olive drab
1
5.1
- noun
- /ˈɑlɪv dræb/
:
verde oliva
- Do you realize that all military underwear is olive drab?
- olive drab paint
Examples
-
Ordinance crews are loading fat olive drab bombs into the bellies of the planes.
Fiction book (1990) -
Just then, a huge olive drab B-17 bomber appears out of nowhere and roars directly overhead.
Fiction book (1990) -
The deep olive drab field is an interesting choice.
Blog text (11) -
It's the pink, white and black plus a punch of pastel plus the olive drab or some similar masculine color.
-
Bob was a large man outfitted in olive drab camouflage, his pants stuffed into gray rubber boots.
Fiction book (2002) -
The soldier was dressed in olive drab fatigues, blending in with the forest behind him.
-
During the military exercise, all the participants wore olive drab uniforms to maintain camouflage.
-
She painted her living room in a shade of olive drab to create a calming atmosphere.
Synonyms
A brown color with a greenish tinge like green olives
A brown color with a small touch of green like olives
Antonyms
How Olive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a dull, greyish-green or olive-brown color' is directly derivable from combining 'olive' (a yellow‑green color) with 'drab' (muted/dull). This adjective+noun color-combination follows a standard compositional pattern and is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The color name olive drab comes from army clothing: olive for the green color and drab for plain, dull cloth. Soldiers wore this green-brown color to 'hide' in fields and woods, so today olive drab means that dull green-brown shade used for uniforms and equipment.