Willughby & J. Ray De Hist. Piscium i. xii. 23 Salmo griseus. The Gray. 1740 R. Brookes Art of Angling i. v. 25 The Grey I take to be the same kind of Fish which in Scotland they call the Grey-Lord... The body is everywhere stain'd with Grey or Ash-colour'd Spots. 1769 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. (new ed.) III. iv. 248 The Grey..we are uncertain whether this is not a meer variety of the salmon; but on the authority of Mr. Ray, we describe them separate. 1818 H. J. Todd Johnson's Dict. Eng. Lang. Gray, a kind of salmon, having a gray back and sides; probably the same as the gilse. 1845 W. Dunbar in New Statist. Acc. Scotl. IV. 177 Two fish are confounded under this name, Salmo trutta and Salmo eriox, or gray. e. = grey whale n. at Compounds 1c(b). Also more fully California grey. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > order Cetacea (whales) > suborder Mystacoceti > [noun] > genus Eschrichtius (grey whale) grey whale1834 grey1849 hardhead1860 rip-sack1860 greyback1869 1849 J. W. Revere Tour of Duty in Calif. xxii. 285 A whale called the California gray—a variety, I believe, new to whalemen. 1884 Standard Nat. Hist. V. 197 The California gray is infested with a crustacean of the genus Cyamus. 1911 Pop. Electr. & World's Advance Sept. 539/1 There were originally two great herds of the California Gray. 1974 New Scientist 31 Jan. 274/3 Debate still continues over whether the greys feed during their more than 8000 mile round trip between the Arctic and the tropics. 2001 D. Russell Eye Whale (2004) 22 The California gray follows a continuous path, generally within a few miles of shore. f. A European noctuid moth, Hadena caesia, which has dark grey forewings. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Caradrinidae > dianthoecia caesia grey1866 1866 E. Newman Brit. Butterflies & Moths 391 The Gray. (Dianthœcia cæsia.) 1880 O. S. Wilson Larvæ Brit. Lepidoptera 279 (heading) Dianthæcia cæsia, W.V. The Grey. 1961 H. M. Edelsten & D. S. Fletcher South's Moths Brit. Isles (new ed.) I. 181 The Grey (Hadena caesia subsp. mananii Gregson). 2010 M. Archer et al. Bird Observatories Brit. & Ireland 77 Specialities of the coast include Thrift Clearwing and the Grey Hadena caesia mananii. †3. Grey fur used for clothing or as a trimming, usually understood to be of the badger (cf. sense B. 2b) or squirrel (esp. a grey form of the red squirrel; cf. grey squirrel n.). Cf. gris n. Obsolete.See also pured grey n. at pured adj. and n. Compounds, ruskin grey n. at ruskin n.¹ and adj. Compounds. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > skin or hide > skin with hair attached or fur > [noun] > of badger greya1200 brock-skinc1384 a1200 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Trin. Cambr.) 365 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 231 (MED) Ne sal þar ben foh ne grai [?c1250 Egerton grei] ne cunin ne ermine. ?a1300 Maximian (Digby) 110 in C. Brown Eng. Lyrics 13th Cent. (1932) 95 Þo ich wes ȝoung and wis, And werede grei and gris, Ich heuede frendes þo. c1330 (?c1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) l. 4174 (MED) Gij him schred in fou & gray. c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xv. 215 For I haue seyn hym in sylke and somme tyme in russet, Bothe in grey and in grys, and in gulte herneys. 1415 in F. A. Page-Turner Bedfordshire Wills (1914) 24 It'm i pane paled wt menuer and red gray. c1450 (a1400) Libeaus Desconus (Calig. A.ii) (1969) l. 839 A veluwet mantyll gay Pelured with grys and gray. ?c1450 tr. Bk. Knight of La Tour Landry (1906) 9 A mantell furred with graie. 1480 Table Prouffytable Lernynge (Caxton) (1964) 43 A pylche of graye [Fr. vne pelice de vaire]. 1525 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles II. ccii. [cxcviii.] 622 Gownes of sylke furred with Myneuere and gray. 1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. 805/1 With furred hats of graie on their heads. 1650 Rates Merchandize in Act Redempt. of Captives 61 Furrs..Grayes tawed the timber cont. forty skins. 1702 J. Chamberlayne Present State Great Brit. (1707) i. iii. ii. 256 Of Furrs, Filches, Grays, Jennets..40 Skins in a Timber. 4. a. Grey fabric or clothing; an item of this. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > of specific colour purpureeOE blackc1225 greyc1225 white?c1225 greena1250 yellow1368 violet1380 purplec1390 blue1480 colours1641 tawnies1809 butternut1810 subfusc1853 solid1883 Lovat1908 jungle green1946 the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric of specific colour > [noun] > grey kennet1480 grey1493 surage gray1530 c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) 638 Nis ha [sc. Pride] nawt i claðes..ah under hwit oðer blac, & ase wel under grei ase under grene. c1436 Domesday Ipswich (BL Add. 25011) in T. Twiss Black Bk. Admiralty (1873) II. 122 Thanne be it takyn of the burgeys for oon meole quyte but ij d., and of on grey ij d. 1493 A. Halyburton Ledger (1867) 5 4 ellis of gray to mak a gon. 1549 Proclam. Edward VI 17 Apr. in All Proclam. sette Furthe (1551) f. xxxix^v Nor that any persone, shall Die any Wolle, to bee conuerted into Clothe, called Russettes, Musters, Marbles, Grayes, Royes, and suche like colours. a1592 R. Greene Frier Bacon (1594) sig. C Proportiond as was Paris, when in gray, He courted Aenon in the vale by Troy. 1618 in G. Ornsby Select. from Househ. Bks. Naworth Castle (1878) 100 v. yards of gray for Creak, at 16^d a yard. 1640 tr. G. S. du Verdier Love & Armes Greeke Princes iii. 54 He espied a young Hermit in a long Gown of gray. 1656 General-sessions of Peace at St. Johnstone (single sheet) For ilk ell of Grays or Plaiding, four penies the ell only. 1703 T. D'Urfey Old Mode & New Epil. sig. A5 You can't know him, for he's chang'd to Day, And like true Shepherd cloathed all in Grey. 1739 M. D. tr. Marquis d'Argens Jewish Spy I. viii. 58 Some [Fryars] were dres'd in grey, wore a long Beard, and had no Stocking or Shoe. 1832 G. Downes Lett. from Continental Countries I. 293 A blind old man, dressed in gray. 1885 ‘L. Malet’ Col. Enderby's Wife ii. iii. 51 A nice, gentle, little person in grey, who put in an appearance at dinner. 1920 D. H. Lawrence Lost Girl vi. 108 Mr May..all in grey, with his chest perkily stuck out like a robin. 1965 Changing Times July 26/2 Left with a million yards of gray, the industry invented the gray flannel look. 2003 A. Taylor Unpardonable Crime (2004) xviii. 78 She wore greys and lilacs today. b. A piece of fabric or item of clothing in an unbleached, undyed, or unfinished state. Also: (Calico-printing) = greyback n. 4. Usually in plural. Now chiefly historical. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > treated or processed in specific way > [noun] > unbleached grey1751 greycloth1794 grey goods1818 greige1874 greige goods1920 1751 J. G. Appeal to Facts 50 Few Woollen Goods have been made there, except coarse Serges and low-priced Kind of Kerseys called Gallowshields-Greys. 1802 G. A. Cooke Topogr. & Statist. Descr. County of Lancaster 227 The town of Blackburn..was formerly the centre of the fabric sent to London, for printing, called Blackburn Greys, which were plains of linen warp, shot with cotton. 1860 C. O'Neill Chem. Calico Printing vii. 74 Greys for the printing machine are in some continental establishments passed through silicate of soda. 1890 W. A. Harris Technol. Dict. Insurance Chem. 49 The ‘greys’ used under the pieces which were being printed were used until they had become..loaded with colour. 1899 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 3rd Ser. 10 367 The curd..is put into cheese hoops, which are placed on little round pieces of wood covered with ‘cheese greys’ (calico). 1904 Fire Prevention & Protection (ed. 2) 389 Among the materials..which are peculiarly liable to spontaneous combustion appear the following:..‘greys’ in calico print works; [etc.]. 2002 E. H. Oakes A to Z of STS Scientists 126/2 Hargreaves supported his family as a hand-loom weaver in the Blackburn region, which was famous for its Blackburn Checks and Greys. c. colloquial. In plural. Grey flannel trousers. Cf. greyers n. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for legs > clothing for legs and lower body > [noun] > trousers > types of > made from specific material shiverines1663 nankeen1770 overall1782 corduroys1791 ducks1825 webs1825 kerseys1833 moleskin1836 cord1837 kerseymeres1840 blue jeans1842 grey1860 mole trousers1860 chaparreras1861 Bedford cord1862 velveteens1862 dungarees1872 moles1879 chaps1884 chaparejos1887 oiler1889 greyers1900 flannels1911 Levi's1926 denim1932 chino1943 wrangler1947 Bedfords1954 sweats1956 sweatpants1957 1860 A. Wills Eagle's Nest vii. 216 I..changed my poor old flannels..for a pair of less way-worn greys. 1932 A. J. Worrall Eng. Idioms 22 I'll wear my greys for tennis to-day as the ground is rather slippery. 1948 D. Ballantyne Cunninghams ii. xxiii. 278 A couple of..boys, wearing sports coats, grays, and open-necked white shirts. 1979 Homes & Gardens June 57/3 The village ground, with a guaranteed vicar in porridge-coloured flannels and a blacksmith in belted greys. 2001 Interzone May 37/2 I was ironing my greys. d. U.S. The grey uniform of Confederate soldiers in the American Civil War (1861–5). Hence also: a Confederate soldier. Cf. greyback n. 2, blue n. 2c. Now historical. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > soldier by nationality > [noun] > American > specific Jersey blue1758 shirtman1775 Yorker1776 buckskin1783 Indian fighter1824 blue belly1827 greyback1854 Zouave1860 Zou-Zou1860 greycoat1861 grey1862 Johnny1862 Johnny Reb1862 blue1870 blue coat1885 dogface1932 the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > for specific people > for members of a body or association > naval, military, etc. > types of regimentals1728 undress1748 regiments1759 regimental1764 dress uniform1774 kit1785 roast beef coat1802 butternut1810 frock-uniform1810 fatigue-dress1834 fatigue1836 fatigue-uniform1836 shirtsleeve order1854 grey1862 scarlet runnerc1864 square-rig1875 rig of the day1877 swagger-dress1901 trench coat1914 hospital blue1919 romper1922 suntan1937 battle-dress1938 army greens1945 mess kit1953 tiger suit1970 1862 in F. Moore Rebellion Rec. (1863) V. ii. 72/2 An Irishman of the Seventeenth New-York came up to the General,..driving three prisoners in gray before him. 1870 Harper's New Monthly Mag. 41 245 Lexington..suffered much by the late civil war. Its streets sometimes were patrolled by the Grays, and at other times guarded by the Blues. 1879 A. W. Tourgée Fool's Errand xxii. 134 I have no hatred, no ill-will, towards any one who wore the gray. 1948 Realty & Building 15 May 11/2 Colonel John was a Johnny Reb who delighted in telling of the exploits of the boys in gray. 2010 R. Williams My Old Confederate Home i. 17 Leathers would give a serious hearing to any man who had worn the gray. 5. a. A grey-haired or elderly person. In later use also in plural: elderly people considered collectively as a social, political, or economic group; cf. sense A. 7b. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > hair > colour of hair > [noun] > grey, hoary > person having hoarOE hoarhead1382 grizzle1390 greya1413 hasard1513 greyhead1535 oldgrey1582 grizzle-pate1797 iron-grey1822 grisard1880 a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iv. l. 127 Tellyng his tale alwey þis olde Greye, Humble in speche. ?c1425 (c1412) T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum (Royal 17 D.vi) (1860) 6 ‘I,’ quod this olde grey, ‘Am here.’ a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) 2879 Vnto Grekes conveyed was..This hoor gray in his char syttyng. 1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid ii. ix. 6 The ald gray, all for nocht, to him tays His hawbrek. 1971 I. Anderson Cross-Eyed Mary (song) in ‘Jethro Tull’ Aqualung (record lyric sheet) Laughing in the playground—Gets no kicks from little boys: Would rather make it with a letching grey. 1987 St. Petersburg (Florida) Times (Nexis) 30 Jan. 3 e The good news about the grays is that they've got more green in their pockets than anybody else. 1995 Independent 27 Jan. 5/1 ‘Greys’ are becoming more mentally and physically active and are spending more time and money on holidays, eating out, visiting friends. b. Originally and chiefly U.S. slang (in African-American usage). A white person. Chiefly depreciative. ΘΚΠ the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > white person > [noun] white mana1398 Christian1622 European1666 white-face1684 long knife1784 buckra1794 sahib1796 white-skin1803 whitey1811 Pakeha1817 papalagi1817 paleface1823 whitefellow1826 Abelungu1836 haole1843 gringo1849 lightiea1855 umlungu1859 mzungu1860 heaven-burster1861 ladino1877 mooniasc1880 Conchy Joe1888 béké1889 ofay1899 ridge runner1904 Ngati Pakeha1905 kelch1912 pink1913 leucoderm1924 fay1927 Mr Charlie1928 pinkie1935 devil1938 wonk1938 oaf1941 grey1943 paddy1945 Caucasoid1956 Jumble1957 Caucasian1958 white boy1958 pinko-grey1964 honky1967 toubab1976 palagi1977 1943 D. Burley in N.Y. Amsterdam News 10 Apr. 13/4 Walter Green..is getting rich at that new all-white spot where the greys shower him with greens each and every dim. 1965 O. Harrington in J. H. Clarke Harlem 90 The year was 1936, a bad year in most everybody's book. Ellis the cabdriver used to say that even the grays downtown were having it rough. 1970 A. Young Snakes (1971) 35 They dont even be making sense to one another much less to..some of these simple-ass grays. 1996 D. Adebayo Some Kind of Black 22 Greys clad in Levis that their flat-jack backsides could not properly fill out. 6. A horse having a coat with a mixture of white and dark hairs. Cf. sense A. 2. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > colour or marking > [noun] > grey or dun horse dunc1405 greya1500 iron-grey?1530 grizzlea1620 yellow-dun1767 grullo1903 a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) iv. l. 729 Þar morel, bayerde, don and gray, Withe wondis flyngande ran away. 1536 R. Thorpe Let. 24 May in Lisle Papers (P.R.O.: SP 3/4/20) f. 24 The graye was for yo^r lorship and the chestone baye was for Mr. Myddellton. 1747 New-year's Misc. 35 I don't question a set of his Greys, Which will..redound both to mine, and the dead 'squire's honour, To have his Herse drawn in so noble a manner. c1784 R. Gorman Let. in M. Leeson Mem. (1797) II. App. 261 I have had a gentleman's phaeton and horses generally to attend me for these last two months, a beautiful pair of grays. 1813 J. Hogg Queen's Wake ii. xii. 158 When good Earl Walter rode the ring, Upon his mettled gray. 1847 W. M. Thackeray Vanity Fair (1848) xxxvii. 335 Mrs. Mantrap..drives her greys in the Park. 1901 B. Whitby Flower & Thorn xiv. 246 A fast-trotting pair of greys came up the narrow way. 1953 Life 21 Sept. 189/2 Like most grays he has an extremely tender hide. 2004 D. MacCarron Irish Def. Forces since 1922 46/1 (caption) The Mounted Escort trumpeter in 1945, riding a grey. 7. The dull or cold light of dawn or twilight; grey or gloomy light caused by overcast weather. Esp. in the grey of the morning and variants. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > light > naturally occurring light > [noun] > sunlight or sunshine > twilight evengloamOE twilighting1387 crepusculum1398 crepusculec1400 twilightc1440 twinlightc1532 grisping1580 grey1592 owl-light1599 gropsing1606 twatter-light1606 twitterlight1608 dusk1622 grasp1650 torchlighta1656 crepuscle1665 mock-shade1669 dimps1693 duskish1696 dimmit1746 darklins1767 twilight glow1819 gloama1821 owlet light1821 sandhya1876 dusk-light1937 1592 R. Johnson Nine Worthies sig. F^v Ere the morning parted with her gray The foming beast as dead as clay did lie. 1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet iii. v. 19 Yon gray is not the Mornings Eye. View more context for this quotation 1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing v. iii. 27 The gentle day..Dapples the drowsie East with spots of grey . View more context for this quotation 1691 J. Ray S. & E. Country Words in Coll. Eng. Words (ed. 2) 101 The Gray of the Morning; Break of day, and from thence till it be clear light. 1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 19 Our Ship..was surprised in the Grey of the Morning. 1794 A. Radcliffe Myst. of Udolpho III. vii. 215 She continued to gaze upon it [sc. the vessel], with warm emotion, till the gray of twilight obscured the distance. 1853 C. Boner Chamois Hunting in Mountains of Bavaria xi. 146 The grey of evening spread over the sky. 1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 79 The sober grey of our dim Highland glens. 1905 Harper's Monthly Mag. July 287/1 The gray of the winter afternoon was creeping over the valley. 1995 V. Chandra Red Earth & Pouring Rain (1996) 152 So, two days later, in the grey of early morning, Uday Singh appeared at Arun's gate. 8. In plural. In full Scots Greys (also, now historical, Scotch Greys). A Scottish regiment of dragoons, raised in 1681 as the Royal Regiment of Scots Dragoons, later undergoing several changes of name (see note); the soldiers of this regiment. Also in singular: a soldier of this regiment.Scots Greys is now, as it originally was, an informal name, but in 1877 the regiment was officially renamed as the 2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys), becoming in 1921 The Royal Scots Greys (2nd Dragoons). In 1971 it was amalgamated with the 3rd Carabiniers to form The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys) and now forms part of the Royal Armoured Corps. [Probably so called on account of their grey horses (although originally the regiment also had a grey uniform).] ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > unit of army > named companies, regiments, etc. > [noun] > British Ulsters1649 Scots Guardsa1675 fusilier1680 guards1682 Scots Dragoons1689 Scots Fusiliers1689 Inniskilling1715 Scots Greys1728 blue1737 Black Watch1739 Oxford blues1766 green linnets1793 Grenadiers1800 slashers1802 the Buffs1806 tartan1817 Gay Gordons1823 cheesemongers1824 Green Jacket1824 The Bays1837 RHA1837 dirty half-hundred1841 die-hard1844 lifeguard1849 cherry-picker1865 lancer-regiment1868 cheeses1877 Territorial Regiment1877 the Sweeps1879 dirty shirts1887 Scottish Rifles1888 shiner1891 Yorkshire1898 imperials1899 Irish guards1902 Hampshires1904 BEF1914 Old Contemptibles1915 contemptibles1917 Tank Corps1917 the Tins1918 skins1928 pioneer corps1939 red devils1943 Blues and Royals1968 U.D.R.1969 1728 True List of Lords Spiritual & Temporal 67 Hon. James Campbell of Rowallen, Esq. Colonel of the Regiment of Scots Greys. 1728 Mem. Eng. Officer 42 Sir Thomas Levington..got together a Party of about five Hundred (the Dragoons, call'd the Scotch Greys, inclusive). 1743 Brit. Glory Reviv'd 11 The Greys have escap'd best, tho' they took most Pains to be demolished. 1753 Scots Mag. June 306/1 A troop of Scots Greys arrived. 1821 J. Galt in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Mar. 639/2 I said that I was the mother of a Scotch Grey, going to see my son's grave at Waterloo. 1882 Ld. Tennyson Charge Heavy Brigade iii. in Macmillan's Mag. Mar. 338 Brave Inniskillens and Greys Whirling their sabres in circles of light! 1918 J. Galsworthy Five Tales 188 A Scots Grey..had mounted a wounded Russian on his horse. 1972 C. Grant Royal Scots Greys 15/1 The Greys were from time to time employed in giving aid to the civil authorities. 2007 D. Gabaldon Lord John & Brotherhood of Blade xv. 198 Two officers of the Scotch Greys..had rescued him from the mob at Tyburn. 9. Gunsmithing. A grey spot on metal indicating a flaw. Now rare. ΚΠ 1811 Repertory of Arts 2nd Ser. 19 80 The advantages of this method of manufacturing skelps are, that the barrels made from them turn very sound and clear, and are free from grays or flaws. 1884 W. W. Greener Gun & its Devel. (ed. 2) 266 The theory is that the metal is less liable to be burned, the heat being uniform, and freedom from greys and faulty welds. 1899 Jrnl. Mil. Service Instit. Jan. 117 The chief cause of rejection for bad material is the presence of what are known as ‘greys’ on the surface of the metal. 1965 J. O'Connor Shotgun Bk. vii. 85 Barrels made of a combination of iron and steel lack the tensile strength of modern steel, and even the best of them have ‘grays’ caused by impurities in the material. 10. slang (chiefly Australian and New Zealand). A coin with two heads or (later esp.) two tails, used to cheat in gambling games. [Origin uncertain. A suggested connection with Romani grai horse is very unlikely. An allusion to sense B. 6 (perhaps specifically in a pair of greys) has also been suggested, but if so the semantic motivation is not clear.] ΘΚΠ society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > games of chance > [noun] > double-sided coin grey1819 1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. 179 Gray, a half-penny, or other coin, having two heads or two tails, and fabricated for the use of gamblers. 1828 G. Smeeton Doings in London 40 Breslaw could never have done more upon cards than he could do with a pair of ‘grays’. 1868 Temple Bar 24 539 The way they do it is to have a penny with two heads or two tails on it, which they call a ‘grey’. 1898 Western Champion (Barcaldine, Queensland) 11 Jan. 4/5 He..took a man down for 23s. by ‘ringing-in a grey’ (a two-tailed penny) on him. 1912 N.Z. Truth 20 Jan. 7 He falls a ready victim to the crook and speiler [sic ] who is adept in the art of ‘ringing in a grey’; i.e., using a double-headed penny. 1928 J. Devanny Dawn Beloved 163 A double-tailer is called a ‘grey’. A double-header a ‘nob’. 