silver
noun
a white, ductile metallic element, used for making mirrors, coins, ornaments, table utensils, photographic chemicals, conductors, etc. Ag; 107.870; 47; 10.5 at 20°C.
silver
1 American
[sil-ver]
/ ˈsɪl vər /
noun
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Chemistry. a white, ductile metallic element, used for making mirrors, coins, ornaments, table utensils, photographic chemicals, conductors, etc. Ag; 107.870; 47; 10.5 at 20°C.
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coin made of this metal; specie; money.
a handful of silver.
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this metal as a commodity or considered as a currency standard.
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table articles made of or plated with silver, including flatware and hollowware.
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any flatware.
The kitchen silver is of stainless steel.
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something resembling this metal in color, luster, etc.
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a lustrous grayish white or whitish gray, or the color of the metal.
the silver of the leaves.
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any of the silver halides used for photographic purposes, as silver bromide, silver chloride, or silver iodide.
adjective
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consisting of, made of, or plated with silver.
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of or relating to silver.
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producing or yielding silver.
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resembling silver; silvery.
the silver moon.
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clear and soft.
silver sounds.
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eloquent; persuasive.
a silver tongue.
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urging the use of silver as a currency standard.
silver economists.
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indicating the twenty-fifth event of a series, as a wedding anniversary.
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having the color silver.
a silver dress.
verb (used with object)
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silvers,
present (3rd person singular)
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silvered,
past participle, past
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silvering
present participle
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to coat with silver or some silverlike substance.
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to give a silvery color to.
verb (used without object)
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silvers,
present (3rd person singular)
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silvered,
past participle, past
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silvering
present participle
Silver
2
American
[sil-ver]
/ ˈsɪl vər /
noun
silver
British
/ ˈsɪlvə /
noun
-
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a very ductile malleable brilliant greyish-white element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal. It occurs free and in argentite and other ores: used in jewellery, tableware, coinage, electrical contacts, and in electroplating. Its compounds are used in photography. Symbol: Ag; atomic no: 47; atomic wt: 107.8682; valency: 1 or 2; relative density: 10.50; melting pt: 961.93°C; boiling pt: 2163°C
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( as modifier )
a silver coin
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coin made of, or having the appearance of, this metal
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cutlery, whether made of silver or not
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any household articles made of silver
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photog any of a number of silver compounds used either as photosensitive substances in emulsions or as sensitizers
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a brilliant or light greyish-white colour
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( as adjective )
silver hair
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short for silver medal
adjective
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well-articulated
silver speech
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(prenominal) denoting the 25th in a series, esp an annual series
a silver wedding anniversary
verb
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(tr) to coat with silver or a silvery substance
to silver a spoon
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to become or cause to become silvery in colour
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to become or cause to become elderly
silver
Scientific
/ sĭl′vər /
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A soft, shiny, white metallic element that is found in many ores, especially together with copper, lead, and zinc. It conducts heat and electricity better than any other metal. Silver is used in photography and in making electrical circuits and conductors. Atomic number 47; atomic weight 107.868; melting point 960.8°C; boiling point 2,212°C; specific gravity 10.50; valence 1, 2.
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See also sterling silver See Periodic Table See Note at element
silver
Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonsilvernoun
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silverernoun
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silveringnoun
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silvernessnoun
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resilververb (used with object)
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silverishadjective
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silverlessadjective
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silverlikeadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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silversimple
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silverssimple
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have silveredperfect
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has silveredperfect
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am silveringprogressive
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are silveringprogressive
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is silveringprogressive
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have been silveringperfect progressive
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has been silveringperfect progressive
Past
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silveredsimple
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had silveredperfect
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was silveringprogressive
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were silveringprogressive
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had been silveringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of silver
First recorded before 900; Middle English (noun and adjective) silver(e), selver(e), selfer, Old English siolfor (originally a noun); cognate with German Silber, Old Norse silfr, Gothic silubr, akin to Serbo-Croatian srèbro, Russian serebró, Lithuanian sidãbras
Explanation
The shiny precious metal that's used for jewelry, spoons and forks, and fancy candlesticks is silver. You can also use the word silver to describe things that are the same color as silver. There are silver bracelets and silver coins, but also silver hair and a silver sky. The element known to scientists as Ag, or silver, is rare and valuable, and was once used to make money. Today many coins are silver in color, but they're usually made of nickel and copper. If you believe that every terrible event has a hopeful or encouraging aspect to it, you might say, "Every cloud has a silver lining."
