gray

¹

especially British, grey

[grey]

adjective

grayer, grayest 

1. of a color between white and black; having a neutral hue.

2. dark, dismal, or gloomy.

   gray skies.

3. dull, dreary, or monotonous.

4. having gray hair; gray-headed.

5. pertaining to old age; mature.

6. Informal.,  pertaining to, involving, or composed of older persons.

   gray households.

7. old or ancient.

8. indeterminate and intermediate in character.

   The tax audit concentrated on deductions in the gray area between purely personal and purely business expenses.

noun

1. any achromatic color; any color with zero chroma, intermediate between white and black.

2. something of this color.

3. gray material or clothing.

   to dress in gray.

4. an unbleached and undyed condition.

5. (often initial capital letter),  a member of the Confederate army in the American Civil War or the army itself.

6. a horse of a gray color.

7. a horse that appears white but is not an albino.

verb (used with or without object)

1. to make or become gray.

gray

²

[grey]

noun

Physics.

1. the standard unit of absorbed dose of radiation (such as x-rays) in the International System of Units (SI), equal to the amount of ionizing radiation absorbed when the energy imparted to matter is 1 J/kg (one joule per kilogram). Gy

Gray

³

[grey]

noun

1. Asa 1810–88, U.S. botanist.

2. Robert, 1755–1806, U.S. explorer and sea captain: discovered the Columbia River.

3. Thomas, 1716–71, English poet.

gray

¹

/ ɡreɪ /

adjective

1. a variant spelling (now esp US) of grey

gray

²

/ ɡreɪ /

noun

1. Gy. the derived SI unit of absorbed ionizing radiation dose or kerma equivalent to an absorption per unit mass of one joule per kilogram of irradiated material. 1 gray is equivalent to 100 rads

Gray

³

/ ɡreɪ /

noun

1. Thomas. 1716–71, English poet, best known for his Elegy written in a Country Churchyard (1751)

gray

1. The SI derived unit used to measure the energy absorbed by a substance per unit weight of the substance when exposed to radiation. One gray is equal to one joule per kilogram, or 100 rads. The gray is named after British physicist Louis Harold Gray (1905–1965).

Other Word Forms

• grayness noun
• grayly adverb
• grayish adjective
• ungrayed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of gray¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English grei, grai, Old English grǣg, grēg; cognate with German grau, Old Norse grār

Origin of gray²

First recorded in 1975; named in honor of Louis Harold Gray (1905–65), English radiobiologist

Word History and Origins

Origin of gray¹

C20: named after Louis Harold Gray (1905–65), English physicist

Idioms and Phrases

• get gray hair from

Example Sentences

While the expected range went from black to charcoal and silver gray and on to his beloved beige, his colors were artfully off the mark.

From Los Angeles Times

Mixed in the crowd were young applicants with peach fuzz and older men and women, hair streaked with gray.

From Los Angeles Times

“We’re following the law. It’s not like this is a gray area where we might have a legal analysis that comes to a different opinion,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times

The tennis ball, an undisturbed artifact of a horrific wildfire, sat just off the Pacific Palisades court and was so covered in gray ash that its Penn logo was only faintly visible.

From Los Angeles Times

As for the graying Afghan scholar, the Taliban relented just long enough for several family members to make it out of the country.

From Salon

Related Words

• drab 
• dusty 
• grey 
• silvery 

When To Use

What’s the difference between gray and grey?

Gray and grey are simply different spellings of the same word, which refers to the color halfway between black and white (among other more figurative meanings).In popular use, the two spellings are used interchangeably, though one spelling is often preferred in many places. The spelling gray is much more common in American English, while grey is more common in British English.Remember: spell gray with an a in America, and spell grey with an e in England (among other places).Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between gray and grey.