1975 L. Ryan Shearers 153 Greys, double tail pennies. 11. The quality of being ambiguous, ill-defined, or intermediate between directly opposing notions of good or bad, right or wrong, etc.; ambiguity, indeterminacy. Also: an instance of this; something not black and white. Cf. black and white n. 2. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > equivocal quality, ambiguity > [noun] ambiguitya1325 doublenessa1513 ambiguousness1542 double meaning1551 indifferency1596 equivocacy1646 equivocalness1647 ambilogy1656 greyness1663 mealy-mouthedness1697 amphilogy1731 equivocality1735 grey1822 double-edgedness1901 ambivalence1912 ambivalency1912 1822 W. Hazlitt Table-talk II. xv. 359 There is black, and white, and grey, square and round—there are too many anomalies, too many redeeming points, in poor human nature, such as it actually is, for us to arrive at a smart, summary decision on it. 1839 C. Nevile Rev. Mr. Newman's Lect. Romanism 18 A confused theory upon the subject of Church Authority;..a sort of grey, between black and white, neither belonging to one side or the other. 1885 A. S. Orr Handbk. Wks. Robert Browning 326 Nothing given in our experience affords a stable truth—..the black or white of one moment is always the darker or lighter grey of another. 1897 Academy 9 Jan. 47/3 The Englishman says, ‘Black's black—furieusement black; and white's white—furieusement white.’ De Quincey saw many blacks, many whites, multitudinous greys. 1923 J. Hergesheimer Bright Shawl 21 He saw..the good on one side facing the bad on the other. There was no mingling of the ranks, no grey; simply, conveniently, black and white. 1948 Amer. Sociol. Rev. June 284 To disclose the blacks and imply the whites of a quality scale, the middle grays being largely lost. 2010 J. Sandford Staying True 197 I could see the gray of the confusion of conflicting emotions as clearly as I could see some part of it as black and white. 12. a. Dullness; uneventfulness; (also) absence of hope, pleasure, or excitement. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [noun] > state or quality of being wearisome or tedious irksomeness1533 wearisomeness1579 inanity1603 tediositya1625 drynessa1637 unliveliness1643 flatness1649 tedium1662 tiresomeness1668 aridity1692 languor1741 dullness1751 uninterestingness1794 ponderousness1801 yawniness1805 unimpressiveness1827 slowness1828 grey1830 fadeness1837 woodenness1854 tristeness1866 boresomeness1883 boringness1893 stodginess1899 monochrome1962 1830 Amer. Monthly Mag. (Boston) Dec. 617 His imagination..could tinge with its own warm coloring the sober gray of reality. 1876 B. De Jongh ‘We are Worldlings’ II. viii. 159 The distant fields, and the palm-trees, steeped in the gaudy light, were strangely out of unison with the grey of his thoughts. 1892 I. Zangwill Children of Ghetto I. 16 To blur the vivid tints of the East into the uniform gray of English middle-class life. 1922 E. Cotton Down Lyric Lanes 28 From the barren grey of life You came to me. 1964 W. Walsh Human Idiom iv. 128 The deadly gray of an appalling poverty. 2003 M. Brodsky Detour 211 The grey of Vitti's foreboding soul when she traverses the terrace in the shadow of Etna. b. British. A boringly conventional or conformist person; esp. (depreciative) one who does not share the values of late 1960s counterculture. Now disused.In quot. 1967 also referring to members of an older generation; cf. sense B. 5a. ΚΠ 1967 Observer 17 Dec. 25/1 Many of the ‘grey’ citizens have been working for forty years and more for the forgiveness of enemies... The ‘greys’ would appreciate the co-operation of the ‘bright’ ones in such activities. 1969 Gandalf's Garden vi. 11/1 Greys, those people whose minds have ossified and who have lost the wonder of living and the will to learn what it's all about. 1969 It 4 July 3/3 The whole scene is under the thumbs of the greys. Pretty well everywhere today the dead men, the square men and the greys are running things, calling the tune. 13. Originally U.S. (A name for) a member of any of various supposed species of grey-skinned, humanoid, extraterrestrial beings. Usually in plural. ΘΚΠ society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabitant > inhabitant according to environment > [noun] > extraterrestrial inhabitant heavenwareOE superlunary1649 Selenite1650 lunarian1708 planetarian1778 little green man1802 starling1839 alien1931 space colony1932 space alien1936 ET1944 outworlder1948 off-worlder1957 extra-terrestrial1963 Klingon1968 grey1989 1973 S. T. Friedman in Los Angeles Times 27 Sept. iv. 1/2 They are short... They have been described as ‘humanoid’... They have almost no lips and their eyes are vertical slits... And gray. Yes.] 1989 UFO Sept.–Oct. 37/1 The ETs I've experienced have exhibited a wide range of forms. I have had no contact with the ‘greys’ (from Zeta Reticulum). 1990 Omni Dec. 97/2 So-called because of their pallid, dolphinlike skin and complexion. The most commonly reported alien humanoid entities, Grays are typically described as dwarfish in stature with oversized, fetuslike heads; large, slanted black eyes; and scrawny limbs. 1998 E. Davis TechGnosis (1999) viii. 237 Contemporary contactees also tell gruesome tales about impassive, almond-eyed, and vaguely malevolent Grays more interested in human flesh than language. 2012 School Libr. Jrnl. Rev. (Nexis) 1 Apr. 71 The Steigers..canvas every aspect of alien intel, including types (little green men, the Grays, the Praying Mantises) and their relationships to the U.S. presidency, secret societies, Nazis, and religion. Phrases P1. In proverbs. a. the grey mare is the better horse and variants: used to indicate that a wife dominates, or is more competent than, her husband. Cf. grey mare n. at Compounds 1c(a). Now archaic and rare.The meaning in quot. 1529 is unclear. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > married person > married woman > [phrase] > the wife rules the husband the grey mare is the better horse1546 1529 T. More Dyaloge Dyuers Maters iii. v. f. lxxvi^v/1 Here were we fallen in a grete questyon of the law, whyther y^e gray mare maye be y^e better horse or not, or whither he haue a wyse face or not that loketh as lyke a foole as an ewe loketh lyke a shepe.] 1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. iv. sig. Giv The grey mare is the better hors. 1570 Mariage Witte & Sci. ii. ii. sig. Bii^v Breake her betymes and bring her vnder by force Or elles the graye Mare, wil be the better horse. 1645 J. Howell Epistolæ Ho-elianæ iv. ix. 11 To suffer the Gray-Mare sometimes to be the better Horse. 1697 E. Ravenscroft Anatomist i. ii. 3 Sir, you know the Wife there wears the Breeches; and if the grey Mare be the better Horse, you'll find it difficult to bestride the Filly. 1726 W. R. Chetwood Voy. & Adventures Capt. R. Boyle 2 She began to tyrannize over my Master,..and soon prov'd, as the Saying is, The grey Mare to be the better Horse. 1798 G. Colman Heir at Law iii. ii. 40 You'll find the gray mare the better horse, in this house, I promise you. 1844 Ainsworth's Mag. 6 17 ‘Ah, ah! mon brave, you are prettily hen-peck—ha! ha!’ ‘Oui, oui, de gray mare is clearly de better horse,’ cried Sauvageon. 1920 Herald & Presbyter 14 Jan. 14/1 ‘Could you tell us, Mr. Thomas,’ asked Mr. Simmons..with a timid glance at his wife, ‘what was in the will you made for Mr. Lowell?’ ‘Evidently the gray mare is the better horse, in this case,’ whispered Kenyon to Sara. 1950 S. P. Best in E. Metaxas Bonhoeffer (2010) xxx Of the Heberleins, the grey mare was undoubtedly the better horse. b. all cats are grey (in the dark) and variants: in some circumstances the qualities which distinguish people or things from one another become obscured and hence unimportant. ΚΠ 1550 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue (new ed.) i. v. sig. Avi^v When all candels be out, all cats be grey. 1596 T. Lodge Margarite of Amer. sig. H2^v All cattes are grey in the darke (said Calandra). 1639 J. Taylor Iuniper Lect. xi. 88 All Cats be grey in the darke, and Joane is as good as my Lady. 1654 Trag. Alphonsus iii. 38 By night all Cats are gray, and in the dark, She will imbrace thee for the Prince of Wales. 1713 J. Gay Wife of Bath iii. 33 All Cats are gray, when Light is away. 1771 T. Smollett Humphry Clinker III. 67 My comfit is, he new not which was which; and, as the saying is, all cats in the dark are grey. 1809 E. S. Barrett Setting Sun I. 80 All Cats are grey in the dusk. 1833 Lady's Mag. Feb. 65/1 I will rob the place; and, as all cats are grey in the dark, leave Mark to be secured as the thief. 1887 Cosmopolitan Jan. 313/2 In the dark all cats look gray. 1950 A. Jacobsohn & P. S. Jacobsohn tr. W. Röpke Social Crisis of our Time ii. i. 155 Just as certainly a leaden atmosphere of grey proletarian uniformity will pervade the whole country..; we shall then have uniform dusk in which ‘all cats look grey’. 2004 P. L. Berger Questions of Faith ix. 129 If one neglects the then in favor of the now, religion..becomes a night in which all cats are grey—anything goes. c. to have a grey head and a green tail: see head n.¹ Phrases 5a. P2. Scottish, Irish English (northern), and English regional (northern). to go a grey gate and variants: to become bad or wicked; to come to a bad end. ΚΠ 1721 J. Kelly Compl. Coll. Scotish Prov. 380 You'll gang a gray Gate yet..you will come to an ill End. 1725 A. Ramsay Gentle Shepherd iv. i. 59 I'll ne'er advise my Niece sae gray a Gate, Nor will she be advis'd fou well I wate. 1787 J. Elphinston Propriety Ascertained II. 119 But I dread he'l gae af at the nail wih hemsal: I wos he mayna saw aw staps, or gang a gray gate. 1820 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. June 281 Its a sad and sair pity to behold youthfu' blood gaun a gate sae gray. 1830 W. Carleton Traits & Stories Irish Peasantry I. 197 Only for it that couple's poor orphans wouldn't be left without father or mother as they were; nor poor Hurrish go the grey gate he did. 1846 W. E. Brockett J. T. Brockett's Gloss. North Country Words (ed. 3) I. 200 He has gane a grey-gate. 1885 J. Hamilton Poems 302 An' Jean, the ae daughter, had gane a grey-gate. 1996 C. I. Macafee Conc. Ulster Dict. 155/2 Go a grey gate, go astray, come to a bad end. P3. a. in the grey. (a) Of clothing, fabric, or yarn: in an unbleached, undyed, or unfinished state. Cf. in the greige at greige adj. and n. Phrases. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > treated or processed in specific way > [adverb] > unbleached in the grey1795 the world > matter > colour > named colours > white or whiteness > whitening > [adjective] > bleached > not bleached unblancheda1475 unbleached1531 unwhited1621 blay1785 in the grey1795 blae- 1795 J. Aikin Descr. Country round Manch. ii. 158 Fustians..were bought in the grey by the Manchester chapmen, who finished and sold them in the country. 1860 S. Jubb Hist. Shoddy-trade 40 Short Ends were sold to the merchants..in the grey. 1876 Textile Colourist 1 317/1 (heading) Warp Threads from No. 2 Cloth in the Grey. 1929 Times 7 Feb. 9/3 There were thousands of piece goods coming into this country ‘in the grey’ to be dyed here. 2005 Greige Polyester/Cotton Printcloth from China (U.S. Internat. Trade Comm. Publ. 3776) i. 17 Greige polyester/cotton printcloth..is often sold ‘in the gray’ by the producing mill to converters, which have the goods finished (e.g., bleached, dyed, printed, etc.). (b) Clockmaking and Watchmaking. With reference to a metal surface: finished without being polished. Now rare. ΚΠ 1860 E. B. Denison Rudimentary Treat. Clocks (rev. ed.) 309 Earnshaw was the first watchmaker who had sense enough to set at defiance the vulgar and ignorant prejudice for ‘high finish’ of the non-acting surfaces, and to leave them ‘in the grey’, as it is called. 1876 Horological Jrnl. Dec. 49/2 The motion should be entirely fitted with the frame in the grey. 1920 Jewelers' Circular 7 Apr. 157/1 The repeating mechanism is after the French type with chain, but is finished in the English type in the grey. b. in the (also a) grey state: = Phrases 3a(a). ΚΠ 1824 7th Rep. Commissioners Revenues Ireland in House of Lords Sessional Papers 1801–33 CLXII. App. 49 We thought there would be an advantage from bringing in goods in the grey state, and finishing them here. 1841 Bradshaw's Manch. Jrnl. 7 Aug. 242/2 It is no common occurrence now for goods to be sent down from the manufactory in their grey state in the afternoon of one day, and to be offered in the market on the following morning. 1873 Law Times 20 Sept. 78/2 N. received the cotton in a ‘grey state’, and at his own cost increased its value about 25 per cent. by dyeing and dressing it. 1915 Textile Amer. July 34/1 The yarn in each case has been previously dealt with in its grey state on a mill warper. 2006 A. K. R. Choudhury Textile Prepar. & Dyeing iv. 148 There are three methods to remove surface fibres from 100% cotton woven and knit goods, namely singeing in the grey state, [etc.]. P4. a grey head upon green shoulders: see head n.¹ Phrases 3o(b). Compounds C1. Compounds of the adjective. a. (a) Parasynthetic, as grey-leaved, grey-suited, grey-winged, etc. Cf. the instrumental compounds of the noun at Compounds 2a. See also grey-bearded adj., grey-coated adj., grey-eyed adj., grey-faced adj., grey-headed adj., grey-haired adj., etc. ΚΠ 1591 Troublesome Raigne Iohn i. sig. E4^v Grey gownd good face, coniure ye, ner trust me for a groate. 1600 T. Dekker Old Fortunatus Epil. sig. L3^v When gray-winged Age sits on their heads. 1637 J. Milton Comus 7 The gray-hooded Ev'n Like a sad Votarist in Palmers weeds Rose from the hindmost wheels of Phœbus waine. 1661 G. Wharton Select & Choice Poems 22 The glittering Tissue, and the gray-friz'd Gown. ?1711 J. Petiver Gazophylacii IX. Table 84 Fine, grey-leaved Cape Cranesbill. 1760 J. Macpherson Fragments Anc. Poetry (ed. 2) 64 The grey-winged arrow flew, and pierced the breast. 1800 J. Donn Hortus Cantabrigiensis (ed. 2) 54 Gray-seeded [sc. Bonduc, or Nicker-tree]. 1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel I. 9 Grey-girdled eve, and morn of rosy hue. 1844 W. Barnes Poems Rural Life in Dorset Dial. 122 The grey-boughed withy's a-leanen lowly. 1870 W. Morris Earthly Paradise: Pt. IV 85 And o'er the wrack of Senlac field Full fed the grey-nebbed raven wheeled. 1897 J. Hodgson Hist. Northumbld. IV. 55 The old grey-slated house. 1922 S. Anderson Winesburg Ohio 151 The landlord was interrupted by..a tall grey-mustached man. 1995 J. Roberts Dear Psychiatrist 151 The three magistrates walked in, silent, stern and grey-suited. (b) grey-breasted adj. ΚΠ 1752 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. III. 480 The grey-breasted and reddish-breasted Charadrius. 1829 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom VII. 490 Grey-breasted Parrakeet. 2004 Daily Post (Liverpool) (Nexis) 1 May 22 We came across a species we had really wanted, Grey-breasted seedsnipe, a cross between a wader and a gamebird. grey-coloured adj. ΚΠ 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 314/1 Gray coloured as ones eyes be, vair. 1664 R. Hubert Catal. Nat. Rarities 58 Above all these Stones for admiration, is a little stone like a gray coloured Agate. 1738 J. Burton Treat. Non-naturals vi. 299 A Kind of whitish, grey-colour'd Substance, like to an Emulsion. 1883 R. L. Stevenson Treasure Island iii. xiii. 102 Grey-coloured woods. 1996 C. Frankel Volcanoes Solar Syst. ii. 37 The main lava family..consists of the gray-coloured andesites. grey-crowned adj. ΚΠ 1822–3 W. Swainson Zool. Illustr. III. Pl. 174 (heading) Grey-crowned Tanager. 1945 S. J. Baker Austral. Lang. xii. 211 The Grey-crowned Babbler is known also as apostle-bird, [etc.]. 2003 Birder's World Apr. 2 (advt.) A thick fog settles in on us... Mr. Whitney says, that now this means he won't spot a Gray-crowned rosy-finch, his only real target species. grey-necked adj. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > larger song birds > family Corvidae (crow) > [adjective] > grey (of hooded crow) grey-backed1837 grey-necked1894 1782 J. Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds I. 761 (margin) Grey necked H[umming] B[ird]. 1894 R. B. Sharpe Hand-bk. Birds Great Brit. I. 12 Of the grey-necked section our Hooded Crow is the most familiar species. 2003 Sun Herald (Sydney) (Nexis) 13 Apr. (Travel section) 8 The rainforest..harbours many rare birds, including the endangered grey-necked picathartes. b. Modifying the names of other colours to form adjectives and nouns with the sense ‘greyish’, as grey-black, grey-brown, grey-green, grey-greenish, grey-white, etc. See also sense A. 1b, grey-blue n. and adj. ΚΠ 1566 Exam. John Walsh sig. A.v^v His Familiar would somtyme come vnto hym lyke a gray blackish Culuer. 1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball i. xiii. 21 Butter Burre... Of a greene colour vpon the outside, and of a gray whitishe colour nexte the grounde. 1613 G. Markham Eng. Husbandman: 1st Pt. Former Pt. vi. sig. E2 In these gray white clayes, you shall..see more Wheate sowne then any other Graine. 1679 T. Jordan London in Luster 11 A Princely Shepherdess..in a Robe of gray-green silk and silver. 1706 tr. L. Liger Compl. Florist in tr. F. Gentil Le Jardinier Solitaire 477 Several Branches, cover'd with a grey greenish Lilac Bark. 1804 S. T. Coleridge Let. 5 June (1956) II. 1138 Nothing green meets your eye—one dreary grey-white. 1827 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom V. 353 General colour gray-brownish beneath, and whitish under the throat. 1849 D. Campbell Pract. Text-bk. Inorg. Chem. 329 Glucina, or its compounds..become grey-black. 1891 T. Salvadori Catal. Birds Brit. Mus. XX. 401 Head..of the females above greenish with a grey-bluish tinge. 1958 Climatol. Data: Calif. (U.S. Dept. Commerce. Weather Bureau) 52 218 Funnel cloud had grey-whitish appearance instead of usual black coloring. 1972 M. J. Ursin Life in & around Salt Marshes 33 (caption) Seabeach orach... The leaves are gray-green, the stem tinged with red. 2003 J. van der Vliet Catal. Coptic Inscriptions Sudan National Museum ii. 51 Lower left corner of a stela of grey-pinkish sandstone. c. (a) grey antimony n. Mining (now rare) (also grey antimony ore) = stibnite n. ΚΠ 1776 R. E. Raspe tr. J. J. Ferber Trav. Italy xvii. 250 Grey antimony in large and long crystals, covered with crystallized native sulphur. 1858 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 148 189 The crystallization lines of grey antimony are at right angles to the receiving surface. 1870 C. L. Bloxam Metals 285 The appearance of grey antimony ore is very characteristic; it commonly resembles a compact bundle of dark grey metallic needles. 1916 L. S. Marks Mech. Engineers' Handbk. 530 Antimony glance (known also as gray antimony ore, antimonite and stibnite) is the most important ore of antimony. 2002 G. Balázs & H. J. Breunig in M. Gielen Unusual Structures Organometallic Chem. x. 401 The Sb₄ molecule..is stable only in the gas phase and rearranges to give grey antimony on condensation. grey arsenic n. Chemistry the most stable allotrope of arsenic, which is a brittle substance with a steel-grey metallic lustre. ΚΠ 1868 W. Crookes & E. Röhrig Kerl's Pract. Treat. Metall. I. v. 478 Ores rich in arsenic are at once roasted at a higher temperature, as more white and less grey arsenic are thus formed. 1938 G. H. J. Adlam & L. S. Price Higher School Certificate Inorg. Chem. xlii. 412 Grey arsenic is the form stable at ordinary temperatures. 2007 C. Cooper Arsenic 7/1 Yellow arsenic is chemically the same as gray arsenic, but it is much less dense. grey astrakhan n. (a) the dark grey curly fleece of newborn or fetal karakul lambs, used for clothing or as a trimming; (b) a coat or other item of clothing made from this. ΚΠ 1862 Sheffield & Rotherham Independent 20 Feb. 4/3 The Canadian winter dress is becoming and not unserviceable—a round fur cap of grey Astrachan with a flat top; a long coat. 1865 M. Petri Equipm. Infantry 32 Frock coat of grey cloth,..trimmed with grey Astrakhan fur. 1884 West. Daily Press 17 Dec. 3/5 Capes of curled Crimean lamb—so often called grey astrakan. 1923 Lima (Ohio) News 30 Dec. 16/5 (advt.) Girl's Coats... Pollaires and velours with fur collars, Plaids with self or fur collars, as well as smart gray astrakhans, all good models. 1962 E. O'Brien Lonely Girl iv. 36 He bought me a grey astrakhan with a red velvet collar, and a flared skirt. 1978 H. Willetts tr. A. Solzhenitsyn Gulag Archipel. III. vi. iii. 377 He even ventured to protest against the appropriation of a gray astrakhan by the chairman of the Executive Committee. 2006 J. Cowan Spy's Wife 208 Baidukov was wearing the heavy grey overcoat and grey astrakhan fur hat of a colonel general of the Red Army. grey band n. North American Geology (now chiefly historical) a stratum of bluish-grey flagstone. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > sedimentary rock > [noun] > sandstone > others firestone1399 hassock1461 red stone1602 penistone1688 bluestone1709 gingerbread1714 brownstone1780 molasse1794 Old Red Sandstone1805 chip sand1808 fox-bench1816 New Red Sandstone1818 grey band1824 arkose1839 cankstone1845 St. Bees Sandstone1865 pietra serena1873 Ham Hill stone1889 1824 A. Eaton Geol. & Agric. Surv. District Erie Canal 36 (heading) Grey band, (or grey feke). 1863 J. D. Dana Man. Geol. 232 Flagstone,—a gray, laminated quartzose sandstone, called ‘gray band’. 1902 Canad. Rec. Sci. 9 120 In a cutting transverse to the grey band, by which a roadway ascends the Niagara escarpment, near Grimsby, the band shows excellent cross bedding. 