Vocabulary lists containing silver
Non-Color Words to Use When Describing Color
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White
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Black and Gray
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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:
That’s the chorus of “An American Dream”: “Gold and silver / God and glitter.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
The device comes in black, silver, burgundy and glacier, and the smaller model provides up to 24 hours of charge, while the larger phone offers up to 30 hours.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
Augustus Doricko, the founder and CEO of Rainmaker, is quick to answer any questions on the consequences of how his company uses the silver iodide compound.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
Follow the narrow, winding streets in search of handmade leather goods, silver jewelry, spices and herbs, olive oil and products made from Bodrum tangerines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
The color palette is silver and rose gold.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Centalion, the commodities trader formerly known as Gunvor, has bought a collection of natural-gas assets from Silver Hill Energy Partners in a deal valued at around $1.5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
Silver also quoted several Chiefs players who said after the game that they’d be in favor of such a move.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026
He began his second term as president with an approval rating of just over 50%, according to polling resource website Silver Bulletin, but in early October it was sitting at about 37%.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
An investor group notified the company of the alleged default following the completion of EA’s take-private by a consortium including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, private-equity firm Silver Lake and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
Later, indeed, Holmes would establish his own curative spa on the second floor of his Englewood building and call it the Silver Ash Institute.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Those stunning silvers followed the toughest period of his life, but he put three years of "absolute hell" behind him to win world bronze in 2022 as he re-established himself among the world's best.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
China's global superstar Eileen Gu won gold, her first of these Games after two silvers, with 94.75, while compatriot Li Fanghui took silver.
From BBC ● Feb. 22, 2026
She came to Livigno, in the Italian Alps, seeking to sweep the board but has so far missed out on gold, winning two silvers, in slopestyle and big air.
From Barron's ● Feb. 18, 2026
She’d racked up three silvers and two bronzes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 17, 2026
He was happy to find there were salmon coming up as well, big silvers mostly over ten and eleven pounds, a half-dozen ten-pound chums, too, even three resident black-mouth.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
A little silvered glass could be worth its weight in gold.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
At 50, still in the blush of youth by today’s silvered political standards, Porter has plenty of highway ahead of her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2024
Ms Quinn said: "Daguerre developed a way of taking pictures using a polished silvered plate and a camera. This produced a single image printed directly onto a plate with astonishing clarity, named the daguerreotype."
From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2024
Seventeen years after the Tripod fire, the silvered trunks of dead trees still stand on many slopes.
From Seattle Times ● May 12, 2023
Tire high officers arrived in a body; Maester Aemon leaning on Clydas, Ser Alliser cold-eyed and grim, Lord Commander Mormont resplendent in a black wool dou-blet with silvered bearclaw fastenings.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
Screen Goo is highly pigmented and has a little silvering in the paint that reflects light back at lots of different angles.
From The Verge ● Feb. 24, 2020
A thickset Catholic businessman with silvering hair and bloodshot eyes, he was wearing a loose denim shirt.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 4, 2016
A typical example: “The moon is a sickled leopard’s tooth pinned to obsidian, its light silvering the violent undulations scoring the skin of your unforgiving water.”
From New York Times ● Mar. 21, 2016
Explain the functions of the various parts, such as the vacuum, the silvering of the walls, the thin-walled long glass neck, the rubber support, the air layer, and the stopper.
From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015
"Tristran?" asked his father, who at five and thirty was still middling tall and still freckled, although there were more than a few silvering hairs in his nut-brown curls.
From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman
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.
