silver-greyadj.n.
A. adj.
Of a silvery or silver-flecked grey colour; also, having silvery grey hair.
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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
1607 W. Barksted Mirrha sig. B3v You blushing girles, and parents siluer-gray.
1686 London Gaz. No. 2121/4 Lost a fine large silver grey Mare.
1780 W. Smellie tr. Comte de Buffon Nat. Hist. Gen. & Particular VII. 272 The silver-gray fox of North America..is the isatis.
1810 Sporting Mag. 36 102 A silver-grey cock belonging to Mr. John Angood.
1857 Ld. Dufferin Lett. from High Latitudes (ed. 3) 268 The silver-grey ridges of gneiss and mica slate that hem in the Nordland shore.
1897 M. Kingsley Trav. W. Afr. 177 Wreaths and clouds of silver-gray mist.
B. n.
a. A silvery grey colour.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > grey or greyness > [noun] > silvery grey
silver-grey1712
pewter-grey1956
pewter1971
1712 J. Browne tr. P. Pomet et al. Compl. Hist. Druggs I. 16 These little Insects..are of a Silver Grey.
?1792 R. Burns Posie in Scots Musical Museum IV. 386 The hawthorn..wi' it's locks o' siller grey.
1864 Ld. Tennyson Ringlet 6 Never chilling touch of Time Will turn it silver~gray.
1907 M. Peacock Lincs. Rhymes 43 Because his hair has caught A touch of silver-gray.
b. U.S. Politics. (See quot. 1859.)
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society > authority > rule or government > politics > American politics > [noun] > member of Whig party > of conservative branch of
silk stocking1840
silver-grey1850
1850 N.Y. Tribune 18 Oct. 5/2 I shall gladly fight on in this cause so long as I shall live, and ask no higher post than the proud one of a private in the Silver Grays.
1856 Househ. Words 9 Aug. 86 Silver-gray..politically means a worshipper of the past,—a hoary-headed conservative.
1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) Silver Grays. This term originated in the State of New York, and was applied to the conservative portion of the Whig party... It was observed that many were men whose locks were silvered by age, which drew forth the remark from some one present, ‘There go the silver grays!’
c. A variety of Dorking fowl having silvery grey plumage.
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the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Phasianidae (pheasants, etc.) > genus Gallus (domestic fowl) > [noun] > types of
rumpkin1676
bantam1749
Jersey blue1758
Dorking1779
Plymouth Rock1806
Java1813
shack-bag1816
Negro fowl1835
creeper1847
Minorca1848
cuckoo fowl1850
Leghorn1850
Brahmapootra1851
Ancona1853
shanghai1853
Andalusian1854
Bolton bay1854
Corsican cock1854
jacinth1854
Minorca1854
spangle1854
yellow leg1854
Crèvecœur1855
sultan1855
Hamburg1857
Leghorn1857
Yokohama1865
Houdan1871
Langshan1871
Wyandot1881
sultan hen1882
silkie1885
Orpington1887
rock1889
silver-grey1889
Campine1892
Rhode Island Red1893
Faverolles1902
Rhode Island White1905
Malines1906
Rhode Island1914
Australorp1922
maranc1934
1889 E. Brown Poultry 45 Silver Greys.—This is perhaps the most beautiful of all the Dorking tribe.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
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adj.n.1607