1966 Lapidary Jrnl. Oct. 911/1 The caprock is of Kodak sandstone representing what in earlier literature is referred to as the Gray Band. grey bark n. the (powdered) bark of any of several species of cinchona tree (genus Cinchona), containing the alkaloids quinine and cinchonine and used to treat malaria and other fevers. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > medicinal trees or shrubs > [noun] > non-British medicinal trees or shrubs > cinchona tree or bark Peruvian bark1663 quinquina1681 Jesuits' Bark1704 quinaquina1708 quinquina1740 cinchona1742 quill bark1742 grey bark1781 red bark1782 bark-tree1783 yellow bark1794 cinchona-bark1811 crown bark1823 Loxa bark1825 Suriname bark1844 Lima bark1855 quinine tree1855 1781 London Med. Jrnl. Nov. 341 You may be assured that it [sc. a new kind of bark] is infinitely superior to the grey bark, and should be sought after by practitioners. 1848 A. B. Strong Amer. Flora II. 29 The cinchonine is in greater quantity than the quinine in the grey-bark, while in the yellow-bark, the quinine predominates. 1900 Cycl. Amer. Hort.: A–D 317/1 'Gray bark', from C[inchona] micrantha, C. nitida and C. Peruviana. 2005 W. Sneader Drug Discov. ix. 93 They isolated..cinchonine from samples of grey bark. grey body n. Physics an idealized object which absorbs and emits, at each wavelength, some constant fraction of the radiation emitted by a black body at the same temperature; cf. black body n. ΚΠ 1906 Proc. Physical Soc. 20 33 If the temperature of the black body were reduced a little, so as still to be higher than that of the grey body, the grey body would radiate and the black absorb. 1923 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 102 435 These gases have an equilibrium temperature in the neighbourhood of that of a grey body, i.e., 280°. 1989 Times 20 Mar. 17/6 Were it not for the greenhouse effect of the atmosphere, the Earth would be at what is known in astronomy as the grey-body temperature. 2007 J. A. Irwin Astrophysics iv. 139 The Earth, being a grey body, then emits a Planck spectrum at a (globally averaged) temperature. grey box n. (also with capital initials) any of various Australian eucalyptus trees with greyish bark. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > Australasian trees > [noun] > eucalyptus trees yellow box1662 gum tree1676 white gum tree1733 whip-stick1782 peppermint1790 red gum tree1790 red mahogany1798 white gum1798 box1801 blue gum1802 eucalyptus1809 box tree1819 black-butted gum1820 bloodwood1827 white ash1830 blackbutt1833 morrel1837 mountain ash1837 mallee scrub1845 apple gum1846 flooded gum1847 Moreton Bay ash1847 mallee1848 swamp gum1852 box-gum1855 manna gum1855 white top1856 river gum1860 grey box1861 woolly butt1862 marlock1863 fever tree1867 red ironbark1867 river white gum1867 karri1870 yellow jacket1876 eucalypt1877 yapunyah1878 coolibah1879 scribbly gum1883 forest mahogany1884 yellow jack1884 rose gum1885 Jimmy Low1887 nankeen gum1889 slaty gum1889 sugar-gum1889 apple box1890 Murray red gum1895 creek-gum1898 eucalyptian1901 forest red gum1904 river red gum1920 napunyah1921 whitewash gum1923 ghost gum1928 snow gum1928 Sydney blue gum1932 salmon gum1934 lapunyah1940 1861 W. H. Archer et al. Catal. Victorian Exhib. Melbourne 230 (table) Eucalyptus dealbata..Grey Box tree. 1969 Age (Melbourne) 24 May 24/5 The estate is natural bushland crowded with grey box, [etc.]. 2010 Eastern Courier Messenger (Adelaide) (Nexis) 15 Sept. 23 They allowed important trees smaller than the 2m cutoff to be felled, such as the increasingly scarce Grey Box. grey bread n. originally Scottish bread with a greyish colour, usually made from rye flour. [In later use partly after German Graubrot.] ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > bread > [noun] > other types of bread sergeant-loafa1348 clear-matin1362 bean-breadc1380 French bread1420 pease-breada1425 bran-breadc1425 grey breadc1430 angels' breadc1440 dough bread?a1500 baker's bread?1550 acorn bread1571 cart-bread1574 chapter-bread1600 diet-bread1617 ember-bread1681 buff coat1688 bust-coat1706 Picentine bread1712 chestnut-bread1814 naan1828 gluten-bread1846 to-bread1854 batch-bread1862 injera1868 coffee cake1879 pan dulce1882 quick bread1882 sour bread1884 Tommy1895 focaccia1905 hard-dough bread1911 hush puppy1918 potica1927 spoon bread1932 bake1933 pitta1936 hard-dough1966 pain de campagne1970 pocket bread1973 ciabatta1985 pain au levain1985 levain1991 c1430 Acts Parl. Scotl. (1844) I. 32/2 Baxtaris..sall bake quhyte brede and gray..eftir as the sesson askis. c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 245 Þis monke servid hym of passand gray bread & thyn potage & a little salte. 1518 in J. D. Marwick Extracts Rec. Burgh Edinb. (1869) I. 178 At the samyn be of fyne stufe weill baiken and dryet, and the gray breid vj vnces mair than the gray breid baiken within this burgh. 1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) III. 476 Wes nane that tyme that durst so hardy be..to mak him remeid, Or him support with ane byte of gra breid. 1606 W. Arthur & H. Charteris Rollock's Lect. 1st & 2nd Epist. Paul to Thessalonians (1 Thess.) xvi. 201 He is the honester man that will..sit down with gray bread conquest by his labour, nor he who eates all dilicates with idlenesse. 1721 J. Kelly Compl. Coll. Scotish Prov. 218 I am not small Beer thirsty, nor grey Bread hungry. 1858 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 9 Apr. 325/1 The pain bis or grey bread of France was made from flour of second quality, mixed or not with rye flour. 1910 Hazell's Ann. 25 434/2 Grey bread (made from a mixture of wheat and rye) is the sort generally eaten in Germany. 1968 J. Rathbone Hand Out vi. 36 His breakfast..consisted of sour grey bread, white cheese, rose-petal syrup and tea. 2007 I. Denny Fall of Hitler's Fortress City vi. 80 Grey bread..was a more refined but less tasty version of rye bread. grey cells n. the cells that make up the grey matter of the brain and spinal cord; (colloquial) intelligence, brain power.Uncommon in technical use. In colloquial use frequently in little grey cells and often associated with Agatha Christie's fictional detective, Hercule Poirot; see quot. 1920. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > nervous system > cerebrospinal axis > [noun] > grey matter grey matter1809 grey cells1845 cinerea1882 1845 Lancet 12 July 37/2 It is possible that there may be no greater connexion between the grey cells and the nerve-tubes in the spinal cord than this. 1878 S. Wilks Lect. Dis. Nerv. Syst. i. 166 In the ganglia of the spinal nerves, and even in the cranial, there was pigmentary degeneration of the grey cells. 1920 A. Christie Mysterious Affair at Styles x. 226 ‘This affair must all be unravelled from within.’ He tapped his forehead. ‘These little grey cells. It is “up to them”—as you say over here!’ 1960 P. G. Wodehouse Jeeves in Offing iii. 38 You can't hold down an editorial post on an important London weekly paper without being fairly well fixed with the little grey cells. 1976 Exper. Neurol. 53 725 Both the cerebellar and the noradrenaline fibers may synapse on periaqueductal gray cells. 2001 Dreamwatch Mar. 92/3 The game..is actually quite taxing on the little grey cells. † grey cloak n. Obsolete an alderman who has served as Lord Mayor of the City of London and so is entitled to wear a grey cloak. ΘΚΠ society > authority > office > holder of office > magistrate > municipal magistrate > [noun] > alderman > specific London alderman grey cloak1621 Father of the City1668 1621 Order of Ld. Maior, Aldermen & Sheriffs 24 They must chuse Maister Recorder for one of theyr Knights, and one gray cloake for the other. 1690–1700 Order of Hospitalls sig. Bii^v xiiij of them to be Aldermen (that is to say) vj Graye clokes and viii callabre. 1690–1700 Order of Hospitalls sig. Biii iij Alderman, whereof one shal be a graycloke. greycloth n. unbleached or undyed cloth; cf. grey goods n. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > treated or processed in specific way > [noun] > unbleached grey1751 greycloth1794 grey goods1818 greige1874 greige goods1920 1794 Analyt. Rev. July 298 It were to be wished, that some good detail of the process of bleaching were given, together with the experiments of Kirwan on the colouring matter of gray cloth. 1803 A. F. M. Willich & J. Mease Domest. Encycl. (Amer. ed.) I. 301/2 Steep the grey cloth for two or three days, then wash. 1895 London Gaz. 25 June 3624 Shires, Charles James..Greycloth Salesman. 1930 Aberdeen Press & Jrnl. 1 Apr. 8/4 Plain greycloth—that is, unbleached cloth, or cloth dyed in the piece. 1959 Listener 9 July 46/2 The weavers manufacture, from the yarn, cloth in an unfinished state, known as grey cloth. 2009 C. B. Kortsch Dress Culture in Late Victorian Women's Fiction ii. 38 Women and children did the carding, spinning, winding, and in some cases, the weaving of plain, cheap greycloth. † grey cobalt n. Mineralogy Obsolete = cobaltite n. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > sulphides and related minerals > [noun] > cobaltite group > cobalt sulpharsenide grey cobalt1728 syepoorite1849 cobaltite1868 1728 J. Woodward Catal. Foreign Fossils i. 26 in Catal. Addit. Eng. Native Fossils Grauer Kobold mit Wismut, i.e. Grey Cobalt with Bismuth. 1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 301 Gray cobalt..is a compound of cobalt with iron, arsenic, sulphur, and nickel. 1921 E. Thorpe Dict. Appl. Chem. (rev. ed.) II. 294/1 Sulpharsenide of cobalt occurs as cobalt glance, grey cobalt, or cobaltine, abundantly at Vena (Sweden) and in Norway. grey copper n. Mining (more fully grey copper ore) a grey sulphide ore of copper; (in later use) spec. = tetrahedrite n. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > minerals > ore > [noun] > metal ore > copper ore > types of red copper1507 misy1543 grey copper1590 yellow ore1630 grey orea1728 pitch ore1776 red copper ore1776 fahlerz1796 tile-ore1823 cuprite1850 lettsomite1850 velvet copper-ore1850 yellows1851 meneghinite1852 peacock copper1858 peacock ore1858 horseflesh ore1868 plush-copper1881 the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > sulphides and related minerals > sulpho-salts > [noun] > tetrahedrite grey copper1590 fahlerz1796 panabase1839 tennantite1839 fieldite1856 freibergite1856 tetrahedrite1868 panabasite1876 malinowskite1878 frigidite1887 schwatzite1887 1421 in N. S. B. Gras Early Eng. Customs Syst. (1918) 502 (MED) De Ertmer Swart pro vi di. barellis cupri grey pr. £iiii x s.] 1590 J. Hester tr. J. Du Chesne Sclopotarie i. 11 Likewise the spirite of Arsnicke, Calaminae or Tuthiae, being mingled with gray or yellowish Copper, dooth not at the first melting vanish away. 1730 J. Andree tr. G. H. Behrens Nat. Hist. Hartz-Forest vi. ii. 106 The following minerals are found there, viz...white and green vitriol, grey-Copper Ore, [etc.]. 1832 W. Macgillivray Trav. & Researches A. von Humboldt xxvi. 396 Most of it [sc. Mexican silver] is obtained from sulphuretted silver, arsenical gray-copper..and red silver-ore. 1882 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 1880–81 19 473 Nests of gray copper and Alaskaite in a gangue of quartz and barite. 1921 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 29 Mar. 17/6 The Bellevue mine..has struck fine looking ore at 186 feet in from the mouth of the tunnel, showing galena and grey copper. 2008 G. Levitan Gold Deposits CIS iv. 113 The quartz-stibnite association contains also gray copper ore. grey dune n. a mature vegetated sand dune, typically having a grey colour due to an abundance of lichens (esp. those of the genus Cladonia). ΚΠ 1899 Bot. Gaz. 27 386 The strand is succeeded by the wandering or white dunes, and these by the established or gray dunes. 1954 Vegetatio 5–6 562 A leaching of the stabilized soil may result in the development of a grey dune..characterized by Cladonia and other acidophilous species. 2011 Gorey (County Wexford) Guardian (Nexis) 22 Feb. Coastwatch said it was one of the finest grey dunes in the country. grey economy n. that sector of an economic system which is conducted by means of informal commercial activity unaccounted for in official statistics; esp. activity of this type regarded as less ethically or legally questionable than the black economy (black economy n. (b) at black adj. and n. Compounds 1e(a)); cf. grey market n. 3. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > management of money > management of national resources > [noun] > political economy > types of economic system free market1642 peasant economy1883 agriculturism1885 money economy1888 price system1889 external economy1890 peace economy1905 war economy1919 planned economy1924 market economy1929 circular economy1932 managed economy1932 mixed economy1936 market socialism1939 plural economy1939 market capitalism1949 external diseconomy1952 siege economy1962 knowledge economy1967 linear economy1968 EMU1969 wage economy1971 grey economy1977 EMS1978 enterprise culture1979 new economy1981 tiger1981 share economy1983 gig economy2009 1977 Social & Econ. Stud. 26 376 An immense grey economy of ‘working poor’, mostly self-employed or in family business, can be found in many cities. 1983 Economist 2 Apr. 70/3 Street vendors..have sprouted lately as an above-ground grey economy. Their goods—clothes, watches, jewellery—are not stolen, but bought wholesale. 1989 National Inst. Econ. Rev. May 41/1 In order to obtain some idea of the ‘grey economy’ in the clothing industry, we also visited a number of very small clothing ‘workshops’ in Britain. 2007 New Yorker 15 Oct. 74/2 Today, the gray economy..rivals the measurable one. grey eminence n. a person who exercises power or influence in a certain sphere without holding an official position; = éminence grise n. ΘΚΠ society > authority > power > influence > [noun] > one who or that which influences > influential person > behind the scenes power behind the throne1783 wire-puller1824 grey eminence1831 wire-worker1835 éminence grise1838 string-puller1961 1831 E. E. Crowe Hist. France (U.S. ed.) II. ii. 46 Although the latter [sc. Richelieu] never procured for his monkish friend the cardinal's hat which he demanded, still the people called father Joseph his ‘gray eminence’, at once to distinguish him from and assimilate him to his ‘red eminence’ the cardinal. 1945 R. Hargreaves Enemy at Gate 151 Bismarck's ‘grey eminence’, the enigmatic Holstein. 1956 F. Swinnerton Background with Chorus 78 The parts played by men not visibly figuring in ‘movements’—the grey eminences whose unpublished efforts give new ideas currency and new authors, or old authors, great places in literature. 1965 Listener 21 Oct. 614/1 That grey eminence of British communism Mr Palme Dutt. 1994 J. Barth Once upon Time 256 I had the remarkable privilege of an extended though eclectic grand tour..of the gray eminences of the professoriat. grey flannel suit n. colloquial (originally U.S.) a conventional grey suit regarded as suggestive of the wearer's conservative, bureaucratic, or conformist attitude or his or her lack of individuality, frequently with reference to the perceived atmosphere of conformity in the United States, esp. in the business world, in the 1950s and early 1960s; cf. grey suit n.In man in grey flannel suit frequently with allusion to the title of the work cited in quot. 1955. ΚΠ 1955 S. Wilson (title) The man in the gray flannel suit. 1956 Science 16 Mar. 476/3 (advt.) Medical Writer. ‘Gray Flannel Suit’ type, 25-35 years old with imagination, science background, and talent for concise, effective prose. 1958 S. Plath Jrnl. 15 Apr. (2000) 370 Read only the great poets: let their voices live in my ear & not the dregs & academic twiddle & pish of the young modern grey-flannel suit poets. 1973 C. Jencks Mod. Movements in Archit. viii. 302 He was characterized as a technician rather than a workman.., a member of a committee rather than an entrepreneur, and a man in a ‘Grey Flannel Suit’. 1995 Amer. Hist. Rev. 100 968/2 Under Kennedy, a sense of possibilities and of freedom were transferred to the re-experiencing of the body (dance, happening, sexuality), as if youth had finally rid themselves of the dull man with the grey flannel suit. 2000 N.Y. Times Mag. 7 May 53/1 America..to the social critics of the 1950's..was a community of conformists... The organization men wore gray flannel suits. The women were stunted by the feminine mystique. grey goo n. (in a hypothetical scenario) the notional substance which would be all that remains after the consumption of all matter on earth by self-replicating nanobots; the scenario positing such a process and result. ΚΠ 1986 K. E. Drexler Engines of Creation xi. 172 Among the cognoscenti of nanotechnology, this threat has become known as the ‘gray goo problem’. Though masses of uncontrolled replicators need not be gray or gooey, the term ‘gray goo’ emphasizes that replicators able to obliterate life might be less inspiring than a single species of crabgrass. 1996 Times Higher Educ. Suppl. (Nexis) 16 Feb. 15 A..grey goo calamity might one day be caused by nanotechnology. 2003 Nature 23 Jan. 299/2 Nanotech would not be subjected to suspicious scrutiny at all were it not for the enduring but outdated image of grey goo. 2009 New Yorker (Nexis) 28 Sept. 56 Prince Charles..has foreseen a world reduced to gray goo by avaricious and out-of-control technology. grey goods n. fabric in an unbleached or undyed state; goods made from such fabric; cf. greige goods n. at greige adj. and n. Compounds. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > treated or processed in specific way > [noun] > unbleached grey1751 greycloth1794 grey goods1818 greige1874 greige goods1920 1818 Commerc. Directory 1818–20 (James Pigot) 79 (heading) Agents, Commissioners, and Dealers in Grey Goods, Twist, Weft, &c. 1888 Bull. National Assoc. Wool Manufacturers 18 218 Legislation favoring the importation of gray goods, to be dyed or printed here, is incompatible with legislation favoring their manufacture here. 1954 Textile Terms & Defs. 21 Grey goods, woven or knitted fabrics as they leave the loom or knitting machine, i.e. before any bleaching, dyeing, or finishing treatment has been given to them. 2002 E. S. Hunt Medieval Super-companies (new ed.) i. ii. 44 Florentine..merchants..had become expert in finishing imported northern gray goods to suit the preferences of the Mediterranean market. † grey groat n. Obsolete a thing of little or no value; chiefly in emphatic negative expressions; cf. groat n. 2c, brass farthing n. at brass n. Compounds 3. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant > of little worth ivy-leafc1000 needle?c1225 sloec1250 peasea1275 strawc1290 bean1297 nutc1300 buttonc1330 leekc1330 trifle1375 cress1377 goose-wing1377 sop1377 niflec1395 vetcha1400 a pin's head (also point)c1450 trump1513 plack1530 toy1530 blue point1532 grey groat1546 cherry-stone1607 jiggalorum1613 candle-enda1625 peppercorn1638 sponge1671 sneeshing1686 snottera1689 catchpenny1705 potato1757 snuff1809 pinhead1828 traneen1837 a hill of beans1863 gubbins1918 1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. xi. sig. Div^v I knew hym, not worth a good grey grote. 1587 W. Harrison Hist. Descr. Iland Brit. (new ed.) ii. ii. 146/1 in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) I Of which portion poore saint Peter did neuer heare, of so much as one graie grote. c1592 C. Marlowe Jew of Malta iv. iv I'll not leave him worth a grey groat. 1664 J. Wilson Cheats v. v. 79 I can assure you her Grandfather left her not so much as a grey Groat. 1720 T. Gordon Craftsmen 8 He demanded not a grey Groat of them. 1820 W. Scott Abbot I. iv. 90 I would have been his caution for a grey groat against salt water or fresh. 1894 Sc. Notes & Queries Mar. 151/1 Gang to the tree on yonder brae—The leafless aik wi' branches grey;—Aneath its stem Dig deep, till four grey groats ye see. 1923 E. Hamilton Old Days & New xix. 302 Little Jock Graeme..Doesn't care a grey groat if his pony is lame. † grey-grown adj. Obsolete (chiefly poetic) that has grown grey through old age or experience; also figurative. ΚΠ 1727 J. Thomson Summer 24 The Daw, The Rook, and Magpie, to the grey-grown Oaks..direct their lazy Flight. 1872 T. Norton Hermit ii. 100 Ere another grey-grown year had roll'd Into eternity. 1893 A. de Vere Legends Saxon Saints 177 He clasped the grey-grown sinner in his arms. 1903 R. Hovey Along Trail 86 This old oak, grey-grown and knurled. 1913 Mother Earth Mar. 22 There is nothing more pathetic..than this gray-grown victim of a gray-grown Morality. grey gum n. any of several eucalyptus trees with greyish bark; esp. Eucalyptus punctata and E. propinqua of eastern Australia; (also) the wood of any of these. ΚΠ 1833 W. H. Breton Excursions New S. Wales iv. 279 The principal trees in the colony are the following... Grey gum, for fencing, building, &c. 1924 Queenslander 18 Oct. 10/3 Grey Irongum or Grey Gum (E. punctata and E. propinqua) is often confused with Blue Gum. 2011 P. Hammond Atlas World's Strangest Animals 77/1 Blue gum, grey gum and red river gum seem to be the koalas' favourites. grey iron n. (more fully grey cast iron) cast iron that has a grey fracture and contains most of its carbon in the form of flakes of graphite. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > iron > [noun] > type of iron > cast iron > other types of cast iron grey iron1665 white iron1665 run metal1741 white cast iron1792 mottled iron1836 tender-floss1839 pot metal1854 semi-steel1858 silicon iron1878 white-heart1911 white-heart1928 1665 D. Dudley Mettallum Martis sig. D The Gray Iron..is most fined, and more sufficient to make Bar-Iron with, and tough Iron to make Ordnance, or any Cast Vessels, being it is..more malliable and tough, then the other two sorts. 