grayback
Americannoun
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any of various marine and aquatic animals that are dark gray above and light-colored or white below, as the gray whale, the alewife, certain whitefish, and certain sandpipers.
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Informal. a Confederate soldier.
Etymology
Origin of grayback
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.
He triumphed over all obstacles, and when he had completely outwitted the grayback who had labored so diligently to save him from his impending fate, he was at the zenith of prosperity.
From The Soldier Boy; or, Tom Somers in the Army A Story of the Great Rebellion by Optic, Oliver
The silence that followed the words of the boy was broken by Quantrell's old grayback.
From A Man Four-Square by Raine, William MacLeod
As soon as that was discovered, we had them cut off, but it was too late—the little grayback would not eat.
From Army Letters from an Officer's Wife, 1871-1888 by Roe, Frances Marie Antoinette Mack
I reck'n 'twont be long, now, till yer catches on ter the meanin' ol what a grayback is.
From Si Klegg, Book 1 (of 6) His Transformation From A Raw Recruit To A Veteran by McElroy, John
The rains, and sleet, and snow never ceased falling from the winter sky, while the winds pierced the old, ragged, grayback Rebel soldier to his very marrow.
From "Co. Aytch" Maury Grays, First Tennessee Regiment or, A Side Show of the Big Show by Watkins, Sam R.
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.
