Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

shade       (shād)  Pronunciation Key  n.   Light diminished in intensity as a result of the interception of the rays; partial darkness. An area or a space of partial darkness. Cover or shelter provided by interception by an object of the sun or its rays. Any of various devices used to reduce or screen light or heat. shades Slang Sunglasses. Relative obscurity. shades Dark shadows gathering at dusk: "The shades of night are falling fast" (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow). The abode of the dead; the underworld. The part of a picture or photograph depicting darkness or shadow. The degree to which a color is mixed with black or is decreasingly illuminated; gradation of darkness. A slight difference or variation; a nuance: shades of meaning. A small amount; a trace: detected a shade of bitterness in her remarks. A disembodied spirit; a ghost. shades A present reminder of a person or situation in the past: shades of my high-school days. v.   shad·ed, shad·ing, shades v.   tr. To screen from light or heat. To obscure or darken. To cause shade in or on. To represent degrees of shade or shadow in: shade a drawing. To produce (gradations of light or color) in a drawing or picture. To change or vary by slight degrees: shade the meaning. To make a slight reduction in: shade prices. v.   intr. To pass from one quality, color, or thing to another by very slight changes or degrees. [Middle English, from Old English sceadu.] shad'er n. Synonyms: These nouns denote an area of comparative darkness resulting from the blocking of light rays: sitting in the shade; Earth's penumbra; in the shadow of the curtains; the umbra beyond the footlights; in the umbrage of a forest. See Also Synonyms at nuance.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
shade 

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

shade
noun
1.	relative darkness caused by light rays being intercepted by an opaque body; "it is much cooler in the shade"; "there's too much shadiness to take good photographs"
2.	a quality of a given color that differs slightly from another color; "after several trials he mixed the shade of pink that she wanted"
3.	protective covering that protects something from direct sunlight; "they used umbrellas as shades"; "as the sun moved he readjusted the shade"
4.	a subtle difference in meaning or opinion or attitude; "without understanding the finer nuances you can't enjoy the humor"; "don't argue about shades of meaning" [syn: nuance]
5.	a position of relative inferiority; "an achievement that puts everything else in the shade"; "his brother's success left him in the shade"
6.	a slight amount or degree of difference; "a tad too expensive"; "not a tad of difference"; "the new model is a shade better than the old one" [syn: tad]
7.	a mental representation of some haunting experience; "he looked like he had seen a ghost"; "it aroused specters from his past" [syn: ghost]
8.	a representation of the effect of shadows in a picture or drawing (as by shading or darker pigment)
verb
1.	cast a shadow over [syn: shadow]
2.	represent the effect of shade or shadow on
3.	protect from light, heat, or view; "Shade your eyes when you step out into the bright sunlight"
4.	vary slightly; "shade the meaning"
5.	pass from one quality such as color to another by a slight degree; "the butterfly wings shade to yellow"

U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source - Share This

Shade Gap, PA (borough, FIPS 69456) Location: 40.18002 N, 77.86572 W
Population (1990): 113 (50 housing units)
Area: 0.1 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 17255

Shade, OH Zip code(s): 45776

Bright Shade, KY Zip code(s): 40962

Evening Shade, AR (town, FIPS 22360) Location: 36.07044 N, 91.62127 W
Population (1990): 328 (158 housing units)
Area: 2.0 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 72532

Maple Shade, NJ (CDP, FIPS 43770) Location: 39.95125 N, 74.99570 W
Population (1990): 19211 (9073 housing units)
Area: 10.0 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 08052

Pleasant Shade, TN Zip code(s): 37145

Summer Shade, KY Zip code(s): 42166

Walnut Shade, MO Zip code(s): 65771

Willow Shade, KY Zip code(s): 42169

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

shade

Light\ (l[imac]t), n. [OE. light, liht, AS. le['o]ht; akin to OS. lioht, D. & G. licht, OHG. lioht, Goth. liuha[thorn], Icel. lj[=o]s, L. lux light, lucere to shine, Gr. leyko`s white, Skr. ruc to shine. [root]122. Cf. Lucid, Lunar, Luminous, Lynx.]

1. That agent, force, or action in nature by the operation of which upon the organs of sight, objects are rendered visible or luminous.