1795 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 85 343 Varieties..differently named by artizans, namely..pig, or sow iron; blue, gray, white cast iron;—soft iron; tough iron; brittle iron; hard iron. 1802 Philos. Mag. 12 28 By increasing the dose of carbon you increase the fusibility, and it passes at length into the state of gray cast iron. 1911 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 28 Apr. 1/6 Fire..destroyed the blacksmith and forging shop, the machine shops and the Grey iron and brass founders. 1967 Times Rev. Industry Mar. 76/1 High production costs amounting to over £98 per ton of grey cast iron. 2001 J. R. Davis Alloying 26 Sulfur levels in gray iron are very important and to some extent have been an area of technical controversy. grey leaf n. (more fully grey leaf spot, grey leaf blight) any of numerous plant diseases in which the leaves develop greyish lesions, esp. due to fungal infection or nutrient deficiency; cf. grey speck n. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > type of disease > deficiency diseases > associated with crop or food plants greenback1926 grey leaf1928 marsh spot1931 tea yellows1931 speckled yellows1938 grey speck1947 1903 Monthly Circular Div. Zool. (Pennsylvania State Dept. Agric.) May 9 The Gray Leaf-blight or disease of cantaloupes and other melons. 1928 F. T. Brooks Plant Dis. ii. 15 On some alkaline soils oats cannot be grown profitably on account of a disease known as Grey-leaf. 1961 News Tribune (Fort Pierce, Florida) 24 July 2/6 Gray leaf spot is most prevalent during the warmer months, when ample moisture is present. 2009 V. Gowariker et al. Fertilizer Encycl. 283/1 If the symptoms of grey leaf develop early when the plants are small..manganese sulphate..can generally correct the deficiency. grey level n. an individual tint or tone in a greyscale image; the level of intensity or brightness of such a tone or tones. ΚΠ 1944 Brit. Patent 562,707 3/1 A video signal..has..been established at a level mid-way between zero carrier and the black level, and will correspond approximately, therefore, to a gray level. 1974 Science 18 Oct. 209/3 The..television tubes are capable of showing 16 different colors (or gray levels) at a time. 1982 R. M. Hord Digital Image Processing Remotely Sensed Data iv. 75 To display this data effectively on an image display device with a 0-225 dynamic range requires that a gray-level adjustment be performed. 2008 R. Whitrow OpenGL Graphics through Applic. iii. 71 An intensity histogram is a count of the number of pixels at each grey level within any image. grey liberation n. (also with capital initials) [after gay liberation (see gay adj., adv., and n. Compounds 2b)] originally U.S. (a notional movement advocating) the liberation of elderly people from social restrictions or discrimination. ΚΠ 1971 Morning Herald (Uniontown, Pa.) 17 Apr. 4/7 Restaurant owner Joe Ponte may start a movement for us middleaged cats. He'll call it Gray Liberation. 1984 Sports Illustr. (Nexis) 9 Apr. 58 Eyes were on..several venerable members of..‘the gray liberation army’. Among the senior citizens were former UCLA star Bill Barrett. 1999 R. Manheimer Map to End of Time i. 23 ‘You mean now you can be anything you want to in old age.’.. ‘Gray liberation,’ Shep laughed. grey literature n. documentary material which is not commercially published or publicly available, such as technical reports or internal business documents. ΚΠ 1975 Q. Rev. Biol. 50 346/1 Many references are from the soft or grey literature, such as progress reports and meeting summaries. 1995 Daily Tel. 12 Jan. 18/5 My company specializes in the acquisition and delivery of what scientists and technologists call ‘grey literature’—technical reports and other documents that cannot be obtained through bookshops. 2010 Nature 8 Apr. 823/3 Michael Fulford..has been piloting a study of the grey literature about Roman Britain, with similarly exciting results. grey manganese n. Mining (now rare) (also grey manganese ore) either of two minerals containing manganese, manganite and pyrolusite. ΚΠ 1793 T. King Catal. Duplicates Ores: Pt. 2nd 22 Grey manganese, in coarse plum pudding stone. 1852 F. Overman Treat. Metall. iii. v. 466 The most valuable kind of this mineral is the crystallized variety, called gray manganese—pyrolusite. 1876 P. de P. Ricketts Notes Assaying 120 Manganese occurs in an oxidized form, and its principal ores are..manganite (gray manganese ore). 1919 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. 41 935 The author dissolved crystallized Ilfeld grey manganese ore in hydrochloric acid. 1987 Proc. Internat. Waste Managem. Conf. 170 (table) Mixed sorbent is a mixture of 50% (wt.) of clinoptilotite and 50% (wt.) of gray manganese. grey mare n. [after the grey mare is the better horse at Phrases 1a] a wife who is the dominant or more competent partner in a marriage. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > married person > married woman > [noun] > wife > domineering wife archwifec1386 grey mare1700 henpeck1730 1700 R. Cromwell Let. in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1898) 13 117 Shee tells him (as being the gray mare) he could not goe. 1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess v. 116 The gray mare Is ill to live with, when her whinny shrills From tile to scullery. 1876 C. M. Yonge Womankind xxii. 183 The grey-mare may keep down the husband who chose her,..but she cannot restrain her growing-up sons. 1916 M. Hine Individual iv. xxi. 302 A strong character. She's the grey mare in that ménage. 2008 G. Wills tr. Martial Epigrams 197 You have the husband's latch-key, he has none; You are the grey mare, Polla, when all's done. grey matter n. the darker (less myelinated) of the two types of tissue of which the brain and spinal cord are composed, consisting mainly of nerve cell bodies and dendrites (cf. white matter n. at white adj. and n. Compounds 1g(d)); (gen.) the active or intelligent part of the brain; intelligence, brain power. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > nervous system > cerebrospinal axis > [noun] > grey matter grey matter1809 grey cells1845 cinerea1882 1809 Philos. Mag. 34 303 The cerebellum issues from fasciculi denominated processus cerebelli ad medullam, which are reinforced, but once only, by fibres furnished to them by the gray matter of what is called the corpus ciliare. 1866 T. H. Huxley Lessons Elem. Physiol. xi. 279 In the Medulla oblongata the arrangement of the white and grey matter is substantially similar to what it is in the spinal cord; that is to say, the white matter is external, and the grey internal. But, in the cerebellum and cerebral hemispheres, the grey matter is external and the white internal. 1894 A. Robertson Nuggets 33 These..thoughts rushed over the grey matter of Bill's brain, as the wind rushes through the tree-tops. 1944 Horizon Mar. 172 The grey matter of the brain-rind was originally skin-tissue. 2007 Independent on Sunday 13 May (Review Suppl.) 3/1 No one with an ounce of grey matter nor a shred of dignity would remain in any ‘real’ magazine that functioned in this sub-soap-opera manner. grey meal n. Scottish (a) mixed meal and dust from the floor of a mill (now historical and rare); †(b) barley meal (obsolete). ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation of grain > [noun] > siftings or refuse mill dust1354 roughc1460 overchaving1607 sid1673 grey meal?1771 shag1822 slurry1825 slush1843 slutch1851 ?1771 Whole Proc. Jocky & Maggy v. 27 Your groat meal, and gray meal, sand dust and seeds. 1841 A. Crawfurd in Laird of Logan 498 John Braedine, in Kilbirnie, was called before the Presbytery of Irvine, 1647, for calling his minister's doctrines Dust and Gray Meil. a1877 Shepherd's Dochter in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1886) II. v. 462/2 For mony a time thou 's filled my pock Wi baith oat-meal and grey. 1923 P. Worth Light from Beyond 274 The bread I proffer thee is of homely stuff—Of grey meal, which wert gristed by Mine ain hand. 1990 T. C. Smout & S. Wood Sc. Voices i. 5 In times of scarcity recourse was had to inferior kinds, which are now happily forgotten—viz., grey meal—i.e., a species compounded of oatmeal and mill-dust. † grey mechoacan n. Obsolete rare. the tuberous root of the plant Mirabilis longiflora (family Nyctaginaceae), of Mexico and the southwestern United States, used as a purgative. ΚΠ 1890 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon at Mechoacan Grey Mechoacan, the root of Myrabilis longiflora. grey merchant n. now historical and rare (in Ireland) an itinerant merchant; spec. one who buys up goods before they reach the public market; = forestaller n. 1. ΚΠ 1542 Act 33 Hen. VIII c. 2. in R. Bolton Statutes Ireland (1621) 185 An Act for gray Merchants. 1697 Act 9 Will. III c. 33 Every Gray-Merchant, Merchant-Traveller, or Pedler, who usually Travels with an Horse, shall pay One pound. 1757 R. Stephenson Inq. State & Progress Linen Manuf. Ireland i. 37 It appears, that in an Act made against Grey Merchants Forestalling, Linen and Linen Yarn were then the most considerable Manufactures and Trade of Consequence among the Natives of this Kingdom. 1989 K. Simms in R. F. Foster Oxf. Hist. Ireland ii. 96 Trading-houses in the bigger cities would pay a local lord for licence to send their ‘grey merchants’ or ‘forestallers’ from house to house among his subjects. grey midge n. Angling a small grey artificial fly. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > means of attracting fish > [noun] > artificial fly > types of moor flylOE drake-flya1450 dub-flya1450 dun cut1496 dun fly1496 louper1496 red fly1616 moorish fly1635 palmer1653 palmer fly1653 red hackle1653 red palmer1653 shell-fly1653 orange fly1662 blackfly1669 dun1676 dun hackle1676 hackle1676 mayfly1676 peacock fly1676 thorn-tree fly1676 turkey-fly1676 violet-fly1676 whirling dun1676 badger fly1681 greenfly1686 moorish brown1689 prime dun1696 sandfly1700 grey midge1724 whirling blue1747 dun drake?1758 death drake1766 hackle fly1786 badger1787 blue1787 brown-fly1787 camel-brown1787 spinner1787 midge1799 night-fly1799 thorn-fly1799 turkey1799 withy-fly1799 grayling fly1811 sun fly1820 cock-a-bondy1835 brown moth1837 bunting-lark fly1837 governor1837 water-hen hackle1837 Waterloo fly1837 coachman1839 soldier palmer1839 blue jay1843 red tag1850 canary1855 white-tip1856 spider1857 bumble1859 doctor1860 ibis1863 Jock Scott1866 eagle1867 highlander1867 jay1867 John Scott1867 judge1867 parson1867 priest1867 snow-fly1867 Jack Scott1874 Alexandra1875 silver doctor1875 Alexandra fly1882 grackle1894 grizzly queen1894 heckle-fly1897 Zulu1898 thunder and lightning1910 streamer1919 Devon1924 peacock1950 1724 J. Saunders Compl. Fisherman 226 Grey midge Fly. 1799 tr. Laboratory (ed. 6) II. x. 311 Grey-midge, or gnat. 1888 W. Walker Angling in Kumaun Lakes ii. 16 Shaking out the fine drawn gut casting line with a small grey midge on it, I made a few casts. 1996 M. Morgan Trout & Salmon Flies Wales i. 53 Ken..fishes his Grey Midge on a floating line and keeps the nymph in the surface film. grey mould n. any of several fungi of a greyish colour which grow on plants and fruit; esp. Botrytis cinerea, which affects numerous plants, and often forms a fluffy growth on strawberries and other soft fruit. ΚΠ 1777 J. Lightfoot Flora Scotica II. 1072 [Mucor mucedo] Common grey Mould. Anglis. 1891 Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 18 302 A species of grey mould..hastens the decay of the mature [egg-plant] fruit. 1962 New Scientist 13 Dec. 626/3 Grey mould, Botrytis cinerea, arch spoiler of strawberries and raspberries. 2011 Sc. Sun (Nexis) 16 June 46 How can I get rid of grey mould on my gooseberries? grey-mouldering adj. poetic and literary (now rare) grey (through old age) and decaying; also figurative. ΚΠ 1740 J. Dyer Ruins of Rome 3 Globose and huge, Grey-mouldring Temples swell. 1882 W. Birtles Musings o'er Flood & Fell 79 Grey-mouldering time Doth beckon thee with loving hand. 1895 Cassell's Family Mag. 81/1 Grey mouldering houses clung to the slopes of the grey mouldering rock. 1977 C. Derrick Escape from Scepticism 149 The grey mouldering remains of last year's autumn. grey noise n. (originally) noise in which the energy is inversely proportional to frequency; = pink noise n. at pink n.⁵ and adj.² Compounds 2c; (later also) noise in which the energies of component frequencies are such that the noise is perceived as equally loud throughout the frequency range; also figurative and in extended use.The spectrum of grey noise in the later sense shows higher energy at high and low frequencies, where the ear's sensitivity is less, and lower energy at middle frequencies. It differs from white noise, where the energy intensities are equal throughout the frequency range but are not perceived as such, and from pink noise, where they diminish as the frequency increases. ΚΠ 1955 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 68 654 In 1948, Miller and Taylor reported a series of experiments with interrupted (fluttering) white or gray noise. 1965 U.S. Patent 3,199,048 4 An effective tone control results, and so called ‘grey noise’, that is, white noise with attenuated high frequencies, is produced. 1984 Poetry July 190 It's Saturday with the gray Noise of rain at the window. 2008 S. Paretsky Bleeding Kansas xxii. 159 How did the pioneers stand it, that vast expanse of prairie, where..land and sky and wind blurred into a ball of gray noise? 2012 D. M. Donesky in L. Chlan & M. I. Hertz Integrative Therapies Lung Health & Sleep iv. 75 At every level of treadmill exercise, perceived ‘respiratory effort’ was lower in patients with COPD while listening to music than while listening to gray noise or silence. grey oak n. any of several American oaks with greyish leaves or bark. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > oak and allies > [noun] > other oaks red oakOE cerre-tree1577 gall-tree1597 robur1601 kermes1605 live oak1610 white oak1610 royal oak1616 swamp-oak1683 grey oak1697 rock oak1699 chestnut oak1703 water oak1709 Spanish oak1716 turkey-oak1717 willow oak1717 iron oak1724 maiden oak1725 scarlet oak1738 black jack1765 post oak1775 durmast1791 mountain chestnut oak1801 quercitron oak1803 laurel oak1810 mossy-cup oak1810 rock chestnut oak1810 pin oak1812 overcup oak1814 overcup white oak1814 bur oak1815 jack oak1816 mountain oak1818 shingle-oak1818 gall-oak1835 peach oak1835 golden oak1838 weeping oak1838 Aleppo oak1845 Italian oak1858 dyer's oak1861 Gambel's Oak1878 maul oak1884 punk oak1884 sessile oak1906 Garry oak1908 roble1908 1697 in Rec. Early Hist. Boston (1880) VI. 8 From thence to another wallnut tree and so straight to a gray oak. 1797 J. Morse Amer. Gazetteer at Maine The natural growth of this District consists of white pine..maple, beech, white and grey oak, and yellow birch. 1832 D. J. Browne Sylva Americana 261 The Gray Oak is found farther north than any other species in America. 1904 N. Amer. Fauna 24 64 Leaves of the little gray oak (Quercus grisea). 2010 W. Davis & I. Davis Exploring Edges Texas ii. 19 A light breeze rustles through the gray oaks. grey oat n. now historical a cultivated variety of oat with a greyish hull; esp. a variety of the European wild oat, Avena strigosa, cultivated chiefly in Scotland; cf. Scotch grey n. (b) at Scotch adj. and n.³ Compounds 4. ΚΠ 1730 G. Rye Considerations Agric. xiv. 63 The wild Grey Oat with Spires, is very common, and I believe is a degenerated Oat from Poverty of Ground, it being difficult to keep the Black Oat free from them. 1806 P. Neill Tour Orkney & Shetl. 14 The former [sc. A. strigosa] is known, in Orkney and in Shetland by the name of black oats, (sometimes grey oats), and is easily distinguished by its numerous awns. 1917 Times 12 Nov. 3/2 White or grey oats are being substituted for black, as the latter suffered more severely from frost last winter. 1983 BioScience 33 101/3 The principal crops, a barley known as bere and grey oats, were relatively primitive strains, better able to resist rain and wind than more advanced varieties. grey oil n. [after scientific Latin oleum cinereum (1886 or earlier)] now historical any of several medicinal preparations containing mercury and one or more oily substances, typically administered by injection in the treatment of syphilis. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > extracted or refined oil > [noun] > oil mixtures Saracen's soap1526 oil gold-size1874 grey oil1887 1887 Jrnl. Cutaneous & Genito-urinary Dis. 5 38 This gray oil has been found useful as well in local and regional treatment. 1908 Practitioner Sept. 467 The use of grey-oil in subcutaneous injections. 2005 J. Emsley Elements Murder (2006) ii. 44 He invented a plaster to be applied to these open sores. Its active ingredient was grey oil, and it proved effective. grey ore n. Mining (now rare) a copper sulphide mineral of a grey colour; spec. = chalcocite n. at chalco- comb. form ; cf. grey copper n. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > minerals > ore > [noun] > metal ore > copper ore > types of red copper1507 misy1543 grey copper1590 yellow ore1630 grey orea1728 pitch ore1776 red copper ore1776 fahlerz1796 tile-ore1823 cuprite1850 lettsomite1850 velvet copper-ore1850 yellows1851 meneghinite1852 peacock copper1858 peacock ore1858 horseflesh ore1868 plush-copper1881 the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > sulphides and related minerals > [noun] > chalcocite group > copper sulphide grey orea1728 redruthite1849 marcylite1853 chalcocite1868 a1728 J. Woodward Attempt Nat. Hist. Fossils Eng. (1729) i. 181 A grey Marcasite... It consists mainly of Sulphur and Arsenick, and seems to hold a little Bismuth. The Miners call this Grey-Ore. 1809 A. Henry Trav. & Adventures Canada 212 I found several veins of copper-ore, of that kind which the miners call gray ore. 1907 Queensland Govt. Mining Jrnl. 14 Dec. 641/2 The contractors sinking the shaft..struck a lode at 200 ft., consisting of grey ore, red oxide and carbonites. 2011 W. L. Pohl Econ. Geol. i. 58 (caption) Grey ore in veinlets is largely chalcocite due to supergene enrichment, which reaches 800 m below surface. † grey oxide n. Chemistry and Pharmacology Obsolete (more fully grey oxide of mercury) a grey-black solid consisting of a mixture of mercuric oxide and mercury, formerly used in antisyphilitic preparations. ΚΠ 1806 Philos. Mag. 23 57 With phosphoric acid we treated ten grammes of gray oxide, obtained by decomposing by ammonia a solution of a sulphate of mercury at the minimum. 1835 Medico-chirurg. Rev., & Jrnl. Pract. Med. 23 420 The system is very readily and rapidly brought under the influence of mercury by means of the fumes of the grey oxide administered in a proper apparatus. 1856 Lancet 19 July 77/2 He then pointed out the practical objection to the use of the grey oxide of mercury, arising from its very uncertain composition as procured from the shops. 1924 C. M. Campbell & A. K. Detwiller Lazy Colon xviii. 124 Mercurial purgatives... Only the calomel that is changed in the intestine into gray oxide is active. Grey Panther n. [after black panther n. 2] originally U.S. (in plural) an activist organization in the United States which seeks to promote social justice and the interests and rights of the elderly; (in singular) a member of this organization; (more generally) (chiefly with lower-case initials) an elderly person who is politically or socially active, esp. in support of the rights of the elderly. ΚΠ 1972 Los Angeles Times 23 Jan. a1/1 The oldsters want freedom now from the constraints that economics and youth have placed upon them... There's even a loosely organized unit in New York that calls itself, whimsically, the Gray Panthers. 1986 W. F. May in T. R. Cole & S. Gadow What does it mean to grow Old? i. 51 Heroes among the elderly include..the intrepid Gray Panther Maggie Kuhn. 1996 Economist 27 Jan. (Econ. of Ageing Suppl.) 5/2 Germany has a few grey panthers stalking the land, but to little effect. 2012 N.Y. Daily News 29 Apr. 14 She's a globetrotting gray panther. As the International Federation on Ageing's representative to the United Nations, Helen Hamlin barely has time to see her kids and grandkids. grey paper n. strong unbleached paper of a greyish or brownish colour, used chiefly for wrapping; (also) greyish or grey-tinted paper used as an artist's material; cf. brown paper n. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > material for making paper > paper > [noun] > shade or strength of papers grey paper1538 brown paper1542 blue paper1594 rope brown1891 Kraft1907 Manila1926 rope wrapping1937 1538–9 in D. Yaxley Researcher's Gloss. Hist. Documents E. Anglia (2003) 147 xvjd. for di' reme of whight paper. iiijd. for di' a bundell of grey paper. 1549 J. Bale in J. Leland Laboryouse Journey Pref. sig. B i^v Thys stuffe [sc. the contentes of two noble lybraryes] hath he occupyed in the stede of graye paper. 1600 T. Nashe Summers Last Will sig. B4 An other that ranne in det..aboue foureteene thousand pound in lute strings and gray paper. 1684 tr. S. Du Clos Observ. Mineral Waters France 37 Salt or Lead dissolv'd in Common Water, and filtrated thro Grey Paper. a1691 W. Faithorne Art Graveing (1702) 71 Monsieur Perrier,..one of the best Painters of the Times, shew'd publickly on gray Paper. 1744 Trans. Inverness Sci. Soc. 1 234 4 sheets gray paper , 2 spots pins. 1773 Oxf. Mag. Apr. 143/1 The mineral acids, at first, coagulate the bile, but afterwards render it sufficiently fluid to pass through grey paper. 1828 S. Palmer Let. Sept. in G. Grigson S. Palmer v. 71 I fancy myself working intensely hard for a week on grey paper; the quickest way of copying statues. 