/ English Dictionary

COLOR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The appearance of objects (or light sources) described in terms of a person's perception of their hue and lightness (or brightness) and saturation

Synonyms:

color; colour

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("color" is a kind of...):

appearance; visual aspect (outward or visible aspect of a person or thing)

Derivation:

colorist (a painter able to achieve special effects with color)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An outward or token appearance or form that is deliberately misleading

Example:

the situation soon took on a different color

Synonyms:

color; colour; gloss; semblance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("color" is a kind of...):

appearance; visual aspect (outward or visible aspect of a person or thing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "color"):

color of law; colour of law (a mere semblance of legal right; something done with the apparent authority of law but actually in contravention of law)

simulacrum (an insubstantial or vague semblance)

face value (the apparent worth as opposed to the real worth)

guise; pretence; pretense; pretext (an artful or simulated semblance)

camouflage; disguise (an outward semblance that misrepresents the true nature of something)

verisimilitude (the appearance of truth; the quality of seeming to be true)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect

Example:

a white color is made up of many different wavelengths of light

Synonyms:

color; coloring; colour; colouring

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("color" is a kind of...):

visual property (an attribute of vision)

Attribute:

uncolored; uncoloured (without color)

colored; colorful; coloured (having color or a certain color; sometimes used in combination)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "color"):

dithered color; dithered colour; nonsolid color; nonsolid colour (a color produced by a pattern of differently colored dots that together simulate the desired color)

complexion; skin color; skin colour (the coloring of a person's face)

coloration; colouration (appearance with regard to color)

achromatic color; achromatic colour (a color lacking hue; white or grey or black)

chromatic color; chromatic colour; spectral color; spectral colour (a color that has hue)

shade; tincture; tint; tone (a quality of a given color that differs slightly from another color)

mottle (an irregular arrangement of patches of color)

heather; heather mixture (interwoven yarns of mixed colors producing muted greyish shades with flecks of color)

primary color; primary colour (any of three colors from which all others can be obtained by mixing)

Antonym:

colorlessness (the visual property of being without chromatic color)

Derivation:

color (change color, often in an undesired manner)

color (add color to)

color (decorate with colors)

colorist (a painter able to achieve special effects with color)

colorize (add color to)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The timbre of a musical sound

Example:

the recording fails to capture the true color of the original music

Synonyms:

color; coloration; colour; colouration

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("color" is a kind of...):

quality; timber; timbre; tone ((music) the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound))

Sense 5

Meaning:

Interest and variety and intensity

Example:

the characters were delineated with exceptional vividness

Synonyms:

color; colour; vividness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("color" is a kind of...):

interest; interestingness (the power of attracting or holding one's attention (because it is unusual or exciting etc.))

Attribute:

colorful; colourful (having much or varied color)

colorless; colourless (weak in color; not colorful)

Sense 6

Meaning:

(physics) the characteristic of quarks that determines their role in the strong interaction

Example:

each flavor of quarks comes in three colors

Synonyms:

color; colour

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("color" is a kind of...):

form; kind; sort; variety (a category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality)

Domain category:

high-energy physics; high energy physics; particle physics (the branch of physics that studies subatomic particles and their interactions)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Any material used for its color

Example:

she used a different color for the trim

Synonyms:

color; coloring material; colour; colouring material

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("color" is a kind of...):

material; stuff (the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "color"):

stain ((microscopy) a dye or other coloring material that is used in microscopy to make structures visible)

pigment (any substance whose presence in plant or animal tissues produces a characteristic color)

pigment (dry coloring material (especially a powder to be mixed with a liquid to produce paint, etc.))

hematochrome (a reddish coloring material found in some algae)

tincture (a substance that colors or dyes)

dye; dyestuff (a usually soluble substance for staining or coloring e.g. fabrics or hair)

mordant (a substance used to treat leather or other materials before dyeing; aids in dyeing process)

indicator ((chemistry) a substance that changes color to indicate the presence of some ion or substance; can be used to indicate the completion of a chemical reaction or (in medicine) to test for a particular reaction)

paint; pigment (a substance used as a coating to protect or decorate a surface (especially a mixture of pigment suspended in a liquid); dries to form a hard coating)

Derivation:

colorist (a painter able to achieve special effects with color)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Having or capable of producing colors

Example:

marvelous color illustrations

Synonyms:

color; colour

Classified under:

