Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Gray?

\Gray\, a. [Compar. {Grayer}; superl. {Grayest}.] [OE. gray, grey, AS. gr[=ae]g, gr[=e]g; akin to D. graauw, OHG. gr[=a]o, G. grau, Dan. graa, Sw. gr[*a], Icel. gr[=a]r.] [Written also {grey}.] 1. White mixed with black, as the color of pepper and salt, or of ashes, or of hair whitened by age; sometimes, a dark mixed color; as, the soft gray eye of a dove. These gray and dun colors may be also produced by mixing whites and blacks. --Sir I. Newton. 2. Gray-haired; gray-headed; of a gray color; hoary. 3. Old; mature; as, gray experience. Ames. {Gray antimony} (Min.), stibnite. {Gray buck} (Zo["o]l.), the chickara. {Gray cobalt} (Min.), smaltite. {Gray copper} (Min.), tetrahedrite. {Gray duck} (Zo["o]l.), the gadwall; also applied to the female mallard. {Gray falcon} (Zo["o]l.) the peregrine falcon. {Gray Friar}. See {Franciscan}, and {Friar}. {Gray hen} (Zo["o]l.), the female of the blackcock or black grouse. See {Heath grouse}. {Gray mill or millet} (Bot.), a name of several plants of the genus {Lithospermum}; gromwell. {Gray mullet} (Zo["o]l.) any one of the numerous species of the genus {Mugil}, or family {Mugilid[ae]}, found both in the Old World and America; as the European species ({M. capito}, and {M. auratus}), the American striped mullet ({M. albula}), and the white or silver mullet ({M. Braziliensis}). See {Mullet}. {Gray owl} (Zo["o]l.), the European tawny or brown owl ({Syrnium aluco}). The great gray owl ({Ulula cinerea}) inhabits arctic America. {Gray parrot} (Zo["o]l.), a parrot ({Psittacus erithacus}), very commonly domesticated, and noted for its aptness in learning to talk. {Gray pike}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Sauger}. {Gray snapper} (Zo["o]l.), a Florida fish; the sea lawyer. See {Snapper}. {Gray snipe} (Zo["o]l.), the dowitcher in winter plumage. {Gray whale} (Zo["o]l.), a rather large and swift California whale ({Rhachianectes glaucus}), formerly taken in large numbers in the bays; -- called also {grayback}, {devilfish}, and {hardhead}.
\Gray\, n. 1. A gray color; any mixture of white and black; also, a neutral or whitish tint. 2. An animal or thing of gray color, as a horse, a badger, or a kind of salmon. Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day. That coats thy life, my gallant gray. --Sir W. Scott.