shade

Pronunciation

• enPR: shād, IPA: /ʃeɪd/

Noun

shade (countable and uncountable, plural shades)

1. (uncountable) Darkness where light, particularly sunlight, is blocked.
   • The old oak tree gave shade in the heat of the day.
2. (countable) Something that blocks light, particularly in a window.
   • Close the shade, please: it's too bright in here.
3. (countable) A variety of a colour/color, in particular one obtained by adding black (compare tint).
   • I've painted my room in five lovely shades of pink and chartreuse.
4. (figuratively) A subtle variation in a concept.
   • shades of meaning
5. (figuratively) An aspect that is reminiscent of something.
   • shades of Groucho
6. A very small degree of a quantity, or variety of meaning
7. (chiefly literary and fantasy) A ghost or specter; a spirit.
   • Too long have I been haunted by that shade.
   • The adventurer was attacked by a shade.
8. (countable) A postage stamp showing an obvious difference in colour/color to the original printing and needing a separate catalogue/catalog entry.
9. (uncountable, originally gay slang) Subtle insults.
   • throw shade
   • Why did you paint your room chartreuse? No shade; I'm genuinely curious.
10. (countable) A cover around or above a light bulb, a lampshade.
11. (historical) A candle-shade.

Verb

shade (third-person singular simple present shades, present participle shading, simple past and past participle shaded)

1. (transitive) To shield (someone or something) from light.
   • The old oak tree shaded the lawn in the heat of the day.
2. (intransitive, rare) To shield oneself from light.
   • We shaded under a huge oak tree.
3. (transitive) To alter slightly.
   • You'll need to shade your shot slightly to the left.
   • Most politicians will shade the truth if it helps them.
4. (intransitive) To vary or approach something slightly, particularly in color.
   • The hillside was bright green, shading towards gold in the drier areas.
5. (intransitive, baseball, of a defensive player) To move slightly from one's normal fielding position.
   • Jones will shade a little to the right on this pitch count.
6. (transitive) To darken, particularly in drawing.
   • I draw contours first, gradually shading in midtones and shadows.
7. To surpass by a narrow margin.
   • Both parties claimed afterwards that their man did best in the debate, but an early opinion poll suggested Mr Cameron shaded it.
8. (transitive, graphical user interface) To reduce (a window) so that only its title bar is visible.
   • Antonym: unshade
9. (transitive, slang) To throw shade, to subtly insult someone.
10. (transitive, obsolete) To shelter; to cover from injury; to protect; to screen.
11. (transitive, obsolete) To present a shadow or image of; to shadow forth; to represent.

Anagrams

• Da'esh, Daesh, Desha, Hades, Shead, ashed, deash, hades, heads, sadhe