dye
Americannoun
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dyes
plural
-
a coloring material or matter.
-
a liquid containing coloring matter, for imparting a particular hue to cloth, paper, etc.
-
color or hue, especially as produced by dyeing.
verb (used with object)
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dyes,
present (3rd person singular)
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dyed,
past participle, past
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dyeing
present participle
-
to color or stain; treat with a dye; color (cloth, hair, etc.) with a substance containing coloring matter.
to dye a dress green.
-
to impart (color) by means of a dye.
The coloring matter dyed green.
verb (used without object)
-
dyes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dyed,
past participle, past
-
dyeing
present participle
-
to impart color, as a dye.
This brand dyes well.
-
to become colored or absorb color when treated with a dye.
This cloth dyes easily.
idioms
noun
-
a staining or colouring substance, such as a natural or synthetic pigment
-
a liquid that contains a colouring material and can be used to stain fabrics, skins, etc
-
the colour or shade produced by dyeing
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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dyernoun
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redyeverb (used with object)
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dyableadjective
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dyeableadjective
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undyableadjective
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undyedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dyesimple
-
dyessimple
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have dyedperfect
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has dyedperfect
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am dyeingprogressive
-
are dyeingprogressive
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is dyeingprogressive
-
have been dyeingperfect progressive
-
has been dyeingperfect progressive
Past
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dyedsimple
-
had dyedperfect
-
was dyeingprogressive
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were dyeingprogressive
-
had been dyeingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dye
before 1000; Middle English dien, Old English dēagian, derivative of dēag a dye
Explanation
Dye is a substance that's used to change the color of whatever it's applied to. You can use hair dye to change your light brown hair to deep, dark purple. Dye is used on fabrics, hair, yarn and other fibers, clothing, and food, among other things. When you apply dye to something, you dye it. If you're baking a birthday cake for your friend who loves the color orange, you might use food coloring — a type of dye — to dye the vanilla frosting orange. The Old English root of dye is deah, "a color or hue," which is possibly related to deagol, "secret, hidden, or dark."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A plastic bag she had been using to dye her hair when they had left for the beach was still on her head.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
By analyzing how the dye moved, the AI could estimate both the speed of the fluid and the permeability of the surrounding brain tissue.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026
The issues set out by the Breastfeeding Network, Royal College of Radiologists and Society of Radiographers point to questions around the contrast dye that is injected before a breast MRI.
From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2026
“If you try and get the food dye, the food coloring right now, it’s very hard to achieve,” said Jesse Spellman, the co-owner of Utopia Bagels.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
The container of Neon Iguana hair dye sat on a ring of green on top of the toilet tank, a little too close to the toilet paper doll Señora Oralia had given us.
From "The First Rule of Punk" by Celia C. Pérez
She marked the cells with different fluorescent dyes and then isolated those that reacted to activin.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026
But they bought more chewing gum, mouthwash and hair dyes - products that counter common GLP-1 side effects like thinning hair and bad breath.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
Last April, the FDA announced that it would phase out petroleum-based synthetic dyes by the end of 2026.
From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2026
Future schemes would include improving battery life for green energy storage, developing farming techniques in India that would be resilient to a changing climate, and eco-friendly dyes and colours for the fashion industry.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
“He definitely dyes it,” Riccio murmured without taking his eye from the peephole.
From "The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke
Once, after a worker dyed her hair blonde, she rushed back to the hairdresser to make it black again, worried she would look out of place at the company, the worker said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
In a 2020 UK study, 51% of employers admitted turning down a candidate because of the way they looked, with managers indicating they had been influenced by scruffy clothes or poorly dyed hair.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
His hair, previously dyed jet black, had gone entirely silver and his thick mustache had been replaced by a scruffy beard.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Plus a flower shop next door called Verdant that has flowers I’ve genuinely never seen anywhere else: pink sunflowers that aren’t dyed, just extraordinary things.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
Merchants and craftsmen leaned out of their windows or strolled by with their fat, pretty wives, clad in richly dyed wool.
From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz
Launching into the world of modeling soon after, she divorced her husband and made a history-defining decision: dyeing her brown hair platinum blonde.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
The researchers hope their findings will encourage more thorough testing of clothing before it reaches consumers and push manufacturers to adopt safer alternatives during the dyeing process.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 2, 2026
Perhaps the translation is off, or maybe something else needs tinkering; dyeing her hair Nora’s exact shade of brown doesn’t help, nor does attempting to do the film in a Norwegian accent.
From Salon ● Nov. 23, 2025
Her tireless work rate, bubbly personality and a penchant for dyeing her hair different pastel colors made her one of the team’s most popular players in the team’s inaugural season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 2025
The lists of plants, the many characteristics of each, the details of the dyeing procedures, so much complex knowledge; all of it was clear and complete.
From "Gathering Blue" by Lois Lowry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