1866 R. Redgrave & S. Redgrave Cent. Painters Eng. School I. viii. 227 The groups were..spiritedly drawn from Nature,..in black and white chalk on grey paper. 1900 H. G. Wells Love & Mr. Lewisham xxii. 189 There were parcels and cones in blue and parcels in rough grey paper. 2003 V. C. Foley I think I hear Sleigh Bells xiii. 197 A small box, beautifully wrapped in gray paper with a navy blue bow. † grey parson n. Obsolete = greycoat parson n. at greycoat n. Compounds 3. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > impost, due, or tax > fixed proportion dues or taxes > [noun] > tithe > collector of > specific grey parson1784 grey-coated parson1791 greycoat parson1796 tutty men1893 1784 J. Cullum Hist. & Antiq. Hawsted in Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica No. 23. 171 A Grey parson. A layman, who hires the tithes of the parson. 1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue Grey parson, a farmer who rents the tythes of the rector or vicar. 1839 W. Holloway Gen. Dict. Provincialisms (new ed.) 71/2 Grey parson,..a lay impropriator of tithes, or a lay-man who rents them. grey pea n. the field pea, Pisum arvense.The grey or field pea is considered a variety of the garden pea by some authors, under the name P. sativum. ΚΠ a1475 Liber Cocorum (Sloane) (1862) 46 For Gray pese..Þese pese with bacun eten may be As þo whyȝt pese were. ?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. viii And one busshell & an halfe of white pees or grene pees wyll sowe as moch grounde as two busshels of gray pees. 1671 T. Tenison Let. 7 Nov. in H. Oldenburg Corr. (1971) VIII. 345 In ye Terra firma we sow most sorts of grain but most ordinarily, Red Kentish, & Gray, wheat; barley, gray-peas, & Hors-beans. 1766 Compl. Farmer at Pease The common white pea, the gray pea, the pig pea, and some other large winter peas. 1892 I. Zangwill Children of Ghetto iv. 62 There was brisk traffic in toffy, and gray peas and monkey-nuts. 1973 C. A. Wilson Food & Drink in Brit. vi. 202 Even larger quantities of grey peas went to feed her horses and her pigeons over the same period. 2002 C. Spencer Brit. Food ii. 25 It was the grey pea or field pea (Pisum arvense) that was grown, which has an attractive purple flower and grows rapidly to about five feet. grey pine n. either of two North American pines, a Jack pine, Pinus banksiana (formerly called P. rupestris), and the digger pine, P. sabiniana. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > conifers > [noun] > pines and allies pine treeeOE pineOE pine-nut treec1330 pineapplec1390 pineapple treea1398 mountain pine1597 pine1597 mountain pine1601 frankincense1611 rosin flower?1611 black pine1683 Scotch pine1706 yellow pine1709 Jersey pine1743 loblolly pine1760 mugoa1768 Scots pine1774 Scotch fir1777 arrow plant1779 scrub pine1791 Georgia pine1796 old field pine1797 tamarack1805 grey pine1810 pond pine1810 New Jersey pine1818 loblolly1819 Corsican pine1824 celery-top pine1827 toatoa1831 heavy-wooded pine1836 nut pine1845 celery pine1851 celery-topped pine1851 sugar-pine1853 western white pine1857 Jeffrey1858 Korean pine1858 lodge-pole pine1859 jack pine1863 whitebark pine1864 twisted pine1866 Monterey pine1868 tanekaha1875 chir1882 slash-pine1882 celery-leaved pine1883 knee-pine1884 knobcone pine1884 matsu1884 meadow pine1884 Alaska pine1890 limber pine1901 bristlecone pine1908 o-matsu1916 insignis1920 radiata1953 1810 F. A. Michaux Histoire des Arbres Forestiers de l'Amérique Septentrionale I. 16 Pinus rupestris... Grey pine.., dénomination donnée..en Canada. 1908 N. L. Britton N. Amer. Trees 37 This tree [sc. P. sabiniana], also called Gray pine..occurs locally in the foothill region of western California. 1923 L. H. Bailey Cultivated Evergreens iii. 103 The gray pine, Pinus Banksiana, is found farther northward than any other American pine. 2005 M. K. Anderson Tending Wild (2006) ix. 281 Big gray pines..could be climbed with relative ease. † grey plack n. Scottish Obsolete rare a plack or small coin containing an alloy of silver. ΚΠ 1591 Act Jas. VI in Acts Parl. Scotl. (1814) III. 526/2 For all vther allayed money quhilk is subiect to refyning as babeis thre penny grottis twelf penny grottis and gray plakkis. grey plum n. any of several trees yielding a somewhat plum-like fruit; spec. (a) a large tropical African tree, Parinari excelsa (family Chrysobalanaceae); (b) any of several Australian trees of the genus Diospyros (family Ebenaceae), which incorporates the former genus Cargillia; (also) the fruit of any of these trees. ΚΠ 1825 A. P. de Candolle Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis II. 527 Anglicè dictus Rough-Skinned seu Gray Plum. 1840 C. McIntosh Greenhouse, Hot House & Stove (new ed.) 378 The rough-skinned or grey plum... much esteemed by the natives. 1862 Sydney Morning Herald 11 July 5/4 A species of Cargillia (probably Laxa), or grey plum of the same district [sc. Illawarrra]. 1902 G. S. Boulger Wood 251 Myrtle, Black..Cargillia pentamera... North-east Australia. Known also as ‘Grey Plum’. 1947 Jrnl. Ecol. 34 65 In both these forests Cynometra is replaced as climax dominant by the so-called grey plum. 2006 G. J. Harden et al. Rainforest Trees & Shrubs 160 Diospyros pentamera... Myrtle Ebony, Grey Persimmon, Grey Plum. 2011 D. Peterson Moral Lives Animals viii. 160 Chimps living in the Taï Forest of Ivory Coast traditionally crack open and eat the nuts of African walnut, gray plum, and Panda oleosa. grey poplar n. a poplar tree (genus Populus); spec. the large P. x canescens of Europe, a hybrid between white poplar ( P. alba) and aspen ( P. tremula), much planted in damp areas. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > poplars and allies > [noun] popple1229 popple-tree1229 abele?a1300 poplar1371 black poplar1542 white poplar1542 poppling1570 cotton tree1633 tacamahac1739 Lombardy poplar1766 poplar pine1770 Po poplar1776 grey poplar1782 cottonwood1787 pine poplar1789 liard1809 white-backa1825 necklace poplar1845 silver poplar1847 weather-tree1847 hackmatack1873 bitter-weed1878 balsam-poplar1884 Russian poplar1884 Lombardy1917 1782 J. Scott Poet. Wks. 264 Hears the grey poplars whisper in the wind. 1802 J. E. Smith Eng. Bot. XIV. 1619 Populus canescens... Common White, or Grey, Poplar. 1905 C. W. Stubbs Story Cambr. i. 13 Vast copses of willow and alder and grey poplar, rooted in the floating peat. 2004 A. Hollinghurst Line of Beauty (2005) x. 254 The sigh of a grey poplar. grey pound n. [after pink pound n. at pink n.⁵ and adj.² Compounds 2c] British the perceived spending power of elderly people as a group; (in plural) money belonging to, or earned by, the elderly. ΚΠ 1990 Investors Chron. 31 Aug. 12/3 Some already do very nicely..from the grey pound. As you might expect, Marks & Spencer is the favourite emporium of the well-worn and well-heeled. 2002 Managem. Today (Electronic ed.) June 56 Those who have grey pounds are spending them in abundance. 2008 J. Smith Bloke's Guide to Babies 173 In terms of helping out the grandchildren, the grey pound is worth its weight in gold. grey powder n. (a) chalk mixed with finely divided mercury, originally used medicinally (esp. as a laxative) and later used in fingerprinting (now historical); (b) any of various other, usually aluminium-based, powders used in fingerprinting. ΘΚΠ the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medical preparations of specific origin > mineral medicine > [noun] > medicine prepared from mercury mercury1617 blue pill1670 calomel1676 mercurial1676 silver-pill1753 blue mass1823 panacea of mercury1823 grey powder1842 the world > health and disease > healing > medicines or physic > medicines of specific form > powder > [noun] > specific powders > prepared from minerals Irish slate1633 slat1639 calomel1676 grey powder1842 mercurous chloride1859 1842 C. Ridley Let. 4 Dec. in U. Ridley Cecilia (1958) ix. 111 Baby is not quite well. I consulted Sir John Fife, who gave him grey powder. 1890 J. V. Shoemaker Pract. Treat. Dis. Skin 175 Hydrarg. cum creta, or gray powder, is an effective and non-irritating preparation. 1926 D. Paterson & J. F. Smith Mod. Methods Feeding in Infancy & Childhood vi. 88 An occasional grey powder..succeeds when constipation is even more obstinate. 1933 D. L. Sayers Murder must Advertise iv. 105 Hop out to the nearest chemist and get me some grey powder and an insufflator. 1974 G. F. Newman Price viii. 242 Latent prints brought out on the non-absorbent surfaces with grey powder for photographing. 2008 J. E. Girard Criminalistics vi. 140/1 Gray powder, which consists largely of finely ground aluminum, is used on dark-colored surfaces. grey power n. [after black power n.; compare gay power n. at gay adj., adv., and n. Compounds 2b] the political or economic power of elderly people collectively. ΚΠ 1970Grey power [see sense A. 7b]. 1975 H. L. Wilensky Welfare State & Equality ii. 26 The political pressure for expansion of these programmes..is only partly their own ‘gray power’. 1986 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 28 Dec. 23/1 Politicians recently have re-assessed the formidable ‘grey power’ of elderly citizens in terms of the ballot box. 2000 Independent 17 Apr. (Monday Review section) 3/3 Today is Labour's black Monday when grey power reasserts itself. grey rot n. a fungal disease of plants caused by Botrytis cinerea, esp. affecting vines and other fruit crops, characterized by grey fungal growth and tissue necrosis; (also) the fungus itself. ΚΠ 1863 Gardener's Monthly Sept. 286/1 The grey rot had materially injured many [vineyards in the vicinity of Alton]. 1906 D. McAlpine Rusts Austral. xix. 75 Beauverie has experimented with Botrytis cinerea, or grey rot, and obtained, in sterilised soil, an attenuated form of the fungus. 2005 J. Livingstone-Learmonth Wines of Northern Rhône v. 434 The grey rot meant you couldn't afford to wait to pick. grey russet n. now historical a coarse woollen cloth of a brownish-grey colour. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric with specific qualities > [noun] > coarse or rough > other grey russetc1400 raploch1535 roudgea1549 reading1580 burracan1588 stand far off1613 stand-further-off1619 homespun1651 half-thick1693 soldier's cloth1753 toile de ménage1794 rugging1838 stramin1914 c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xv. l. 162 A goune of a graye russet. 1418 in F. J. Furnivall Fifty Earliest Eng. Wills (1882) 36 (MED) Also a gowne of gray russet furred wit Ionetis and wylde Catis. a1529 J. Skelton Tunnyng of Elynour Rummyng in Certayne Bks. (?1545) 54 In her furred flocket, And gray russet rocket. 1680 Solemn Mock-procession 4 Capuchines in Gray Russet, with a Cord tied about their Middle. 1740 S. Richardson Pamela I. xii. 21 O how I wish'd for my grey Russet again, and my poor honest Dress. a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) Grey-russet, coarse cloth of a dull grey colour, commonly preceded by the epithet dandy. 1919 E. T. Thurston (title) Sheepskins and grey russet. 1992 L. M. Clopper in B. Hanawalt Chaucer's Eng. 128 (note) His ‘lollares’ garb..is gray russet, a cheap woolen cloth worn by plowmen, hermits, the abjectly poor—and the Franciscans. greyscale n. and adj. (a) n. (now esp. with reference to digital images) a graded series of grey tints or tones extending from black or dark grey to white or light grey; (also) an individual tint or tone in such a series; (b) adj. of, relating to, or composed of such tints or tones. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > colour > science of colour > [noun] > scale of colours Newton's scale1816 chromatometer1835 scale1854 greyscale1857 1857 J. Ruskin Elements Drawing i. 42 The grey in the compartment of the grey scale marked with the same number is the grey which must represent that crimson or blue in your light and shade drawing. 1948 Pop. Photogr. Jan. 184/1 (advt.) Gives illuminated, direct readings—without grey scales or test strips. 1961 G. Millerson Technique Television Production iii. 45 (caption) Sample paint-cards and materials are compared on camera with a standard grey-scale chart. 1994 What PC? Oct. 17/3 It comes with a sheet feeder, 300dpi resolution and 256 greyscales. 2010 Dunoon Observer & Argyllshire Standard 30 July 5/5 The greyscale or black and white printed image lets you know where all the shadows and highlights are. grey slag n. Metallurgy (now historical) a lead-rich residue obtained by a preliminary smelting of lead ore and which is subsequently heated to a higher temperature to give metallic lead. ΚΠ 1811 Philos. Mag. 38 372 These scoria, which are technically named gray slags, vary considerably in the quantity of lead they contain. 1901 ‘G. Douglas’ House with Green Shutters xiv. 144 How the grey slag would flash below ye! 2005 G. B. Risse New Med. Challenges Sc. Enlightenment vi. 202 Finally the ‘grey slag’ was broken up into lumps while the liquid lead flowed into pots and was ladled to form pigs. grey sour n. Manufacturing Technology the process of grey souring; an instance of this. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > colour > named colours > white or whiteness > whitening > [noun] > bleaching > bleaching process > specific souring1756 grey souring1843 grey sour1875 white sour1875 madder bleach1891 kiering1922 1875 Encycl. Brit. III. 816/2 Gray Sour. 1911 Technol. & Industr. Efficiency a. 50 The grey sours remove the excess of lime and other metallic oxides, if present. 1970 Internat. Dyer & Textile Printer 144 47/2 The variations consist of an additional sequence like a grey sour, or a sour after pressure boil. grey souring n. Manufacturing Technology souring (see souring n. 3) carried out before chemicking. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > colour > named colours > white or whiteness > whitening > [noun] > bleaching > bleaching process > specific souring1756 grey souring1843 grey sour1875 white sour1875 madder bleach1891 kiering1922 1843 Penny Mag. July Suppl. 290/2 The process of ‘grey souring’, in which the cloth passes through a machine..containing very dilute sulphuric acid. 1907 S. H. Higgins Dyeing Germany & Amer. 28 The processes of washing, liming, grey souring, ashing, chemicking, souring and washing remain somewhat the same. 1968 Internat. Dyer & Textile Printer 140 523/1 The survey data indicate no damage due to grey souring. grey speck n. (more fully grey speck disease) a disease of oats characterized by grey specks on the leaf-blades, caused by a deficiency of manganese. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > type of disease > deficiency diseases > associated with crop or food plants greenback1926 grey leaf1928 marsh spot1931 tea yellows1931 speckled yellows1938 grey speck1947 1919 U.S. Dept. Agric. Bull. 756 413 Samuel and Piper found that a deficiency [of manganese] produced a gray-speck disease of oats. 1947 Sci. News 5 88 Manganese is essential for healthy plant life. Its deficiency in soil..leads to plant diseases such as grey speck of oats. 2011 Irish Independent (Nexis) 12 Apr. Mn deficiency is often described as ‘grey speck’ in oats. † grey steep n. Manufacturing Technology Obsolete a steep or bath used in the process of grey souring. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > colour > named colours > white or whiteness > whitening > [noun] > bleaching > substance used grey steep1804 1804 Philos. Mag. 18 44 (heading) Bainbie, or Gray Steep. 1876 Textile Colourist 1 226 Mix equal parts of the grey steep liquor and the white steep liquor. grey stock n. a greyish or brownish brick made of ordinary earth, as distinguished from a place brick or a red stock (red stock n. at red adj. and n. Compounds 1f(c)(i)). ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > clay compositions > baked clay > brick > [noun] > types of white brick1468 red brick1587 clinker1659 clinkerc1660 stock-brick1683 Windsor brick1702 grey stock1726 stockc1738 red stock1748 firebrick1749 Welsh lump1798 malm1811 cutting-brick1815 pecking1819 blue brick1823 malm brick1824 Windsor1841 cutter1842 grizzle1843 shuff1843 picking1850 Woolpit brick1887 Hollander1897 Staffordshire1898 Stafford brick1908 misfire1923 klompie1926 1726 Act 12 Geo. I c. 35 in D. Pickering Statutes at Large (1765) XVI. 365 Burn the bricks commonly called grey-stock bricks in clamps. 1793 Misc. in Ann. Reg. 378 The bricks called greystocks, for the outside of houses. 1860–4 Dict. Archit. (Archit. Publ. Soc.) Grey stock, a brick made of common earth and thoroughly burnt in a close clamp; it is so called to distinguish it from the place brick on the one hand, and the red stock or kiln burnt brick on the other. 1902 Builder 4 Jan. 7/2 The areas on one side to those on the other..are all built of hard Grey-stocks. 1998 D. Evinson Catholic Churches of London vi. 129 The severe exterior of grey stock bricks is best viewed from the north. grey suit n. colloquial an executive, managerial, or business figure whose conventional formal dress is regarded as suggestive of a conservative, bureaucratic, or conformist attitude, a lack of individuality, or (esp. in political contexts) the anonymous exercise of power; usually in plural; cf. grey flannel suit n., men in suits n. at man n.¹ Phrases 3c. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > non-manual worker > businessman > [noun] man of business1640 homme d'affaires1717 businessman1803 businessperson1834 operator1838 towkay1854 grey suit1969 pinstripe1970 suit1977 pin-striper1979 1969 Boston Globe 17 Feb. 16/5 Since women spend 80 percent of our food money, I wish they might rise and attack the gray-suits with ideas about better packaging. 1981 Washington Post 20 Jan. b4/5 Gray suits crowded around former Texas Gov. John Connally and Henry Kissinger. 1997 Sun 21 Aug. 51/5 Surely the grey suits who plan the programme running-order can see the sense in scheduling the football before the second-rate film. 2011 Independent 27 June (Viewspaper section) 24/1 Rarely have I seen so many grey suits looking pale and wiping tears. grey tin n. Chemistry †(a) bismuth (obsolete); (b) a grey powdery allotrope of tin, to which ordinary (white) tin is converted at low temperatures. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > base metal > [noun] > tin > types of white tin1562 mine tin1602 grain tin1668 phosphor tin1668 pillion1778 grey tin1804 prillion1821 1804 W. Nicholson tr. A.-F. de Fourcroy Gen. Syst. Chem. Knowl. V. 266 Bismuth..has been successively named, according to the various and often erroneous notions which each author gave of it, grey tin, grey lead and saturn, white antimony, [etc.]. 1879 Pop. Sci. Rev. 3 425 Specimens of the gray tin described by Fritzsche were found to have a density of 6.020, 6.002, and 8.930. 1933 Jrnl. Royal Aeronaut. Soc. 37 540 Tin..becomes increasingly brittle at lower temperatures, until, at 18°C., the change to its allotropic form, ‘grey tin’, commences. 1975 H. M. Rosenberg Solid State i. 7 Tin also has a diamond-structure allotrope ‘grey tin’ which is stable below about −40°C. 2010 D. L. Reger et al. Chemistry (ed. 3) xx. 874 Gray tin is a nonmetallic form that is quite brittle and is not an electrical conductor. grey water n. domestic waste water other than that from toilets, esp. considered as sufficiently lightly polluted to be suitable for recycling or reuse; cf. black water n. 1c. ΚΠ 1970 Pop. Sci. Aug. 99/1 The gray water from your home is comparatively harmless, needs little treatment, and can often be used for industrial purposes or for irrigation. 1992 Harrowsmith Oct. 106 Another system gathers and purifies rainwater, then recycles the greywater and converts solid waste into compost for the rooftop greenhouse. 2007 Wired Jan. 114/4 Wastewater from the process flows to a cistern, where it mixes with collected storm water and runoff. The resulting gray water is used for landscaping. grey willow n. any of several willows with greyish leaves or down; esp. Salix cinerea, a Eurasian shrub or small tree with oval leaves. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > willow and allies > [noun] > other types of willow red willow1547 water willow1583 goat's willow1597 rose willow1597 sweet willow1597 French willow1601 siler1607 palm-withy1609 sallowie1610 swallowtail willow1626 willow bay1650 black willow1670 crack-willow1670 grey willow1697 water sallow1761 almond willowa1763 swallow-tailed willow1764 swamp willow1765 golden osier1772 golden willow1772 purple willow1773 sand-willow1786 goat willow1787 purple osier1797 whipcord1812 Arctic willow1818 sage-willow1846 pussy willow1851 Kilmarnock willow1854 sweet-bay willow1857 pussy1858 palm willow1869 Spaniard1871 ground-willow1875 Spanish willow1875 snap-willow1880 diamond willow1884 sandbar willow1884 pussy palm1886 creeping willow1894 bat-willow1907 cricket bat willow1907 silver willow1914 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics ii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 71 With Osiers thus the Banks of Brooks abound, Sprung from the watry Genius of the Ground: From the same Principles grey Willows come. View more context for this quotation 1788 Trans. Royal Soc. Edinb. 1 25 The grey willow is a tree which does not bleed. 1861 Trans. Illinois State Agric. Soc. 1859–60 4 448 Mr. Overman has the Pennsylvania Gray Willow—the most rapid growing variety he has ever known. 