shade

Shade is an area of darkness caused by an object blocking light from reaching it.

(noun)

An example of shade is the darkness created by holding an umbrella over your head on a sunny day.

To shade is to protect from light or heat.

(verb)

An example of shade is to put an open patio umbrella over your lounge chair to protect you and the deck from heat.

See shade in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

comparative darkness caused by a more or less opaque object cutting off rays of light, as from the sun
1. a place giving protection from the heat and light of the sun, as under a tree
2. an area less brightly lighted than its surroundings
Archaic
1. a shadow
2. a retired or secluded place
an indication or representation of darkness in painting, drawing, photography, etc.
degree of darkness of a color; gradation of a color with reference to its mixture with black: various shades of blue
1. a small difference or variation: shades of opinion
2. a slight amount or degree; trace; touch; suggestion: a shade of humor in his voice
Chiefly Literary
1. a ghost; specter
2. anything lacking substance or reality; phantom
any of various devices used to protect or screen from light and heat; specif.,
1. lampshade
2. ☆ window shade
☆ Slang sunglasses

Origin: ME schade < OE sceadu (gen. & dat. sceadwe), akin to Goth skadus < IE base *skot-, darkness, shadow > Gr skotos, darkness

transitive verb shaded, shading

to protect or screen from light or heat
to provide with a shade
to hide or screen with or as with a shadow
to make dark, as with a shade or a shadow; darken; dim; obscure
1. to represent the effects of shade in (a painting, photograph, etc.)
2. to depict in, or mark with, gradations of light or color
to change by very slight degrees or gradations
☆ to lessen or reduce (a price) slightly

intransitive verb

to change, move, or vary slightly or by degrees

Related Forms:

See shade in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

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
a. Dark shadows gathering at dusk: “The shades of night are falling fast” (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow).
b. 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.

verb shad·ed, shad·ing, shades

verb, transitive

To screen from light or heat.
To obscure or darken.
To cause shade in or on.
a. To represent degrees of shade or shadow in: shade a drawing.
b. 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.

verb, intransitive

To pass from one quality, color, or thing to another by very slight changes or degrees.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English

Origin: , from Old English sceadu

Related Forms: