| / English Dictionary |
SHADOW
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Refuge from danger or observation
Example:
he felt secure in his father's shadow
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("shadow" is a kind of...):
recourse; refuge; resort (something or someone turned to for assistance or security)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Something existing in perception only
Example:
a ghostly apparition at midnight
Synonyms:
apparition; fantasm; phantasm; phantasma; phantom; shadow
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("shadow" is a kind of...):
illusion; semblance (an erroneous mental representation)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "shadow"):
flying saucer; UFO; unidentified flying object (an (apparently) flying object whose nature is unknown; especially those considered to have extraterrestrial origins)
Flying Dutchman (a phantom ship that is said to appear in storms near the Cape of Good Hope)
ghost; shade; specter; spectre; spook; wraith (a mental representation of some haunting experience)
Derivation:
shadowy (lacking in substance)
Sense 3
Meaning:
An indication that something has been present
Example:
a tincture of condescension
Synonyms:
shadow; tincture; trace; vestige
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("shadow" is a kind of...):
indicant; indication (something that serves to indicate or suggest)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "shadow"):
footprint (a trace suggesting that something was once present or felt or otherwise important)
Sense 4
Meaning:
A premonition of something adverse
Example:
a shadow over his happiness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting feelings and emotions
Hypernyms ("shadow" is a kind of...):
boding; foreboding; premonition; presentiment (a feeling of evil to come)
Sense 5
Meaning:
An unilluminated area
Example:
he moved off into the darkness
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting spatial position
Hypernyms ("shadow" is a kind of...):
scene (the place where some action occurs)
Derivation:
shadow (cast a shadow over)
Sense 6
Meaning:
An inseparable companion
Example:
the poor child was his mother's shadow
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("shadow" is a kind of...):
follower (someone who travels behind or pursues another)
Derivation:
shadow (follow, usually without the person's knowledge)
Sense 7
Meaning:
A spy employed to follow someone and report their movements
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Hypernyms ("shadow" is a kind of...):
follower (someone who travels behind or pursues another)
spy (a secret watcher; someone who secretly watches other people)
Derivation:
shadow (follow, usually without the person's knowledge)
Sense 8
Meaning:
A dominating and pervasive presence
Example:
he received little recognition working in the shadow of his father
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("shadow" is a kind of...):
presence (the state of being present; current existence)
Derivation:
shadow (make appear small by comparison)
Sense 9
Meaning:
Shade within clear boundaries
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("shadow" is a kind of...):
shade; shadiness; shadowiness (relative darkness caused by light rays being intercepted by an opaque body)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "shadow"):
umbra (a region of complete shadow resulting from total obstruction of light)
penumbra (a fringe region of partial shadow around an umbra)
Derivation:
shadow (cast a shadow over)
shadowy (filled with shade)
II. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they shadow ... he / she / it shadows
Past simple: shadowed
Past participle: shadowed
-ing form: shadowing
Sense 1
Meaning:
Follow, usually without the person's knowledge
Example:
The police are shadowing her
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Hypernyms (to "shadow" is one way to...):
follow (to travel behind, go after, come after)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Sentence example:
Sam cannot shadow Sue
Derivation:
shadow (an inseparable companion)
shadow; shadower (a spy employed to follow someone and report their movements)
shadowing (the act of following someone secretly)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Make appear small by comparison
Example:
This year's debt dwarfs that of last year
Synonyms:
dwarf; overshadow; shadow
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Hypernyms (to "shadow" is one way to...):
command; dominate; overlook; overtop (look down on)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s something
Derivation:
shadow (a dominating and pervasive presence)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Cast a shadow over
Synonyms:
shade; shade off; shadow
Classified under:
Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering
Hypernyms (to "shadow" is one way to...):
darken (make dark or darker)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Derivation:
shadow (an unilluminated area)
shadow (shade within clear boundaries)
Context examples:
The x-rays are taken from different angles and show the kidneys clearly, without the shadows of the organs around them.
(Nephrotomogram, NCI Dictionary)
We're seeing signs that the clouds have shadows, possibly indicating that the clouds are at a higher altitude than other features.
(Jupiter's North Pole Unlike Anything Encountered in Solar System, NASA)
Afterwards he got worse, and became quite my shadow.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
I tell you that there never was a shadow between us until this accursed affair began.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Now they ride forth from the shadow.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
There is not a shadow of wavering.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
I cast a quick glance at my uncle, and I saw that the shadow had deepened upon his face.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It was a tree-shadow flung by the moon, from whose face the clouds had been brushed away.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
Not quite: you have secured the shadow of your thought; but no more, probably.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
As I passed out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
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