1951 Dict. Gardening (Royal Hort. Soc.) IV. 1852/1 S. cinerea. Grey Willow...almost wholly covered with grey down. 2005 Westerly (Rhode Island) Sun 2 Oct. 3/1 The large gray willow, a dense shrub or small tree that spreads rapidly and closely resembles a native pussy willow. grey wine n. [after French vin gris (see vin gris n. at vin n. Compounds)] a lightly-tinted pale wine (now typically a rosé) made from black grapes, originally produced in the Champagne region of north-eastern France. ΚΠ 1698 M. Lister Journey to Paris 161 Vin de Rheims..is also a pale or gray wine. 1727 S. J. Vineyard 54 Altho' these Wines are White..they are in Champaign called Grey Wines, by reason of their being drawn from the Black Grape. 1868 Albion 31 Oct. 518/2 The grey wine is obtained by treading the grapes for a quarter of an hour before they go to press. 1907 Outing Mag. May 135/2 They pledge old Père Rochefort, the landlord, in the good gray wine of Bar-le-Duc. 2003 J. B. Robinson Sapphire Sea (2008) ix. 116 ‘Betsilo gray wine’, said Lonny... The grapes were grown in the highlands by a Swiss expatriate. greywood n. (a) wood of the sycamore, Acer pseudoplatanus, that has been dyed a grey colour, typically used in inlay work; cf. harewood n.; (b) greyish wood of the southeast Asian tree Terminalia alata (family Combretaceae), used in furniture and veneers. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood of specific trees > [noun] > sycamore sycamorec1384 harewood1664 greywood1881 1881 Cabinet Maker & Art Furnisher 1 Aug. 21/2 The ivory door, designed for an inlaid door of ivory, greywood, and ebony, with painted panels and medallions illustrating music. 1934 Archit. Rev. 76 70/1 Sycamore has also been used in decorative work and furniture, dyed and known as ‘greywood’ or steamed and known as ‘weathered’ sycamore. 1967 Independent Press-Telegram (Long Beach, Calif.) 15 Dec. (Queen Mary Suppl.) qm13/2 Greywood—comes from India, is grey and an unusual wood. 2011 Times (Nexis) 30 Mar. 7 The dining room is painted light blue over Indian greywood panelling. (b) In the names of animals with grey or greyish coloration; see also grey goose n. 1, grey squirrel n. grey bass n. any of several fishes of a greyish colour; esp. the white bass, Morone chrysops, of North America. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > family Percidae (perches) > [noun] > unspecified and miscellaneous types perch1381 coracine1625 black-tail1735 grey bass1747 salmon1798 whiting perch1803 brasse1847 1747 H. Glasse Art of Cookery xxi. 163 Gray Bass comes with the Mullet. 1885 G. Francis Sportsman's Guide Northern Lakes 33 Several of the lakes of Douglas county, contain..a bass variously designated: Oswego, silver and gray bass. 1919 Official Bull. (Dept. Agric. Ohio) Apr. 15 When a customer buys a Sheephead as Gray Bass or White Perch and pays Bass or Perch prices for the same, a buyer has been lost for Bass and Perch properly named. 2009 P. Thompson Freshwater Game Fish N. Amer. viii. 170 White Bass... Morone chrysops... Local Names: Sandbass, Gray bass, Silver bass, [etc.]. grey bird n. British regional and U.S. regional any of various birds of a greyish colour; esp. (in Britain) the song thrush, Turdus philomelos. ΚΠ 1726 C. Ellison Most Pleasant Descr. Benwel Village 180 Sonorous sweet Grey-Bird; Which did resound, With Noise profound. 1872 Amer. Naturalist 6 396 The mountain mockingbird, familiarly known to the settlers as the ‘gray bird’, is said to have similarly increased. 1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 64 Linnet (Linota cannabina)... Grey: or Grey bird (Westmoreland; North of Ireland). From its dull colouring in winter. 1907 Sat. Rev. 9 Mar. 299/1 You find fieldfares and missel-thrushes in flocks, and the gray-bird, as the song-thrush is called. 1996 J. D. Rising Guide Identification & Nat. Hist. Sparrows U.S. & Canada 140 Residents of Sable I., Nova Scotia, where the Ipswich Sparrow breeds, call it the ‘gray bird’. grey-cheek n. North American (in full grey-cheek thrush) = grey-cheeked thrush n. at grey-cheeked adj. Compounds. ΚΠ 1882 J. M. Wheaton in Rep. Geol. Surv. Ohio IV. ii. 208 I incline to the opinion that the Olive-back and Gray-cheek Thrushes are distinct species. 1945 Bull. Mass. Audubon Soc. Mar. 43 Two thrushes of annual interest to students are the migrant Olive-back and the Gray-cheek. 2003 Times Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) (Nexis) 15 June (Islander section) d12 Neville once recorded three ‘firsts’ all in one day in Muncho Park in northern B.C.—a grey cheek thrush, a blackball warbler and an American tree sparrow. grey crow n. the hooded crow, Corvus corone cornix; cf. greyback n. 1e. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > larger song birds > family Corvidae (crow) > [noun] > genus Corvus > corvus cornix (hooded crow) hooded crow?a1513 Royston crow1611 pied crow1648 scarecrow1676 grey crow1715 hoodie1789 Harry Denchman18.. hoodie-crow1816 bunting crow1831 Norway crow1848 saddleback1864 greyback1884 Kentish crow1893 sparrow-duck1895 1715 T. Morer Short Acct. Scotl. 107 Grey Crows..are very numerous in this country. 1878 Midland Naturalist 1 94 The mischievous Irish or grey crow, and the red crow or chough, are more common in some parts than the black crow. 1936 Times 17 Apr. 15/6 A grey crow drifting high overhead in an apparently aimless and innocent manner revealed the identity of the egg-stealer. 1967 A. L. Rand & E. T. Gilliard Handbk. New Guinea Birds 460 The grey crow is a fairly common bird in the treetops in the forest. 2002 J. McGahern That they may face Rising Sun (2003) 82 A few summers ago I took up Jamesie's gun against a few grey crows. grey currawong n. a grey crow-like passerine bird, Strepera versicolor (family Cracticidae), of southern Australia. ΚΠ 1929 Emu 29 200 I well remember a trip to Madden's Plains.., our objective being the nest of a Grey Currawong (Strepera versicolor) containing half-fledged young. 1994 J. Flegg & N. Longmore Birds Austral. 350 Grey currawong... Large, variably grey bell-magpie with variable amounts of white in wing. 2010 R. Miller in A. Davies & R. Miller Biggest Twitch viii. 262 We drove to the Ferntree Café, where Curry, the Grey Currawong, was a regular visitor. grey dagger n. a common Eurasian noctuid moth, Acronicta psi, having grey forewings with black dagger-shaped markings, the caterpillar of which is sometimes a pest of fruit trees and ornamental shrubs. ΚΠ 1766 M. Harris Aurelian 32 The Grey Dagger. The caterpillar of the Dagger is produced by a small light green Egg. 1842 Bradshaw's Jrnl. 3 212/2 The eyes..of the grey dagger moth ( Acronycta Psi)..shine in the dark with considerable brilliancy when flying. 1920 P. J. Fryer Insect Pests & Fungus Dis. Fruit & Hops Pl. iii, (caption) Grey dagger (occasionally found in fruit). 2008 P. Adams Sister (2009) vi. 73 Orchards of plums and pears were nurtured..for the leaves that tempted caterpillars of the Grey Dagger. † grey dog n. chiefly Scottish Obsolete the Scottish deerhound. ΚΠ 1758 T. Fairfax Compl. Sportsman 107 Grey dogs are to be coveted, because they are cunning, never faulter, and grow not discouraged in the quest. 1808 J. Walker Ess. Nat. Hist. xiii. 475 Canis Scoticus venaticus. Gesn.—Scot. The Grey Dog. grey drake n. an adult female mayfly of the genus Ephemera; (Angling) an artificial fly made in imitation of this.Cf. green drake n. at green adj. and n.¹ Compounds 1d(b). ΘΚΠ the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > order Ephemeroptera > member of drake-flya1450 hemeraa1592 ephemeron1626 ephemeran1643 ephemeraa1676 drake1676 grey drake1676 yellow-dun1676 greentail1681 grannom1787 ephemeral1817 shad-fly1825 ephemerid1872 1676 C. Cotton Compl. Angler vii. 69 The Grey-Drake, which in all shapes, and dimensions is perfectly the same with the other [sc. the Green Drake], but quite almost of another colour. 1740 R. Brookes Art of Angling 17 The May-fly, the Green-drake, and the Grey-drake. 1884 G. F. Braithwaite Salmonidæ Westmorland vi. 26 The most beautiful species of our ephemera, the green and grey drakes. 1900 ‘J. Bickerdyke’ Angling for Game Fish (rev. ed.) 41/1 The Green Drake sheds its skin, and turns into what is known as the Grey Drake. 1988 Field & Stream Oct. 68/3 The old Grey Drake artificial..has long been as good an imitation as there is. 2001 B. Jacklin & G. LaFontaine Fly Fishing Yellowstone (2004) ii. 45 You can have some exceptional fishing while the Grey Drakes are hatching. grey duck n. any of several ducks of a greyish colour; esp. the gadwall, Anas strepera, or (in New Zealand) the Pacific black duck, A. superciliosa. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > order Anseriformes (geese, etc.) > subfamily Merginae (duck) > [noun] > member of genus Anas (miscellaneous) > anas strepera (gadwall) radge1620 gadwall1666 grey1673 rodge1678 Welsh drake1844 speckle-belly1874 grey duck1885 1637 T. Morton New Eng. Canaan ii. iv. 68 Ducks, there are of three kindes, pide Ducks, gray Ducks, and black Ducks in greate abundance. 1766 tr. F. Hasselquist Voy. & Trav. Levant 210 (heading) The grey Duck. 1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 157 Gadwall... Grey duck. 1935 N.Z. Free Lance Christmas Ann. 14 Oct. 31 The native grey duck or ‘parera’..is one of the Dominion's finest sporting birds. 1997 D. Sternberg & J. Simpson Duck Hunting 20/1 (caption) Gadwall. The drake has gray-barred side feathers, accounting for the name gray duck. 2004 T. Wheeler Falklands & S. Georgia 56 The crested duck (Anas specularioides specularioides), known locally as the grey duck, is one of the most common ducks in the Falklands. grey duiker n. the common duiker, Sylvicapra grimmia, which has greyish-brown fur and is widespread across sub-Saharan Africa. ΚΠ 1873 J. Tyler Livingstone Lost & Found xlv. 729 Antelopes of various kinds abound [in Natal], such as the red ourebi, grey duiker, blue buck etc. 1940 Zoologica 25 277 Sylvicapra grimmi—Gray duiker. 1968 Q. Rev. Biol. 43 287/2 The grey duiker occurs throughout the Northern and Southern Savannas and also in the arid zones. 2013 L. Tucker Saving White Lions xxiv. 280 A gray duiker..has ventured too close to the pride's enclosure. grey eagle n. either of two large birds of prey of a greyish colour: †(a) the young bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, formerly thought to represent a separate species (obsolete); (b) (also more fully grey eagle buzzard) the black-chested buzzard eagle, Geranoaetus melanoleucus, of South America. ΚΠ 1694 Philos. Trans. 1693 (Royal Soc.) 17 989 There are Three sorts of Eagles, the largest I take to be that they call the Grey Eagle. 1737 J. Brickell Nat. Hist. N.-Carolina 173 The Gray Eagle, is much of the colour of our Kite or Glead. 1823 Port Folio Jan. 48 A friend of mine..believed it to be what is usually called the gray eagle, and was much surprised at the gradual metamorphosis. 1911 W. H. Koebel Uruguay xxiii. 273 Far rarer are the large grey eagle, and the cuerbo, or black vulture. 2005 Birmingham Post (Nexis) 19 Mar. 54 Ebore the Grey Eagle Buzzard. greyface n. a cross-bred sheep with a grey speckled face produced from a Scottish Blackface ewe and a Border Leicester ram, common in parts of northern England and Scotland; such sheep considered collectively as a breed. ΚΠ 1906 Trans. Highland & Agric. Soc. Scotl. 28 10 Blackface ewes..are crossed with a Border Leicester ram to bring grey-face lambs for the early lamb market. 1971 Country Life 25 Nov. 1477/3 The Masham and Greyface have been shown to give a rather higher lambing average. 2004 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 14 Sept. 22 We need the hill breeds to produce the cross-bred ewes such as Mules and Greyfaces for flocks in the uplands and on lower ground. grey falcon n. any of several birds of prey of a greyish colour, esp. (a) (in early use) the hen harrier, Circus cyaneus, or the peregrine falcon, Falco peregrinus (b) (in later use) F. hypoleucos of arid regions of Australia. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > order Falconiformes (falcons, etc.) > family Accipitridae (hawks, etc.) > [noun] > genus Circus (harrier) > circus cynaeus (hen-harrier) St Martin's fowl?a1513 hen harrier1544 grey falcon1678 faller1848 rabbit-hawk1851 miller1885 St Martin's bird1894 1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. ii. ix. 79 (margin) Aldrovands grey Falcon. 1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. xi. 233/1 The Grey Falcon... The whole Body..is..Cinereous, tending to blew. 1775 S. Ward Mod. Syst. Nat. Hist. V. 111 The grey falcon is about the size of a raven. 1831 J. Rennie Montagu's Ornithol. Dict. (ed. 2) 230 Grey Falcon, a name for the Hen Harrier. 1847 J. Craig New Universal Dict. Grey-falcon, the common or Peregrine Falcon. 1907 A. H. S. Landor Across Widest Afr. I. xxx. 316 In the daytime swarms of hawks, grey falcons and eagles..describe circles above the dense smoke arising from the fires. 1998 B. Taylor & B. van Perlo Rails 516/2 Possible predators include Grey Falcon (Falco hypoleucos) and Wedge-tailed Eagle. † grey fin n. Obsolete a greyish form of the brown trout, Salmo trutta, native to rivers in Scotland and Northern England. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > order Salmoniformes (salmon or trout) > family Salmonidae (salmon) > [noun] > genus Salmo > trout (unspecified and miscellaneous) > salmo eriox (bull-trout) whitlinglOE scurf1483 sewin1532 sullayne1570 bull-trout1653 shuin1655 sea-trout1745 truff1818 grey fin1839 swallow-smolt1847 1839 T. T. Stoddart Songs & Poems i. 6 We'll get neither yallow nor grey-fin, Jock, Nor bull-heid nor sawmon ava. 1853 H. R. Schoolcraft Information Indian Tribes U.S. III. iv. 147 Seven kinds [of salmon] are usually said to visit the Columbia; two of which, it is probable, are the bull trout and grey fin of the English waters. 1888 Jrnl. National Fish Culture Assoc.1887 56 In the Barle the grey fin is the only one [variety of parr] I have seen. greyfish n. (a) Scottish regional the saithe or coalfish, Pollachius virens, esp. a juvenile one; cf. greylord n. (now historical); (b) North American any of several types of greyish dogfish used as food. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > superorder Paracanthopterygii > order Gadiformes (cod) > [noun] > family Gadidae > pollachius virens (coal-fish) > at certain stage of growth greyhead1692 greylord1698 greyfish1703 greybeard1742 1703 M. Martin Descr. W. Islands Scotl. 384 The Grey Fish of the largest size are not to be had in any quantity without going further into the Ocean. 1863 W. F. Campbell & J. F. Campbell Life in Normandy I. 283 It was some time before I knew that stainloch, grey-fish, seath, cudding, and poddly, were all one fish at different ages. 1917 Science 13 Apr. 367/2 Under the name of grayfish it [sc. dogfish] is now being successfully canned and marketed. 1955 Norseman Sept. 321/1 These [sc. piltocs and sillocks] are, when fully-grown, known as ‘coal’ or greyfish, and can attain the size of a cod. 2000 Canberra Times (Nexis) 16 Jan. a26 In the United States, shark is sometimes referred to as ‘greyfish’. grey fly n. †(a) the cockchafer, Melolontha melolontha (obsolete); (b) (in later use) the stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Lamellicornia Scarabaeoidea > family Scarabaeidae > member of (dung-beetle) sharnbudc1000 dora1450 clock1568 sharn-bug1608 dung beetle1634 grey fly1638 dunghill beetle1658 comb-chafer1712 tumble-turd1754 tumble-dung1775 dung-chafer1805 tumble-bug1805 tumbler1807 bull-comber1813 straddle-bug1839 lamellicorn1842 scarabaeidan1842 shard-beetle1854 watchman1864 scarabaeoid1887 scarabaeid1891 minotaur1918 the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Diptera or flies > [noun] > suborder Cyclorrhapha > family Oestridae > genus Oestrum or Oestrus > member of breezea800 gad-bee1510 gadfly1569 gad-breeze1665 garabee1692 grey fly1752 trumpet-fly1752 botfly?a1775 bot-bee1825 1638 J. Milton Lycidas in Obsequies 21 in Justa Edouardo King What time the gray-fly winds her sultry horn. 1752 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. III. 31 The grey Fly or trumpet Fly. a1862 H. D. Thoreau Cape Cod (1865) vii. 129 Probably he would not hear much of the ‘gray-fly’ on his way to Virginia. 1906 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 67 65 Of the biting ‘flies’, cattle are sometimes attacked by..the cleg or grey fly (Stomoxys). 2006 D. V. David & T. N. Ananthakrishnan Gen. & Appl. Entomol. (ed. 2) viii. 803 The grey fly [sc. Stomoxys calcitrans] can be distinguished from the houseflies by its somewhat smaller size. grey fowl n. any of various greyish fowl; esp. the red grouse, Lagopus lagopus scoticus, in its winter plumage, or (with distinguishing word) several breeds of domestic fowl. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Tetraonidae (grouse) > [noun] > genus Lagopus > lagopus mutus (ptarmigan) ptarmigan1599 white partridge1610 snow-hen1648 white game1678 lagopus1693 grey fowl1712 rype1744 white grouse1771 rock grouse1785 tanmerack1792 ripa1830 snow-grouse1884 lagopode1901 1712 J. Morton Nat. Hist. Northants. vii. 431 The Gad-wall or Grey fowl..has a blunt or round-ended one [sc. Train]. 1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering II. 12 And for the moor-fowl, or the grey-fowl, they lie as thick as doo's in a dooket. 1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 26 Nov. 5/1 In the full pride of the steely winter plumage the November grouse or grey-fowl seems to revel in conscious ability to outwit all enemies. 1913 B. A. Gates Campine Hist. i. 6 The old English Bolton Grey fowl was closely related to the modern Campine. 2012 M. D. Radencich Classic Salmon Fly Patterns 118/2 The Scots Grey fowl is a breed of chicken from around Lanarkshire. grey fox n. the fox, Urocyon cinereoargenteus, which has grey upperparts and is native to North America and northern South America. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [noun] > miscellaneous types of grey fox1781 pampas fox1923 1781 T. Pennant Hist. Quadrupeds I. 241 Grey fox. 1884 Standard Nat. Hist. V. 411 The well-known species, the Gray Fox (V. cinereo-argentatus), shares the characters of the coast fox, but is larger. 1938 D. C. Peattie Prairie Grove xxv. 170 The elk were gone, and so were the cougar, fisher, gray fox. 2004 Backwoods Home Mag. Jan. 56/2 The gray fox, less common, is equally pretty. grey grub n. chiefly U.S. the greyish larva of any of various insects that are pests of cultivated plants; esp. those of noctuid moths of the genus Agrotis; cf. cutworm n. ΚΠ 1771 A. Young Farmer's Tour E. Eng. II. 389 The rows [of turnips], at 18 inches, were attacked by a grey grub. 1876 3rd Rep. Vermont State Board Agric. 1875–6 567 The larva of this moth [sc.Agrotis tessellata] is sometimes called the gray grub. 1904 Amer. Florist 8 Oct. 438/2 The plants are small, and a good many have been destroyed by the grey grub. 2000 Herbert River Express (Austral.) (Nexis) 9 Sept. 5 The Innisfail district, over a period of time, had suffered losses from grey grubs. grey hairstreak n. a small lycaenid butterfly, Strymon melinus, with predominantly grey wings, which is common from North America to northern South America. ΚΠ 1895 Insect Life Mar. 354 (heading) Gray hair-streak butterfly and its damage to beans. 1942 Florida Entomologist 25 11 S. melinus (Hubner), the Gray Hairstreak, was common the latter part of April and again the second week in October. 2001 J. Glassberg Butterflies through Binoculars: West 102 Scrub-Hairstreaks (genus Strymon). Of this largely tropical group of roughly 60 species, only Gray Hairstreak ranges widely north of Mexico. grey heron n. a heron with predominantly grey plumage; (in later use) spec. the large Ardea cinerea, found throughout temperate Eurasia and parts of Africa, which typically nests colonially in tall trees. ΚΠ a1771 S. Parkinson Jrnl. Voy. South Seas (1773) i. 70 The birds sacred to Ethooa [sc. on the island of Yoolee-Etea], of which there are two that fly about their morais, the grey heron, and a blue and brown king-fisher. a1796 J. Sibthorp in R. Walpole Mem. European & Asiatic Turkey (1817) v. 76 The purple and the grey heron frequent the marshes of Bœotia. 1870 P. Gillmore Figuier's Reptiles & Birds 362 Every one knows the Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), at least by reputation. 1957 D. A. Bannerman Birds Brit. Isles VI. 68 The great white egret..is in habit more like the grey heron and the purple heron and less like the egrets. 2010 Guardian 23 Aug. 33/1 Back in 1975..only two species of heron bred here [sc. in Britain] at all—the grey heron, and what we now call the great bittern. grey jumper n. Australian (now rare) the apostlebird, Struthidea cinerea (family Corcoracidae), a songbird of inland Australia with chiefly grey plumage. ΚΠ 1898 E. E. Morris Austral Eng. Grey-jumper, name given to an Australian genus of sparrow-like birds, of which the only species is Struthidea cinerea, Gould. 1912 Catal. Birds' Eggs Brit. Mus. V. 503 Eggs of the Apostle bird or Grey Jumper are of an oval shape and slightly glossy. 1931 N. W. Cayley What Bird is That? 60 Apostle-bird Struthidea cinerea... Also called Grey Jumper and Twelve Apostles. grey kangaroo n. either of two large Australian kangaroos of a greyish colour, the eastern grey kangaroo, Macropus giganteus, and the western grey kangaroo, M. fuliginosus. ΚΠ 1793 W. Tench Compl. Acct. Settlem. Port Jackson xvii. 171 Hitherto I have spoken only of the large, or grey kanguroo, to which the natives give the name of Pat-ag-a-ràn. 1827 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom V. 202 Gray Kangaroo. 1953 H. G. Lamond Big Red 11 A grey kangaroo sat in a huddled position at the foot of a gidyea tree. 2004 T. Flannery Chasing Kangaroos ii. 17 Experiments..revealed that the two grey kangaroos had different breeding cycles and were thus unlikely to mate in the wild. grey linnet n. now historical the linnet, Carduelis cannabina, which is predominantly greyish-brown. ΚΠ 1751 G. Edwards Nat. Hist. Birds IV. 179 I should have named it [sc. the Grey Finch] the Grey Linnet, but that we have already a Bird in our Country so called, though it be of a brown Colour. 