shade

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Darkness where light, particularly sunlight, is blocked.

   • The old oak tree gave shade in the heat of the day.
   • Temps rose to a sweltering 40 degrees Celsius in the shade.
   • Now we plunged into a deep shade with the boughs lacing each other overhead, and crossed dainty, rustic bridges over the cold trout-streams, the boards giving back the clatter of our horses' feet:[…].
2. 2

   Something that blocks light, particularly in a window.

   • Close the shade, please: it's too bright in here.
   • Also, people with darker skin tend to have lower blood levels of vitamin D because the pigment (melanin) acts like a shade, reducing production of vitamin D (and also reducing damaging effects of sunlight on skin, including skin cancer).
3. 3

   A variety of a color, in particular one obtained by adding black (compare tint).

   • I've painted my room in five lovely shades of pink and chartreuse.
   • Thus light and colours, as white, red, yellow, blue, with their several degrees or shades, and mixtures, as green, scarlet, purple, sea-green, and the rest, come in only by the eyes[…]
   • Speaking of round sunglasses, these lightweight polarized ones and come in two shades of tortoiseshell as well as black and bronze.
4. ›+ 20 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      A subtle variation in a concept.

      • shades of meaning
      • new shades and combinations of thought
      • Every shade of religious and political opinion had its own headquarters.
   2. 5

      An aspect that is reminiscent of something.

      • shades of Groucho Marx
   3. 6

      A very small degree of a quantity, or variety of meaning

      • That is a shade too close.
      • Mrs. Rhodes who (so I gathered from Mr. Petherick's careful language) was perhaps just a shade of a hypochondriac, had retired to bed immediately after dinner.
      • Five feet in diameter and a shade above knee high, the center of the fragile white canvass structure is filled with […]
   4. 7

      A ghost or specter

      A ghost or specter; a spirit.

      • Too long have I been haunted by that shade.
      • The adventurer was attacked by a shade.
      • Swift as thought the flitting shade / Thro' air his momentary journey made.
   5. 8

      A postage stamp showing an obvious difference in colour/color to the original printing…

      A postage stamp showing an obvious difference in colour/color to the original printing and needing a separate catalogue/catalog entry.

   6. 9

      Subtle insults.

      • throw shade
      • Why did you paint your room chartreuse? No shade; I'm genuinely curious.
      • Shade is: "I don't tell you you're ugly, but I don't have to tell you because you know you're ugly." And that's shade.
   7. 10

      A cover around or above a light bulb, a lampshade.

      • Lighting was unimaginative for the standard stock with naked tungsten filament bulbs and metal reflectors. However, all compartments had individual reading lights above the seats with attractive glass shades.
   8. 11

      A candle-shade.

      • I am now finishing this letter by candle-light, with the help of a handkerchief tied over the shade.
   9. 12

      To shield (someone or something) from light.

      • The old oak tree shaded the lawn in the heat of the day.
   10. 13

       To shield oneself from light.

       • We shaded under a huge oak tree.
   11. 14

       To alter slightly.

       • You'll need to shade your shot slightly to the left.
       • Most politicians will shade the truth if it helps them.
   12. 15

       To vary or approach something slightly, particularly in color.

       • The hillside was bright green, shading towards gold in the drier areas.
       • This small group will be most conveniently treated with the emotional division, into which it shades.
   13. 16

       To move slightly from one's normal fielding position.

       • Jones will shade a little to the right on this pitch count.
   14. 17

       To darken, particularly in drawing.

       • I draw contours first, gradually shading in midtones and shadows.
   15. 18

       To win 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.
       • It was Alexis Mac Allister who lit the touchpaper at the start of the second half, scoring from the penalty spot to cancel out John Stones’s opener for City midway through a first half that the defending champions had shaded.
   16. 19

       To reduce (a window) so that only its title bar is visible.

   17. 20

       To throw shade, to subtly insult someone.

       • The lyrics have prompted headlines about her “shading” Musk with a “spicy dig”, but I reckon the guy got off lightly.
   18. 21

       To shelter

       To shelter; to cover from injury; to protect; to screen.

       • Ere in our own house I do shade my head.
   19. 22

       To present a shadow or image of

       To present a shadow or image of; to shadow forth; to represent.

       • His [Osiris’s] wife was Iſis, whom they likewiſe made / A Goddeſſe of great powre and ſouerainty, / And in her perſon cunningly did ſhade / That part of Iuſtice, which is Equity, […]
   20. 23

       A surname.

The neighborhood

• neighborscia-
• neighborscoto-
• neighborshadow
• neighborshed