01 a. any color of neutral hue between white and black; white mixed with black, as the color of pepper and salt, or of ashes, or of hair whitened…
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1.
any color of neutral hue between white and black; 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.
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2.
Gray-haired; gray-headed; of a gray color; hoary.
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3.
Old; mature; as, gray experience.
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4.
gloomy; dismal.
Phrases & compounds
Gray antimony —
stibnite.
Gray buck —
the chickara.
Gray cobalt —
smaltite.
Gray copper —
tetrahedrite.
Gray duck —
the gadwall; also applied to the female mallard.
Gray falcon —
the peregrine falcon.
Gray hen —
the female of the blackcock or black grouse. See Heath grouse.
Gray mill —
a name of several plants of the genus Lithospermum; gromwell.
Gray mullet —
any one of the numerous species of the genus Mugil, or family Mugilidæ, found both in the Old World and America; as the European species (Mugilidæ capito, and Mugilidæ auratus), the American striped mullet (Mugilidæ albula), and the white or silver mullet (Mugilidæ Braziliensis). See Mullet.
Gray owl —
the European tawny or brown owl (Syrnium aluco). The great gray owl (Ulula cinerea) inhabits arctic America.
Gray parrot —
an African parrot (Psittacus erithacus), very commonly domesticated, and noted for its aptness in learning to talk. Also called jako.
Gray pike —
See Sauger.
Gray snapper —
a Florida fish; the sea lawyer. See Snapper.
Gray snipe —
the dowitcher in winter plumage.
Gray whale —
a rather large and swift whale of the northern Pacific (Eschrichtius robustus, formerly Rhachianectes glaucus), having short jaws and no dorsal fin. It grows to a length of 50 feet (someimes 60 feet). It was formerly taken in large numbers in the bays of California, and is now rare; -- called also grayback, devilfish, and hardhead. It lives up to 50 or 60 years and adults weigh from 20 to 40 tons.