1834 Hist. Berwickshire Naturalists' Club 1 No. 1. 22 The mellow call-note of the grey linnet was..heard. 1900 Trans. Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club 44 201 Linnet... L[ocal] N[ames]. Common Linnet, Grey Linnet, Red Linnet, Brown Linnet.., Rose Linnet. 2006 K. C. Grier Pets Amer. i. 62 Gray linnets, siskins, chaffinches, starlings, and English robins, among others, were also imported throughout the nineteenth century. grey lizard n. now rare any of several greyish lizards; esp. either of two European lizards formerly in the genus Lacerta, the viviparous lizard, Zootoca vivipara, or the wall lizard, Podarcis muralis. ΚΠ 1728 R. Bradley Dict. Botanicum App. at Myrtillus I have observ'd that wherever this Plant grows, there are many Vipers and Grey Lizards. 1801 R. Southey Thalaba I. iv. 192 And his awakened ear Heard the grey Lizard's chirp. 1922 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 7 Oct. 1257/1 Dr. S. Icard of Marseilles took up the subject recently, inquiring into..the long survival of the tail in the gray lizard and the wall lizard (Lacerta muralis). 1956 J. Stuart Year of my Rebirth 115 First, the gray lizard is harmless. I've heard that the smooth-skinned red-green lizard is poisonous. greylord n. British regional the saithe or coalfish, Pollachius virens; cf. greyfish n. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > superorder Paracanthopterygii > order Gadiformes (cod) > [noun] > family Gadidae > pollachius virens (coal-fish) > at certain stage of growth greyhead1692 greylord1698 greyfish1703 greybeard1742 1698 M. Martin Late Voy. St. Kilda 30 The coast of St. Kilda, and the lesser Isles, are plentifully furnished with variety of..Cod, Ling..Turbat, Graylords, Sythes. 1707 G. Miège Present State Great Brit. ii. ii. 15 Grey-lord, in size and shape like a Salmon. 1856 W. Thompson Nat. Hist. Ireland IV. 183 At Portaferry (Co. Down) it [sc. the coal-fish] passes under four names: the fry are called Gilpins; next size Blockan; then Greylord; and to the very large fish the term Glashan is applied. 1902 J. Bickerdyke Pract. Lett. Sea Fishers xxiv. 247 The young fish are also named..gilpins, blockan, and graylord. 2007 H. Fearnley-Whittingstall & N. Fisher River Cottage Fish Bk. iii. 432 Coley,..regional names for it, including blockan, coalfish, cuithe, gilpin, greylord, piltock, saithe, sillack and sillock. grey meerkat n. (a) Selous' mongoose, Paracynictis selousi, a solitary nocturnal mongoose of southern Africa; (b) the meerkat or suricate, Suricata suricatta. ΚΠ 1901 Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1 2 Mr. W. E. de Winton exhibited a specimen of the large Grey Meerkat (Cynictis selousi de Winton). 1953 J. R. Ellerman et al. Southern Afr. Mammals 139 (heading) Suricata suricatta Schreber, 1776... Grey Meerkat; Slendertailed Meerkat; Suricate. 1984 D. Macdonald Encycl. Mammals I. 151/3 (heading) Selous' mongoose or Gray meerkat. 2008 N.Z. Herald (Nexis) 16 June Don't forget to visit the mischievous grey meerkats from southern Africa. grey millet n. the common gromwell, Lithospermum officinale; cf. graymill n. ΚΠ 1785 T. Martyn tr. J.-J. Rousseau Lett. Elements Bot. xvi. 186 The true Gromwell, which name is a corruption from Gray Millet, is not very common. 1884 Cassell's Encycl. Dict. IV. i. 66/3 Gromwell..gray-millet... Anciently administered for the cure of gravel. 1922 H. S. Salt Call of Wildflower xvi. 126 On the lawns that skirt the Knott [sc. Arnside Knott] one often sees..the gromwell or ‘grey millet’, and the beautiful little dwarf orchis. 2004 L. Fallows Wild Flowers Northern Eng. I. 55 (heading) Gromwell. Grey Millet. grey mullet n. any of various silver-grey marine fishes of the family Mugilidae, several of which (esp. the widespread striped mullet, Mugil cephalus) are locally important food fishes. ΚΠ 1694 P. Falle Acct. Isle of Jersey ii. 75 For Scale-fish, we have..Mullets, both grey and red, the Last a firm and most delicious Fish. 1788 G. Keate Acct. Pelew Islands xxiv. 302 The grey mullet, which they crimped, and frequently eat raw. 1813 J. Forbes Oriental Mem. I. iii. 53 The robal, the seir-fish, the grey mullet, and some others, are very good. 1931 E. G. Boulenger Fishes xvi. 128 The Grey Mullet (Mugil cephalus ) has a practically world-wide distribution. 2012 Herald Express (Torquay) (Nexis) 9 Feb. 63 This is a wonderful, versatile recipe you can make with a number of different species, mackerel works well, as does grey mullet. grey nurse n. (also more fully grey nurse shark) a large shark, Carcharias taurus, of warm coastal waters worldwide; also called sand tiger. ΚΠ 1852 G. C. Mundy Our Antipodes I. xii. 390 The ‘school-shark’ is dealt with as above. But if the ‘grey-nurse’, or old solitary shark be hooked, the cable is cut [etc.]. 1917 Chambers's Jrnl. Sept. 589/2 The gray nurse, like the white shark, is noted for its daring ferocity. 1969 Man (Austral.) Mar. 12/2 There's even been grey nurse hooked here, and a blue marlin that had been hunted over from the deep-sea beds. 2004 Winnipeg Free Press 29 June a12 An Australian diver..says he speared a grey nurse shark in self-defence. grey owl n. any of several grey-brown owls; esp. the tawny owl, Strix aluco, or (in later use) (U.S.) the eastern screech owl, Megascops (or Otus) asio. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > order Strigiformes or owl > [noun] > family Strigidae > genus Strix > strix aluco (tawny owl) jenny whooper1600 aluco1657 grey owl1673 ivy-owl1674 brown owl1678 tawny owl1766 wood-owl1809 hoot owl1885 1673 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words 83 The common gray or Ivy-Owl. 1772 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 62 386 (heading) Strix, 8. Nebulosa. New Species. The grey Owl. 1846 J. Brown Amer. Angler's Guide (ed. 2) vi. 105 The cream colored feather of the gray owl. 1900 Trans. Norfolk & Norwich Naturalists' Soc. 7 582 In my memory there were twenty Grey Owls, (the Tawny Owl..) where there are now one. 1939 Morning Herald (Uniontown, Pa.) 12 Apr. 7/7 Two workmen discovered a gray owl, its wingspan estimated to exceed three feet. 2008 T. Warhol Owls iii. 29 The gray owls usually make their daytime roosts at the bases of branches near the trunks of trees. grey parrot n. the African grey parrot, Psittacus erithacus (cf. African grey n. at African n. and adj. Compounds 2b); (formerly also) any other parrot of (or formerly of) the subfamily Psittacinae. ΚΠ 1598 W. Phillip tr. J. H. van Linschoten Disc. Voy. E. & W. Indies ii. 198/2 Grey parrots, Psittagen , or Sparweers. a1625 W. Finch Observ. in S. Purchas Pilgrims (1625) IV. vi. 416 On land are great numbers of gray Parrets, as also store of Guinny Hennes. 1735 J. Atkins Voy. Guinea 197 The Country affords Plantains, Goats, Fowls, and particularly grey Parrots, all cheap. 1856 C. Knight Eng. Cycl.: Nat. Hist. IV. 486 The ash-coloured of Gray Parrot, Psittacus erythacus,..is a native of Africa. 1952 K. Lorenz King Solomon's Ring (1962) vii. 96 Colonel von Lukanus also possessed a grey parrot which became famous through a feat of memory. 1963 A. Wilson Wild Garden 67 Another grey parrot..sat on our balcony, recalling the Armistice by repeating over and over again the word ‘mufti’. 2010 Observer 21 Mar. (Guide to Pets section) 30/1 Grey parrots are quieter, but only the smaller senegal parrot is guaranteed not to have near-neighbours reaching for the earplugs. grey partridge n. any of several greyish game birds; esp. (a) the common partridge of Europe, Perdix perdix; (b) (in India) the grey francolin, Francolinus pondicerianus.In quot. 1587: (perhaps) the bobwhite quail, Colinus virginianus. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Phasianidae (pheasants, etc.) > [noun] > member of genus Francolinus > francolinus pondicerianus (grey partridge) grey partridge1894 teetar1895 1587 R. Hakluyt tr. R. de Laudonnière Notable Hist. Foure Voy. Florida f. 6 As we passed throw these woods we saw nothing but Turkeycocks flying in the forrests, Partridges gray and redde, litle different from ours, but chiefly in bignesse.] 1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Griesche Perdrix griesche, the ordinarie, or gray, Partridge. 1787 G. Greive tr. F. J. de Chastellux Trav. N.-Amer. II. 324 The colour of his wings of a red grey, like our grey Partridges. 1894 A. Newton et al. Dict. Birds: Pt. III 692 (note) In India the name Grey Partridge is used for Ortygornis ponticerianus, which is perhaps a Francolin. 1954 J. Corbett Temple Tiger 126 We picked up..four grey partridge, two bush quail, and three hare. 2006 Field July 47/3 Although there were fewer redlegs than grey partridges present on the ground, the guns shot as many redlegs as they did greys. grey pate n. a juvenile goldfinch, Carduelis carduelis, which has a greyish head without the bold markings of the adult. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > arboreal families > family Fringillidae (finch) > [noun] > subfamily Carduelinae > genus Carduelis > carduelis carduelis (goldfinch) goldfincheOE goldspinka1522 carduel?1530 thistle-finch1589 thistlewarp1598 fool's coata1682 grey pate1728 tailor-warbler1783 redcap1785 sheriff's man1796 goldie?1800 King Harry1824 sweet-william1848 tailor1848 thistle-bird1872 thistle-feeder1904 1728 Bird Fancier's Recreation 62 You may catch young Ones, which we call grey Pates, in June, July, and August. 1871 Bell's Life in London 14 Jan. 11/4 Seven cock goldfinches..were all ‘grey pates’, or young birds without any red on the head. 1904 Avicultural Mag. Oct. 24 The ‘grey-pate’ stage of the two species [sc. Common Goldfinch and Himalayan Goldfinch]. 2003 Cage & Aviary Birds 6 Dec. 9/1 It is not uncommon to witness a grey pate (young goldfinch) running with a young bullfinch hen. grey perch n. any of several greyish perch-like fishes; esp. (U.S.) the freshwater drum, Aplodinotus grunniens, or the white perch, Morone americana, both of North America. ΚΠ 1849 H. W. Herbert Frank Forester's Fish & Fishing 248 The Grey Perch (Lucioperca Grisea) would seem to be a permanent variety of the above [sc. Lucioperca Americana]), if not a distinct species. 1897 H. S. Thomas Rod in India xviii. 253 The Grey Perch, Chrysophrys berda, is a similar esturial perch, to be taken with similar tackle, and in the same places as Lutianus roseus. 1911 Fisheries U.S. 1908 (U.S. Dept. Commerce & Labor) 313/1 ‘Grey perch’ [is applied] to the freshwater drum (Aplodinotus grunniens). 2009 J. Freeze They shall be Remembered i. 12 Yellow perch were running in the fresh water streams and ponds while grey perch and shad were caught in the salt water. grey petrel n. a large grey-brown petrel with a white belly, Procellaria cinerea (family Procellariidae), of southern oceans; = pediunker n.Also called brown petrel. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > order Procellariiformes > [noun] > member of family Procellariidae (petrel) > member of genus Procellaria > other types petrel1602 Antarctic petrel1777 grey petrel1782 sea-nymph1875 whale-bird1875 pediunker1910 1782 W. Ellis Authentic Narr. Voy. Capt. Cook & Capt. Clerke II. xxix. 197 We..and saw a flock of ducks, and many small grey petrels. 1845 R. Howitt Australia 57 The albatrosses and grey petrels..are, in the midst of all this uproar, quite at home. 1934 Evening Post (Wellington, N.Z.) 23 June 17 The brown or grey petrel, which breeds on the Macquarie and the Antipodes Islands, occasionally visits the New Zealand coast. 2011 R. W. Doughty & V. Carmichael Albatross & Fish x. 135 The Grey Petrels..plunged into the water to retrieve the sinking baits. grey phalarope n. the phalarope, Phalaropus fulicarius, which has grey and white plumage in winter, the underparts changing to a brick-red colour during the breeding season in the high Arctic; cf. red phalarope n. at red adj. and n. Compounds 1e(b)(ii). ΚΠ 1771 J. R. Forster Catal. Animals N. Amer. 15 (table) Phalarope..Grey..Red..Brown. 1882 A. Newton Yarrell's Hist. Brit. Birds III. 315 The Red-necked Phalarope is at once distinguished from the Grey Phalarope..by its smaller size, with a longer and more slender beak. a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) I. xx. 585 In the case of the emu and..Rhea, the cock bird does all the brooding; and so it is with the grey phalarope and a few other queer birds where the female does the courting. 2009 Daily Tel. 16 Jan. 3/2 A birdwatcher waited several hours to catch sight of a grey phalarope, a bird that visits Britain rarely. † grey pie n. Obsolete any of several greyish passerine birds; esp. the great grey shrike, Lanius excubitor, or (formerly) the tropical mockingbird, Mimus gilvus. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > non-arboreal (larks, etc.) > [noun] > family Laniidae (shrike) > genus Lanius > lanius excubitor mattagess1575 French pie1674 grey pie1678 murdering pie1688 white whisky john1772 1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. ii. xi. 87 The French do, not without reason, call it [sc. Lanius or Butcher] the Grey Pie. 1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. xi. 235/1 The Bucher Bird, or Shrike..This Bird is of some called..a Grey Pie. 1783 W. B. Tegetmeier Reprint of Boddaert's Table des Planches Enluminéez d’Hist. Nat. (1874) 43 Grey pie of Brasil. 1838 W. Swainson Nat. Arrangem. & Relations Flycatchers (Naturalist's Libr.: Ornithol. X) 102 One of these appears to be the Grey Pie of Edwards. 1920 R. Carpenter Plainsman & Other Poems 121 The grey pie whistles, the sheep-bird calls. grey pike n. chiefly North American any of several greyish pike-like fishes; esp. the walleye, Sander vitreus, or the sauger, S. canadensis. ΚΠ 1827 Westm. Rev. Apr. 328 Several species of fish are particularly referred to [in Finnish myths]... Halewa Hauki, the grey pike (esox lucius). 1936 Pop. Mech. July 144 a/1 Among its [sc. the walleyed pike's] many names are gray pike, ground pike, green pike, etc. 2001 S. T. Ross Inland Fishes Mississippi 518/1 Sauger. Local names: gray pike, horsefish, jack, [etc.]. grey plover n. any of several wading birds that are greyish in their winter plumage; spec. an Arctic-breeding plover, Pluvialis squatarola, which has a black breast in the breeding season; = black-bellied plover n. at black-bellied adj. Compounds. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > [noun] > family Charadriidae > genus Pluvialis > pluvialis squatarola (grey plover) sea plover1634 whistling plover1668 strand plover1772 squatarole1819 whistling field bird1819 grey plover1838 whistling field plover1872 Swiss plover1874 pilot1880 the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > [noun] > family Charadriidae > genus Pluvialis > pluvialis apricaria (Eurasian golden plover) green plover1550 spotted plover1750 golden plover1766 yellow plover1793 grey plover1885 squealer1888 the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Scolopacidae (snipes, etc.) > [noun] > genus Calidris > calidris canutus (knot) knot1452 gnat1616 marl1699 sea-snipe1767 greyback1813 red-breasted sandpiper1813 grey plover1885 a1549 in Gentleman's Mag. May (1813) 427/1 Plovers grey the dosen, iij s. 1673 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words 91 The Grey-plover, Pluvialis cinerea. 1750 J. Birket Jrnl. 5 Aug. in Voy. N. Amer. (1916) 1 I observed a flock of Gray Plover. 1838 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 617/2 The gray plover (Charadrius squatarola)..distinguished..by a very small hind toe. 1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 195 Knot (Tringa canutus)... The sober tints of its feathers in winter have caused it to be called..Grey plover (Scotland). 1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 180 Golden plover... From the colour of the plumage, which varies according to age and the season of the year, they are called...Grey plover (Ireland). a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) II. 880 We think of the grey plover, the interesting turnstone, the jack-snipe.., the sanderling, and the bar-tailed godwit. 2006 Independent 5 July 9/4 Migrants..such as Bar-tailed godwits, grey plovers, knots and dunlins. grey rat n. the brown or Norway rat, Rattus norvegicus. ΚΠ 1779 J. Ross New Vermin-catcher's Compan. 5 Many people will call the grey rats, Hanover Rats. 1860 R. F. Burton in Jrnl. Royal Geogr. Soc. 1859 29 220 The huts are as usual haunted by the grey rat and the musk-rat. 1920 West Virginia Med. Jrnl. 15 281 On March 25th the patient was bitten on the right index finger by a large grey rat. 2008 Philadelphia Daily News (Nexis) 9 Dec. 3 They are not the gray rats with large teeth living in sewers. grey sandpiper n. now rare either of two greyish wading birds, the grey plover, Pluvialis squatarola, and (in New Zealand) the grey-tailed tattler, Tringa (or Heteroscelus) brevipes, which winters in the Pacific area. ΚΠ 1776 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. (ed. 4, octavo) II. ii. 456 (heading) Grey Sandpiper. 1802 G. Montagu Ornithol. Dict. at Sandpiper In the Grey Sandpiper there is no back toe, but only a sort of spur, very small. 1901 Trans. & Proc. N.Z. Inst. 1900 33 253 Of the shore-birds, or waders, we have..the grey sandpiper (Heteractitis brevipes), and the greenshank. 1987 B. A. Lane Shorebirds Austral. v. 107/2 A small to medium-sized grey sandpiper with conspicuous orange legs and a long, upturned bill. † grey school n. Scottish regional Obsolete a large salmon, Salmo salar, of a run occurring late in the spawning season. ΚΠ 1804 R. Graham Fisherman's Let. to Proprietors & Occupiers of Salmon Fisheries in Solway 8 in J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. 508/1 Those too, it is probable, spawn sooner than the last and largest species, called the Grey Scool, which appear in the Solway and rivers about the middle of July. 1894 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Apr. 556/2 The river was well stocked with the ‘grey school’; it had run low, however, and a vicious frost set in. 1901 Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist. Apr. 83 The so-called ‘Grey-School’ which keeps the bad company of these bull-trout—both inferior classes of fish. grey seal n. a large greyish seal, Halichoerus grypus, of the North Atlantic, typically found in the vicinity of rocky shores. ΚΠ 1792 T. Pennant Arctic Zool. I. (ed. 2) 183 The first is the Grey Seal, Grâ Siäl, which when just born is wholly yellow. 1879 E. P. Wright Animal Life 124 The Grey Seal (Halichoerus grypus) is met with around the north and west coasts of Scotland. 1958 Times 20 May 4/3 An annual cull should be carried out..to limit further increases in the grey seal population. 2002 G. M. Eberhart Mysterious Creatures II. 381/2 The Gray seal (Halichoerus grypus ) can grow to 7 feet 6 inches in Canadian waters. grey shark n. any of numerous sharks of a greyish colour; esp. a requiem shark (family Carcharhinidae). ΘΚΠ the world > animals > fish > subclass Elasmobranchii > order Pleurotremata > [noun] > family Carcharinidae > carcharinus americanus (grey shark) grey shark1804 1804 G. Shaw Gen. Zool. V. 346 Grey shark. 1881 Cassell's Nat. Hist. V. 31 The Grey Shark is sometimes eleven or twelve feet long. 1910 H. N. Baruch Fisherman's Paradise 41 We had run into a school of grey sharks that mingle with tarpon and have acquired some of their traits. 1981 R. M. Alexander Chordates (ed. 2) iv. 112 Its [sc. the upper jaw's] range of movement is small in dogfish, but large in the grey sharks (family Carcharinidae [sic]). 2012 Mercury (S. Afr.) (Nexis) 27 Jan. 27 The water has been clean but a bit on the cold side, and a few grey sharks have been caught. grey shrike n. any of several greyish shrikes of the genus Lanius; esp. the great grey shrike, L. excubitor; frequently with distinguishing word. ΚΠ 1781 J. Latham Gen. Synopsis Birds I. 183 (margin) Grey S[hrike]. 1849 P. H. Gosse Nat. Hist.: Birds 117 The Grey Shrike..is known by the appellations of Butcher-bird, Mattagass, Mountain Magpie, Murdering Pie, Shreek, and Shrike. 1902 J. A. Owen & G. S. Boulger Country Month by Month (new ed.) 181 The lesser grey shrike is a very occasional visitant to our country, but the great grey shrike, another member of the family, visits us fairly often. 2002 G. E. Watson in W. M. F. Jashemski & F. G. Meyer Nat. Hist. Pompeii xvi. 383/1 An overly large gray shrike is perched on the top of an oleander. grey skate n. the common or blue skate of the eastern Atlantic, Dipturus batis, which is the largest known skate. ΚΠ 1807 Scots Mag. May 363/2 The proper Skate (Raia Batis,) in which the row of spines stops at the rump, leaving the back smooth, is here called grey skate. 1910 Brit. Sea Anglers' Soc. Q. Mar. 89 The grey skate holds the record for the largest fish taken with rod and line in British waters. 2010 P. M. Kyne & C. A. Simpfendorfer in J. C. Carrier et al. Sharks & their Relatives II. ii. 41 Thickbody skate Amblyraja frerichsi and gray skate Dipturus batis have been documented to ~2600 m. grey snail n. the garden snail, Helix aspersa. ΚΠ a1637 G. Markham Compl. Farriar (1639) xvii. 145 Take a fat sucking whelpe, flay it, and boyle it, then stop the bodie as full as it can hold of gray snayles, and blacke snayles. 1728 T. Trowell Kentish Farrier 56 An handful of grey snails, shells and all. 1878 Garden 26 Jan. 91 The grey snail often invades the beds. 1905 Monthly Bull. Div. Zool. (Pennsylvania State Dept. Agric.) May 185 The large grey snails or slugs..are of no use in the economy of mankind. 