Note: Light was regarded formerly as consisting of material particles, or corpuscules, sent off in all directions from luminous bodies, and traversing space, in right lines, with the known velocity of about 186,300 miles per second; but it is now generally understood to consist, not in any actual transmission of particles or substance, but in the propagation of vibrations or undulations in a subtile, elastic medium, or ether, assumed to pervade all space, and to be thus set in vibratory motion by the action of luminous bodies, as the atmosphere is by sonorous bodies. This view of the nature of light is known as the undulatory or wave theory; the other, advocated by Newton (but long since abandoned), as the corpuscular, emission, or Newtonian theory. A more recent theory makes light to consist in electrical oscillations, and is known as the electro-magnetic theory of light.

2. That which furnishes, or is a source of, light, as the sun, a star, a candle, a lighthouse, etc.

Then he called for a light, and sprang in. --Acts xvi. 29.

And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. --Gen. i. 16.

3. The time during which the light of the sun is visible; day; especially, the dawn of day.

The murderer, rising with the light, killeth the poor and needy. --Job xxiv. 14.

4. The brightness of the eye or eyes.

He seemed to find his way without his eyes; For out o' door he went without their helps, And, to the last, bended their light on me. --Shak.

5. The medium through which light is admitted, as a window, or window pane; a skylight; in architecture, one of the compartments of a window made by a mullion or mullions.

There were windows in three rows, and light was against light in three ranks. --I Kings vii.4.

6. Life; existence.

O, spring to light, auspicious Babe, be born! --Pope.

7. Open view; a visible state or condition; public observation; publicity.

The duke yet would have dark deeds darkly answered; he would never bring them to light. --Shak.

8. The power of perception by vision.

My strength faileth me; as for the light of my eyes, it also is gone from me. --Ps. xxxviii. 10.

9. That which illumines or makes clear to the mind; mental or spiritual illumination; enlightenment; knowledge; information.

He shall never know That I had any light of this from thee. --Shak.

10. Prosperity; happiness; joy; felicity.

Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall spring forth speedily. --Is. lviii. 8.

11. (Paint.) The manner in which the light strikes upon a picture; that part of a picture which represents those objects upon which the light is supposed to fall; the more illuminated part of a landscape or other scene; -- opposed to shade. Cf. Chiaroscuro.

12. Appearance due to the particular facts and circumstances presented to view; point of view; as, to state things fairly and put them in the right light.

Frequent consideration of a thing . . . shows it in its several lights and various ways of appearance. --South.

13. One who is conspicuous or noteworthy; a model or example; as, the lights of the age or of antiquity.

Joan of Arc, A light of ancient France. --Tennyson.

14. (Pyrotech.) A firework made by filling a case with a substance which burns brilliantly with a white or colored flame; as, a Bengal light.

Note: Light is used figuratively to denote that which resembles physical light in any respect, as illuminating, benefiting, enlightening, or enlivening mankind.

Ancient lights (Law), Calcium light, Flash light, etc. See under Ancient, Calcium, etc.

Light ball (Mil.), a ball of combustible materials, used to afford light; -- sometimes made so as to be fired from a cannon or mortar, or to be carried up by a rocket.

Light barrel (Mil.), an empty powder barrel pierced with holes and filled with shavings soaked in pitch, used to light up a ditch or a breach.

Light dues (Com.), tolls levied on ships navigating certain waters, for the maintenance of lighthouses.

Light iron, a candlestick. [Obs.]

Light keeper, a person appointed to take care of a lighthouse or light-ship.

Light money, charges laid by government on shipping entering a port, for the maintenance of lighthouses and light-ships.

The light of the countenance, favor; kindness; smiles.

Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. --Ps. iv. 6.

Northern lights. See Aurora borealis, under Aurora.

To bring to light, to cause to be disclosed.

To come to light, to be disclosed.

To see the light, to come into the light; hence, to come into the world or into public notice; as, his book never saw the light.

To stand in one's own light, to take a position which is injurious to one's own interest.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Shade

Shade\, v. i. [See Shade, n.] To undergo or exhibit minute difference or variation, as of color, meaning, expression, etc.; to pass by slight changes; -- used chiefly with a preposition, as into, away, off.

This small group will be most conveniently treated with the emotional division, into which it shades. --Edmund Gurney.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Shade

Shade\, v. i. [See Shade, n.] To undergo or exhibit minute difference or variation, as of color, meaning, expression, etc.; to pass by slight changes; -- used chiefly with a preposition, as into, away, off.

This small group will be most conveniently treated with the emotional division, into which it shades. --Edmund Gurney.

Acronym Finder - Cite This Source - Share This

SHADE

SHADE: in Acronym Finder

On-line Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

shade

shade: in CancerWEB's On-line Medical Dictionary