grey

comparative greyer · comparative more grey · superlative greyest · superlative most grey

1. Commonwealth standard spelling of gray.

   These grey and dun colors may be also produced by mixing whites and blacks.

   1704, I[saac] N[ewton], “(please specify |book=1 to 3)”, in Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light. […], London: […] Sam[uel] Smith, and Benj[amin] Walford, printers to the Royal Society, […], →OCLC

   1 more example

   This is itself a cheerless spot, particularly on a rainy day, when, overshadowed by the great massif of rock that towers in the background, and surrounded by the grey and cheerless quarries, it has a depressing character much in contrast with the green verdure encountered on the northern end of this interesting branch line.

   1954 August, H. M. Madgwick, “The Blaenau Festiniog Tunnel”, in Railway Magazine, page 569

2. South AfricaslangSynonym of coloured (pertaining to the mixed race of black and white).

   Synonyms: coloured

present singular third person greys · participle present greying · participle past greyed · past greyed

1. Commonwealth standard spelling of gray.

   Now only a few hand-hewn cedar planks and roof beams remained, moss-grown and sagging—a few totem poles, greyed and split.

   1941, Emily Carr, chapter 18, in Klee Wyck

plural greys

1. Commonwealth standard spelling of gray.

   Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day, / That costs thy life, my gallant grey.

   1810, Walter Scott, “(please specify the canto number or page)”, in The Lady of the Lake; […], Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for John Ballantyne and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and William Miller, →OCLC, (please specify the stanza number)

   1 more example

   Pioneer seemed now to have the game in his own hands; but the Captain, by taking two desperate leaps, cut off a corner, by which he regained the ground he had lost by the fall, and was up with the grey the remainder of the chase.

   1833, Sporting Magazine, volume 6, page 400

plural Greys

1. countableuncountableA surname transferred from the nickname, alternative spelling of Gray.
2. A placename:
   1. countableuncountableA rural municipality (the Rural Municipality of Grey) in south-central Manitoba, Canada, named after Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey.
   2. countableuncountableA river in the West Coast Region, South Island, New Zealand; in full, Grey River.
   3. countableuncountableA territorial authority, Grey District, on the West Coast, New Zealand, the successor of Grey County.
   4. abbreviationcountableellipsisuncountableEllipsis of Grey County.
3. abbreviationcountableellipsisinformaluncountableDurham UniversityEllipsis of Grey College, Durham.
4. countableuncountableAn English earldom.

plural Greys

1. UKhistoricalin pluralgovernmentA member of the Royal Scots Greys, a cavalry regiment of the British Army from 1707 to 1971.