2012 Telegraph (Nexis) 28 June 22 The enthusiastic forager of the non-protected, common ‘grey’ snails may get put off at the preparation stage: they must be starved in a container for 10 days. grey snake n. any of various greyish snakes; esp. the venomous Hemiaspis damelii (family Elapidae) of Queensland, Australia. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Colubridae > miscellaneous types of grey snake1703 garter-snake1775 boomslang1793 scarlet snake1842 blunt head1869 tiger-snake1869 house snake1870 ground-snake1885 lycodont1887 mole snake1893 sling-snake1895 file snake1912 mussurana1914 the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Elapidae or Najidae > miscellaneous types of grey snake1703 copperhead1878 shield snake1910 taipan1933 1703 W. Dampier Voy. New Holland ii. 40 Small Black and small Grey-Snake; the great Land, and the great Water-Snake. 1863 J. G. Wood Illustr. Nat. Hist. (new ed.) III. 134 The Grey Snake of Jamaica (Dromicus ater). 1911 Register (Adelaide) 29 June 5/3 On Monday Mr. Larssen killed a grey snake about 3 ft long. 2012 L. K. Kurtis et al. Queensland's Threatened Animals 24/2 The Grey Snake is not inclined to bite unless provoked or roughly handled and is not considered dangerous. grey snapper n. any of several tropical game and food fishes of a greyish colour, chiefly of the family Lutjanidae; esp. Lutjanus griseus of the Caribbean and West Atlantic (also called mangrove snapper n. (b) at mangrove n.¹ Compounds 2). ΚΠ 1795 C. Chisholm Ess. Malignant Pestilential Fever W. Indian Islands 28 Black, red, and grey snappers..are amongst the best of the sea-fish. 1876 G. B. Goode Catal. Fishes Bermudas 54 Gray Snapper... Its extreme cunning..has gained it the soubriquet of ‘Sea Lawyer’. 1954 Cairns Post (Austral.) 2 July 3/3 The Dan Higgins trophy for the largest grey snapper [was won] by J. Jeffreys. 2010 N. Toppino Insiders' Guide Florida Keys & Key West 210/2 The mangrove snapper, or grey snapper (Lutjanus griseus), though often haunting the coral reef, also can be found inshore in mangrove habitats. grey snipe n. chiefly North American (now rare) any of several greyish wading birds; esp. the short-billed dowitcher, Limnodromus griseus. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Scolopacidae (snipes, etc.) > [noun] > limnodromus griseus (dowitcher) grey snipe1756 red-breasted snipe?a1808 dowitcher1841 brown-back1844 1756 P. Browne Civil & Nat. Hist. Jamaica 477 Tringa 2. Subcinerea... The larger grey Snipe with a white neck. 1870 Game Laws Pennsylvania in Fur, Fin & Feather (1872) 120 No person shall kill, capture, take..any gray snipe. 1904 Smithsonian Misc. Coll. 72 185 From the thoracic cavity of a Gray Snipe, Gallinago Wilsonii, Dr. Warren obtained five Flukes 18 mm. long. 1957 Anderson (Indiana) Herald 26 Dec. 20/2 Such delicacies as gray snipe, blue geese, white geese and mallards. grey trout n. †(a) a form of the European brown trout, Salmo trutta (formerly regarded as a distinct species, S. eriox) (obsolete); (b) (North American) the lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush, or the weakfish, Cynoscion regalis. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > order Salmoniformes (salmon or trout) > family Salmonidae (salmon) > [noun] > genus Salmo > trout (unspecified and miscellaneous) > salmo trutta (sea trout) salmon-trout1421 scurf1483 grey trout1557 cock1677 sea-trout1745 slob trout1849 fossack1884 the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > family Sciaenidae (drums) > [noun] > member of genus Cynoscion (squeteague) bass1530 trout1604 weakfish1686 sea bass1765 corvina1787 salmon1798 sheep's head1836 squeteague1838 grey trout1856 white trout1861 roncador1867 shad-trout1884 squit1884 bastard trout1888 wheat-fish1888 yellowfin1888 1557 W. Turner in C. Gesner Historiæ Animalium (1558) IV. 1296 Accepi eundem in alijs Britanniæ prouincijs uocari a Gray trout, & in alijs a Skurf. 1655 T. Moffett & C. Bennet Healths Improvem. xix. 188 Gray-trouts..lurk..like the Alderlings under the roots of great Alders. 1794 W. Hutchinson Hist. Cumberland I. 96 Fishes. Grey trout,..the redfin, minnow, loach. 1856 C. Lanman Adventures Wilds U.S. II. 79 The principal fish which it yields are the common trout, tuladi or great gray trout, and a small species of white fish. 1944 Ld. Alanbrooke Diary 18 Sept. in War Diaries (2001) 595 Up at 6 am and out to troll for grey trout in the main Oriskany Lake. 2006 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 19 May f4 Island fishing includes crab, gray trout, striped bass and flounder. grey wagtail n. a migratory Eurasian wagtail, Motacilla cinerea, with a grey back and variable amounts of yellow on the underparts, which typically frequents fast-flowing streams and rivers. ΚΠ 1676 F. Willughby & J. Ray Ornithologiæ ii. xvii. 172 Motacilla cinerea... The grey Wagtail. 1758 G. Edwards Gleanings Nat. Hist. I. 106/1 Though he [sc. Albin] calls it the Yellow, his description is not other than what he has transcribed out of Willughby, relating to the Grey Wagtail. 1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 44 Grey wagtail (Motacilla melanope)... Oat seed bird (Yorkshire). 1937 A. W. Boyd Diary 5 Mar. in Country Diary Cheshire Man (1946) 134 For over a month a grey wagtail has been living in a ditch near my house. 2006 Bird Watching Aug. 101/2 Less usual was a pair of Grey Wagtails breeding in a building in Central Swindon some way from water. grey warbler n. (a) any of several greyish Old World warblers, esp. of the genus Sylvia (frequently with distinguishing word); (b) a small New Zealand songbird, Gerygone igata (family Acanthizidae) (also called grey gerygone). ΚΠ 1829 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom VI. 444 The Gray Warbler... White-Throat of the English. 1870 Trans. & Proc. N.Z. Inst. 1869 2 48 Then we might note where..the grey warbler (Piripiri) with quivering notes flustered near its cosy, dome-shaped nest. 1905 E. E. Oliver Hill Station Matheran ii. 207 The Allied Grey Warbler... Sylvia affinis. 2002 T. Stevenson & J. Fanshawe Birds E. Afr. 394 (heading) Red-winged Grey Warbler Drymocichla incana. 2011 C. L. Miller Implementing Sustainability iii. 80 Some native birds such as the tui, kereru, fantail and grey warblers have proved to be highly adaptable. grey whale n. a medium-sized, migratory baleen whale, Eschrichtius robustus, now chiefly of the North Pacific, with grey patches on its dark skin. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > order Cetacea (whales) > suborder Mystacoceti > [noun] > genus Eschrichtius (grey whale) grey whale1834 grey1849 hardhead1860 rip-sack1860 greyback1869 1834 R. M. Martin Hist. Brit. Colonies II. iv. 328/1 The gray whale is longer than the above mentioned [sc. the true Greenland balænæ]. 1861 Harper's Mag. Oct. 595/2 These must be the California or gray whales, so abundant on this coast. 1955 Sci. Amer. Jan. 67/1 Some cetologists believe that the gray whale survived along our Atlantic seaboard until historic times. 2007 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 19 Oct. d8/1 Gray whales were blowing on the horizon. grey wolf n. the common wolf of Eurasia and North America, Canis lupus, which is typically grey in colour; also (and in earliest use) figurative. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > [noun] > genus Canis > canis lupus (wolf) wolfc725 greyOE Isegrima1300 grey wolf1595 lupus?a1600 witch's horse1865 1595 T. W. tr. P. Leroy et al. Pleasant Satyre 84 If any of my gouernment thrust in himselfe to speak of peace, I runne vpon him as a grey or russet woolfe. 1629 W. Davenant Trag. Albovine iii. i. Sig. F3^v Thou gumblest like a gray Wolfe. 1768 T. Smollett Present State All Nations I. 195 Lapland, in common with Norway, is infested by a great number of grey wolves and bears. 1814 M. Lewis & W. Clark Trav. Missouri (1815) I. 206 We caught in a trap a large gray wolf. 1904 Grand Rapids Evening Press 8 June 4 In plain words, a gray wolf, in Chicago phraseology, is a professional grafter. 1936 D. McCowan Animals Canad. Rockies iii. 30 The grey wolf, also known as timber wolf and formerly as buffalo wolf, is grey in colour with a liberal sprinkling of black and brown in the coat. 2009 J. Struthers Red Sky at Night 34 For centuries, wild grey wolves (Canis lupus) roamed around Britain. C2. Compounds of the noun. a. Instrumental.Some of the following could be construed as parasynthetic uses of the adjective: compare Compounds 1a. grey-brindled adj. ΚΠ 1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. II. iv. iii. 164 The great Northeast sends up evermore his grey brindled dawn. 1859 Notes & Queries 30 July 100/1 The story of an old grey-brindled mastiff. 1891 Daily News 3 Dec. 5/1 Our wild cat..was a fine, powerful animal, grey brindled. 2007 B. Plott Story of Plott Hound 90 Boss was a large, heavy-boned saddleback... Tige was a smaller, gray-brindled dog. grey-clad adj. ΚΠ a1745 J. Richardson Morning Thoughts (1776) 258 I see the dawn, the grey-clad nymphs retire. 1793 W. Wordsworth Descr. Sketches in Misc. Poems (1820) I. 126 Though now along the shade Where erst at will the grey-clad peasant strayed, Gleam war's discordant garments through the trees. 1895 Cent. Mag. Aug. 499/1 Gray-clad, white-bonneted sisters of charity. 1993 G. Donaldson Ville 342 Nothing but a column of gray-clad manchildren facing a long line of girlfriends and mothers. grey-lit adj. ΚΠ 1841 Southern Literary Messenger Mar. 245/1 With its grey-lit light the orient sky is shaded with rainbow tints of mellow lustre. 1869 D. G. Rossetti Poems (1870) 193 Thine eyes gray-lit in shadowing hair above. 1973 T. Crouse Boys on Bus i. vii. 167 In the greylit darkness, they were peering at a wall that contained fourteen TV screens. 2008 C. J. Holcroft Canyon v. 47 They waded their way out..into grey-lit day. grey-speckled adj. ΚΠ 1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball iv. xxvi. 484 Two graynes, harde, rounde, gray speckled, blackish. 1671 J. Ogilby tr. O. Dapper et al. Atlas Chinensis 590 These Wizards have many times horrible Toads that sit near them, with a thick gray speckled Skin. 1808 R. Forsyth Beauties Scotl. V. 60 Grey-speckled diver (loon). 1859 E. Curry tr. Sick-bed of Cuchulainn in Atlantis 2 105 Steeds with gray-speckled manes. 1998 P. Powell Pagoda 61 She was tall and robust, with gray-speckled eyes. grey-streaked adj. ΚΠ 1677 N. Cox Gentleman's Recreation (ed. 2) i. 40 White, and black and white, and grey streak'd white, are also the most beautiful. 1829 Edinb. Lit. Jrnl. 2 May 340/1 The streets are neatly paved..with a grey-streaked marble. 1939 Appleton (Wisconsin) Post-Crescent 2 Oct. 12/3 The pine siskin looks much like a sparrow with its forked tail and gray-streaked body. 2009 R. Jordan & B. Sanderson Gathering Storm xliii. 678 Romanda, gray-streaked hair up in a bun, sat primly in a yellow dress. † grey-streaken adj. Obsolete rare ΚΠ 1854 R. S. Surtees Handley Cross (new ed.) xx. 148 Grey-streaken locks. grey-tinted adj. ΚΠ 1800 H. Wigstead Remarks Tour N. & S. Wales 9 The grey tinted distant Welsh hills. 1870 M. Bridgman Robert Lynne I. vii. 106 That's what makes life appear so dull and gray-tinted to me. 1998 R. Robotham Zachary's Wings (1999) ii. viii. 164 She found herself outside a storefront bar with gray-tinted windows. b. greywork n. [probably after Middle Low German grāwerk, grāwark, grauwerk] now historical grey furs collectively; goods made of grey fur; cf. sense B. 3. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > skin or hide > skin with hair attached or fur > [noun] panec1300 greywork1311 pelure?c1325 furrurea1387 peltrya1450 peltry warea1450 furs1555 bundwork1663 peltage1698 peltries1763 furrieries1784 society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with skins > [noun] > furriery > product of greywork1311 1311 Liber Horn in D. A. Trotter Multilingualism in Later Medieval Brit. (2000) 162 Grisovere [glossed] graiwerk. 1349 in M. T. Löfvenberg Contrib. Middle Eng. Lexicogr. & Etymol. (1946) 21 (MED) [A tun full of fells called] Greywerk. a1399 in W. G. Benham Oath Bk. Colchester (1907) 7 A Tymber Grey Werk, j quart. 1480 Table Prouffytable Lernynge (Caxton) (1964) 2 Of makers of greywerke. a1500 (a1451) in Ld. Clermont Wks. J. Fortescue (1869) I. 553 They brynge grete Merchandyse, as..23 Grey werke, 24 Rede werke, and all maner of 25 Peltry. 1891 A. Chase & E. Clow Stories Industry II. 66 ‘Gray work’ comprises the furs of the gray squirrel and of the domestic cat. 1985 E. W. Moore Fairs of Medieval Eng. i. i. 58 Of some £375 spent by royal agents on greywork, no less than £207..was marketed at the fairs of Boston..and Ely. † greyworker n. Obsolete a furrier. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > workers with specific materials > worker with skins or hides > [noun] > worker with furs furrourc1330 greyworker1480 furrier1575 1480 Table Prouffytable Lernynge (Caxton) (1964) 43 Vedast the graywerker Solde whiler to my lady A pylche of graye. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online June 2022). greygrayv. Brit. /ɡreɪ/, U.S. /ɡreɪ/ Forms: see grey adj. and n. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: grey adj. Etymology: < grey adj. Compare greying adj., greying n., greyed adj. 1. a. intransitive. To become grey or greyer in colour. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > colour > named colours > grey or greyness > make grey > become grey [verb (intransitive)] greyc1400 c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 527 Al grayes þe gres, þat grene watȝ ere. 1851 Lancaster Gaz. 18 Jan. 6/1 The morning now begins to gray. 1878 Scribner's Monthly 16 332/2 The autumn seared and browned and grayed at last into winter. 1939 C. Weygandt Dutch Country 228 The basket..has greyed, not browned, with use. 1977 T. Paulin State of Justice 32 The air greys and lights come on. 2000 Wasafiri Autumn 18/1 I will apply foundation to where the skin has greyed. b. transitive. To make grey or greyer in colour. ΚΠ 1641 T. Beedome Poems sig. B2^v Not Winters Isie band..have gray'd the verdant earth. 1843 Artist & Amateur's Mag. 1 313 The grass field is greyed..by the darks of the interstices ‘stippled’ or intermixed with the lights upon the blades of grass. 1879 Tinsley's Mag. 24 325 As some cloud-shadow swept across the valley, and grayed the greens. 1931 E. Ferber Amer. Beauty i. 2 Prim clapboard houses, grayed by the two centuries that had passed over them. 1977 W. S. Merwin Compass Flower i. 17 Fine rain drifts along mountains to the south of me graying the first month. 2005 M. Lewycka Short Hist. Tractors in Ukrainian v. 55 A thin veil of dust has greyed all the white paintwork. 2. a. transitive. Of time, age, etc.: to cause (a person's hair) to become grey. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > hair > colour of hair > [verb (transitive)] > grey silver1603 grey1609 begraya1624 grizzle1740 the world > matter > colour > named colours > grey or greyness > make grey > [verb (transitive)] grey1609 grizzle1740 1609 T. Heywood Troia Britanica viii. 178 His haire by Nature browne, but grayed with yeares. 1633 J. Shirley Bird in Cage v. i. sig. I4 b Canst thou..change but the complexion of one Hayre? Yet thou hast gray'd a thousand. 1810 J. Conder et al. Associate Minstrels 146 Ah tell me not thy locks are greyed. 1835 C. M. Sedgwick Home 115 When age and hardship have furrowed his cheek, and grayed and thinned his hair. 1911 C. S. Armfield Larger Growth i. 21 The cares of family life had greyed his hair a little. 1944 Rotarian Nov. 54/2 The years have grayed his hair and slowed his step. 2004 S. Green Sissel's Story x. 140 Age had greyed his temples. b. intransitive. Of hair: to become grey. Also: (of a person) to become grey-haired. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > hair > colour of hair > [verb (intransitive)] > grey hoara1000 grey1615 grizzle1875 1615 J. Sylvester tr. P. Matthieu Memorials of Mortalitie in 2nd Session Parl. Vertues Reall 146 In learning, Socrates liues, grayes, and dyes. 1829 Blackwood's Mag. June 787 Your hair is decidedly greying. 1845 Ladies' National Mag. (Philadelphia) Feb. 48/1 In the placid face and sweet smile of Mary Roscoe, men whose hair began to grey, still saw the loveliness they had worshipped when younger. 1921 Ladies' Home Jrnl. Nov. 26/1 Her hair was graying. 1983 J. Singer tr. I. B. Singer Penitent (1986) 8 He was a young man who had greyed early. 2003 Marie Claire Dec. 379/1 Most women start to grey in their late twenties or early thirties. c. intransitive. Of a population, group of people, etc.: to become older on average; to develop a higher proportion of elderly people. Cf. greying adj. 3. ΚΠ 1984 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 5 Aug. iii. 15/1 As the nation's population grays..it is increasingly apparent that retirement does not mean withdrawing from an active business life. 1990 Wilson Q. Autumn 49/2 In any postmodern society, particularly one that is rapidly ‘graying’, such a system leaves many people uncared for. 2009 J. Derbyshire We are Doomed xi. 215 Birth rates have plummeted so that Europe is graying. 3. transitive. To give a dull surface to (glass), esp. by grinding or roughening. Now rare. ΚΠ 1815 New Monthly Mag. June 447/1 Glass fine greyed or roughened on one side. 1827 Franklin Jrnl. & Amer. Mechanics' Mag. 4 409 The glass greyed by the finest emery we could produce..is the best to be employed in the microscope. 1868 M. C. Lea Man. Photogr. iv. 45 The glass should..not be ground at all, but only ‘grayed’, that is, have its surface removed by rubbing with fine emery powder. 1901 Amer. Amateur Photographer Feb. 87 We interposed between it and the condenser a glass just greyed by exposing a side plate for a short time to light and develop it. 1922 Trans. Optical Soc. 23 173 If a parallel piece of glass be greyed equally on both faces then the body of the glass is in uniform tension. Phrasal verbs to grey out 1. transitive. a. To drain of colour; to cause to change to a paler shade; to colour or shade with grey. Also figurative: to reduce the distinctiveness, individuality, or vitality of. ΚΠ 1938 B. Breuer Daughter xvii. 242 Tait..looked more like a drained-out farmer than an oppressor of any men, the color grayed out of his brown flimsy wool suit by the sun. 1943 G. C. Bastian & L. D. Case Editing Day's News (ed. 3) 284 An airbrush..is especially useful in graying out unwanted details or blowing back a too prominent background. 1955 E. Stevenson Henry Adams xxi. 325 The naïve directness of the flat and flaring colors of the windows of Chartres stood for a whole side of man's life which had been grayed out in recent centuries. 1986 New Yorker 10 Feb. 109/1 Everything has been grayed out: the bureaucrats wear suits that are as alike as prison uniforms. 2005 J. Clanchy Vincenzo's Garden 37 The eyebrows..had thinned, greyed out. b. Computing. To cause (a menu item, icon, or other element of a user interface) to be displayed in grey, or more faintly, esp. as a means of indicating the unavailability of the option represented. Also intransitive. ΚΠ 1983 Observ. from CHI 83 in net.cog-eng (Usenet newsgroup) 7 Mar. The Interlisp-D system ‘grays out’ a window..when changes to source have made the information in that window..obsolete. 1992 UnixWorld Apr. 76/2 Buttons and menu options are grayed-out automatically when their callbacks are disabled. 1993 PC Mag. 26 Oct. 39/2 If you..select the cell below, the legend greys out. 2011 G. Plumley Website Design & Devel. v. 98 The second type of popup greys out the current browser window. 2. intransitive. To experience greyout (greyout n.). ΚΠ 1944 Boy's Mag. Mar. 26/1 Men can withstand three or four ‘Gs’ before they grey out; maybe five or six ‘Gs’ before they black out; maybe seven ‘Gs’ before they lose consciousness. 1956 J. E. Johnson Wing Leader iii. 44 The Spit protests and shudders, and when the blood drains from your eyes you ‘grey-out’. 1989 A. Dillard Writing Life vii. 103 Pilots alternate the pressures carefully, so they do not gray out or black out. 2000 J. Harris Blackberry Wine (2001) xlviii. 250 His back hurt—he must have strained it when he greyed out in the cellar. 2008 N. Tarn Avia vi. 82 Banks into turn, greys-out and moderates to forestall spin. to grey over 1. transitive (chiefly in passive). To colour or shade with grey; to diffuse with grey. Also figurative: to reduce the distinctiveness, individuality, or vitality of. ΚΠ 1836 ‘Pedestres’ & ‘C. Woodenpeg’ Pedestrian Tour through Wales & Eng. I. xx. 262 The angular towers in front, moss-clad and greyed over by the hand of time. 1881 J. Carbutt in E. L. Wilson Wilson's Photographics 285 When the shadows are just grayed over, stop developing. 1958 A. P. Pearce Tom's Midnight Garden v. 37 The green of the garden was greyed over with dew. 2000 E. Boehmer Bloodlines xxxviii. 273 Time passing so rapidly over his memory now, greying it over. 2. intransitive. To become grey or greyer in colour; to become spread or diffused with grey. ΚΠ 1891 Internat. Ann. Anthonys Photogr. Bull. 251 The highest lights must not be allowed to ‘gray’ over. 1900 B. Matthews Confident To-morrow xxii. 287 The sky had greyed over as though making ready for rain. 1920 Photogr. Jrnl. Amer. 57 367/2 If the picture grays over quickly, the exposure has been too full. 2002 D. Petersen Cedar Mesa 78 A breeze puffs up, stiffens, and the sky grays over. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < adj.n.eOEv.c1400
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greygrayadj.n.

Phrases

Compounds

greygrayv.

Phrasal verbs