to gray
- verb
- /ɡreɪ/
- US
- There were circles under his eyes; his skin had grayed with stress.
- graying hair
It is easier because because it's OK to go grey or bald or whatever happens.
- It is easier because because it's OK to go grey or bald or whatever happens.
- And the reason I'm yelling back at you and saying hurry up is because while we're talking, your hair is graying.
- The cold is weaving in and among all the growing glazing, graying, gripping.
- As soon as I look up and starts to Gray out and I see, Oh my God, I can't.
- And that is why, even though I fired his ass and even though I pulled out half my hair and that he turned me Gray.
Examples
-
Despite his graying beard, his enthusiasm is childlike when he talks about his work.
Academic text (2008) -
Hair gets Gray, gets white, falls out, you lose it, right?
-
Like the more you work it in, the grayer you'll become.
-
We see SPECIAL AGENT CRAIG, a trim man in his 40s with graying temples.
Fiction book (1995) -
A tall, lean man with a white Stetson pushed back to show graying hair stood in the doorway.
Fiction book (1992) -
She began to gray as she entered her fifties, a sign of her wisdom and experience.
-
After years in the sun, he started to gray, transforming his once-black hair into a soft silver.
-
The old man looked back at his life and smiled, feeling proud of how his hair had grayed gracefully over the years.
Synonyms
To make something a dull brown-grey color
Compounds
- Specialized
The darker part of the brain and spinal cord containing nerve cells or used to mean being smart
- US
A large wild animal like a dog with gray fur that lives in forests and often hunts in packs
- US
A medium-sized wild animal with gray fur that lives in North and Central America and can climb trees
- US
A medium-sized grey parrot from Africa that is very intelligent and copies human speech
- Jargon
A person who finds computer security problems and sometimes breaks the law to test them
- Specialized
An object that emits less light and heat than a perfect emitter at the same temperature
- US
A place where goods are sold without manufacturer permission, often cheaper and without warranty
- Specialized
A small willow bush in the eastern United States with long narrow leaves that are gray and hairy underneath
A common medium-sized squirrel from eastern North America with gray fur and a bushy tail
A medium-sized birch tree with white or pale grey bark from eastern North America
A large gray bird that catches insects and lives in the southeastern United States and Caribbean
- Specialized
A tree that loses its leaves each year with smooth gray bark and broad leaves
- US
A medium-sized birch tree with pale gray bark that grows in eastern North America in old fields and burned areas
- US
A fish with a long rounded body that lives in seas and rivers that people often eat
A small plump bird with grey feathers and an orange face that lives in farmland
A large grey-brown eagle with a short white tail shaped like a wedge found in Europe and Greenland
- Specialized
Part of the brain and spinal cord that contains nerve cells and processes information
- Specialized
A large gray tree squirrel with a bushy tail that lives in western United States forests
How Grey
- UK
- US
Surface Forms
Etymology
The verb gray comes from the color word and simply means 'to become gray', especially for hair or things that fade, which is why we say hair 'grays' as people grow older or pictures 'gray' with time.