shadow play

noun

a show in which shadows of puppets, flat figures, or live actors are projected onto a lighted screen.

QUIZZES

HEED THE VOX POPULI, AND TAKE THIS WORD OF THE DAY QUIZ!

Test your memory on these verbal firecrackers from the week of June 29 to July 5!
Question 1 of 7
anchorite
a granular metamorphic rock.
a person who has retired to a solitary place for a life of religious seclusion.
a hobble or fetter for a horse or other animal.
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT
Also called shadowgraph, shadow pantomime, shadow show, shadow theater.

Origin of shadow play

First recorded in 1890–95

Words nearby shadow play

shadow dance, shadow history, shadow mask, shadow of one's self, shadow pin, shadow play, shadow price, shadow roll, shadow test, shadow-box, shadowbox
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for shadow play

  • Was it a moving herd, a shifting mist, a shadow-play between the night and dawn?

    Under Two Flags|Ouida [Louise de la Ramee]

British Dictionary definitions for shadow play

shadow play

noun

a theatrical entertainment using shadows thrown by puppets or actors onto a lighted screen
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012