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.
The bateau approached the point not more than a rod from the waiting arms of the sympathizing grayback.
From The Soldier Boy; or, Tom Somers in the Army A Story of the Great Rebellion by Optic, Oliver
A grayback lizard darts out of the greasewood near at hand, blinks rapidly and darts back again, glad to escape the intolerable heat.
From Hopalong Cassidy by Mulford, Clarence E.
“What d’ye let go fur?” said the grayback, indignantly, as his musket, which he had held by the tip end of the stock, dropped into the water, when Tom let go of the bayonet.
From The Soldier Boy; or, Tom Somers in the Army A Story of the Great Rebellion by Optic, Oliver
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
His eyes traveled up the great rock—in whose cave his companions lay sleeping; as they gained the top of that old grayback, they were confronted by two other eyes—mere twinkling points of flame!
From A Scout of To-day by Hornibrook, Isabel
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.