Adjectives

Domain category:

photography; picture taking (the act of taking and printing photographs)

Antonym:

black-and-white (not having or not capable of producing colors)

 III. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Change color, often in an undesired manner

Example:

The shirts discolored

Synonyms:

color; colour; discolor; discolour

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "color" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "color"):

blue (turn blue)

green (turn or become green)

tone (change the color or tone of)

yellow (turn yellow)

gray; grey (turn grey)

purple (become purple)

redden (turn red or redder)

dye (color with dye)

silver (turn silver)

turn (change color)

black; blacken; melanise; melanize (make or become black)

white; whiten (turn white)

burn; sunburn (get a sunburn by overexposure to the sun)

bronze; tan (get a tan, from wind or sun)

blanch; blench; pale (turn pale, as if in fear)

blush; crimson; flush; redden (turn red, as if in embarrassment or shame)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

coloring (the act or process of changing the color of something)

color (a visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Add color to

Example:

colorize black and white film

Synonyms:

color; color in; colorise; colorize; colour; colour in; colourise; colourize

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "color" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "color"):

handcolor; handcolour (color by hand)

tinct; tinge; tint; touch (color lightly)

pigment (color or dye with a pigment)

hue; imbue (suffuse with color)

retouch (give retouches to (hair))

silver (make silver in color)

gray; grey (make grey)

tone (change to a color image)

redden (make red)

blotch; mottle; streak (mark with spots or blotches of different color or shades of color as if stained)

brown; embrown (make brown in color)

incarnadine (make flesh-colored)

pinkify (make pink)

verdigris (color verdigris)

aurify (turn golden)

empurple; purple; purpurate (color purple)

azure (color azure)

polychrome; polychromise; polychromize (color with many colors; make polychrome)

motley; parti-color (make motley; color with different colors)

blackwash (color with blackwash)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

They color their hair

Antonym:

discolor (lose color or turn colorless)

Derivation:

color (a visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect)

coloration (choice and use of colors (as by an artist))

coloring (a visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect)

coloring (a digestible substance used to give color to food)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Affect as in thought or feeling

Example:

The sadness tinged his life

Synonyms:

color; colour; distort; tinge

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "color" is one way to...):

affect; bear on; bear upon; impact; touch; touch on (have an effect upon)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Give a deceptive explanation or excuse for

Example:

color a lie

Synonyms:

color; colour; gloss

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "color" is one way to...):

apologise; apologize; excuse; rationalise; rationalize (defend, explain, clear away, or make excuses for by reasoning)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Decorate with colors

Example:

color the walls with paint in warm tones

Synonyms:

color; colour; emblazon

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "color" is one way to...):

adorn; beautify; decorate; embellish; grace; ornament (make more attractive by adding ornament, colour, etc.)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "color"):

miniate (paint with red lead or vermilion)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

color (a visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect)

coloration (choice and use of colors (as by an artist))

colorist (a painter able to achieve special effects with color)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Modify or bias

Example:

His political ideas color his lectures

Synonyms:

color; colour

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "color" is one way to...):

act upon; influence; work (have and exert influence or effect)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

The presence of homogentisic acid in the urine causes its color to turn black.

(Alkaptonuria, NCI Thesaurus)

In a footage, an Octopus named Heidi changes skin-color, from light to dark, while sleeping upside-down in a tank making scientists believe that they can dream.

(Octopuses can dream, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

It is characterized by numerous flesh-colored warty papules on the back of the hands, medial aspect of the feet, knees, and elbows.

(Acrokeratosis Verruciformis, NCI Thesaurus)

The long coat is usually the color of sand with a darker face and ear fringes.

(Afghan Hound, NCI Thesaurus)

The false colors provide a way to humans to talk about infrared wavelengths of light their eyes cannot actually see.

(Citizen Scientists Discover Yellow "Space Balls", NASA)

Your career is run by your solar tenth house of honors, awards, and achievement, and that house is colored by Uranus, the planet of innovation, which has been retrograde since August 11.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Even the grass was not green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades until they were the same gray color to be seen everywhere.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

He noticed her face harden, but it was with the hardness of resolution, for still the soft color was in her cheeks and she was all glowing and melting.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Their color is dependent on the pH of the solvent; therefore, these polyphenols are used as pH indicators.

(Anthocyanin, NCI Thesaurus)

Being exposed to low levels for a long time can change the color of your skin.

(Arsenic, Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry)

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE