See Also: eye shadow(dictionary)
Shadow(medicine)
shadow(1)(dictionary)
shadow(2)(dictionary)
Shadow stock(money)
Shadow calendar(finance)
Shadow pricing(finance)
Shadow stock(finance)
Shadow - Ice Hockey(gambling)
five o'clock shadow(dictionary)

shadow(1) (iou)



shadow noun & adjective.

A. noun.
I.
A dark figure projected or cast on a surface by a body intercepting rays of light (esp. from the sun), showing the approximate form of the body and freq. regarded as an appendage. OE.
E. Caswall As a shadow life is fleeting. T. S. Eliot Your shadow at morning striding behind you Or..at evening rising to meet you. M. Kline The shadow of the earth on the moon, seen in lunar eclipses. W. Boyd The late afternoon sun cast long shadows.
b. A dark area in a (positive) radiograph (appearing as a light area in a negative). E20.
A reflected image, a reflection. Now rare. ME.
a. An unreal or insubstantial thing or person, an illusory image. Freq. contrasted with substance. ME.
Henry More This life..is but a shadow. S. Wynter Queen Victoria bestowed a freedom..more shadow than substance.
b. A prefiguration, a foreshadowing; a foreboding, a threat (of). LME.
D. Judd It is under this shadow of the possibility of global death that we all live.
c. A weak or attenuated remnant of or of a thing or person. M16.
Grimsby Evening Telegraph He was wearing himself to a shadow touring the country. Daily Express He had not eaten for a month and was a shadow of his former self.
d. A very small amount or portion, the slightest trace (of). L16.
J. Braine I'd..known, without a shadow of a doubt..the guilt was mine.
e. An imitation, a copy; a counterpart; spec. the Opposition counterpart of a Cabinet Minister, a member of the Shadow Cabinet. L17.
= SHADE noun 7. ME.
a. Orig., a parasite, a hanger-on. Now, an inseparable companion or attendant. L16.
b. A person who follows and watches another; spec. (a) a bodyguard; (b) a detective, a spy; (c) a person accompanying another at his or her place of work in order to gain experience or understanding of a job. M19.
c. Football etc. A player closely marking a specific opponent. L20.
II.
Partial or comparative darkness, esp. as caused by a body intercepting light. Freq. in pl., patches or areas of shade or darkness; fig. obscurity. ME.
Times Norwich..deserved to win, yet..are left behind in the shadows. J. Higgins A place of shadows, the only illumination coming from..candles. P. Ackroyd The forest acted as a canopy, and we were continually in shadow.
b. In pl. The darkness of night, the growing darkness of evening. Chiefly poet. LME.
c. fig. Gloom, unhappiness. Also, something marring or threatening a prospect, friendship, reputation, etc. M19.
A. Price The only shadow on Mr Ratcliffe's good fortune is the recent death of his cousin.
d. Jungian Psychology. The dark aspect of personality formed by fears and unpleasant emotions rejected by the conscious self but persisting in the personal unconscious; an archetype in which this aspect is concentrated. E20.
a. Protection from the sun; the shade; fig. protection, shelter. Now rare. ME.
b. A shady place. E16-L17.
Comparative darkness as represented pictorially; dark colour or a darker part or parts in a painting or drawing. L15.
b. Eye-shadow. M20.
a. A sunshade, a parasol, an umbrella. Now rare. L15.
b. (A shading peak or projection on) a woman's hat or bonnet. Now rare. L16.
Theatrical. A penthouse or roof over the stage. obsolete exc. Hist. E17.
Phrases: afraid of one's own shadow unreasonably timid or nervous. FIVE o'clock shadow. in the shadow of, under the shadow of (a) close to, very near; (b) under the influence or power of; (c) dominated or eclipsed by the personality of. may your shadow never grow less!: wishing a person happiness and prosperity (freq. as a toast). the valley of the shadow of death, the shadow of death (with ref. to Psalms 23:4) (a place or period of) intense gloom or peril. under the shadow of: see in the shadow of above.
Comb.: shadow box a case with a protective transparent front for the display of a painting, jewel, etc.; shadow-box verb intrans. & trans. box against (an imaginary opponent) as a form of training; shadow-cast verb trans. enhance (a microscopic image) by shadow-casting, subject (a microscopic specimen) to shadow-casting; shadow-casting ppl adjective & verbal noun (a) adjective that casts a shadow or shadows; (b) noun the casting of a shadow or shadows; spec. a technique for enhancing an electron-microscope image by projecting a beam of small particles or atoms (usu. of a heavy metal) on to the sample at a shallow angle, to form a deposit giving the appearance of shadows cast by sideways illumination; shadowland a place in shadow; an indeterminate borderland between other places, states, etc.; an abode of ghosts, spirits, etc.; shadow mask Television a perforated metal screen situated directly behind the phosphor screen in certain types of colour television tube, having a pattern of precisely located holes through which the electron beams pass so as to strike the correct dots on the phosphor screen (freq. attrib., as shadow-mask tube); shadow picture (a) an X-ray photograph; (b) a picture formed by a shadow (usu. of a person's hand or hands) thrown upon a screen etc.; shadow play (a) a play in which the actors appear as shadows cast on a screen placed between the stage and the auditorium; (b) a puppet play of the shadow theatre; shadow price Economics the estimated price of a good or service for which no market price exists; shadow puppet a puppet used in a shadow play; shadow quilting: in which a transparent fabric is quilted on to a pieced or more elaborate background; shadow-stitch a criss-cross embroidery stitch used on sheer materials for filling in spaces, worked on the reverse side so as to show through in a shadowy way with an outline resembling a backstitch; shadow stripe a faint stripe usu. of a similar colour to that of the background, produced by use of yarn of different directions of twist; a cloth or garment having such striping; shadow-striped adjective having shadow stripes; shadow test Ophthalmology a method of examining an eye, esp. with regard to its refractive properties, by deflecting light out on to the retina with a small mirror; shadow theatre a form of puppetry in which flat figures are passed between a strong light and a translucent screen, the audience watching on the other side of the screen; a place where such puppet shows are performed; shadow work embroidery done in shadow-stitch.
b. attrib. or as adjective.
Designating a member or members of a political party in opposition holding responsibilities parallel to those of a counterpart or counterparts in government. E20.
shadow cabinet, shadow minister, etc.
Designating or pertaining to a factory etc. built or instituted to provide extra or specialized output in an emergency, esp. in the war of 1939-45. M20.
shadower noun M16.
shadowish adjective (long rare) characterized by shadow, resembling a shadow; insubstantial, fleeting, figurative: M16.