# color

Pronunciation: US say "KUL-ur" /ˈkʌl.ɚ/; UK say "KUL-uh" /ˈkʌl.ə/

## Noun

1. The quality of an object or of light that the eye sees as red, blue, green, and so on, depending on the wavelengths reflected or given off; any one such hue.
   - Simple: Red, blue, green, yellow and so on, as you see them on things or in light.
   - _Each color in the rainbow blends smoothly into the next._
   - _Designers chose a bold color for the company's new logo._
2. The shade of human skin, especially when treated as a marker of race or ethnicity.
   - Simple: A person's skin tone, often seen as a sign of their race.
   - _Laws once divided citizens by color._
   - _He spoke about the barriers people still face because of their color._
3. Hues of any kind as opposed to black, white, and gray, especially in pictures, film, television, or printing.
   - Simple: Shades like red, blue, and green, rather than only black, white, and gray, as in photos, films, or TV.
   - _The painting uses color sparingly against a wide field of gray._
   - _Without color, the design relies entirely on light and shadow._
7. The particular shade or combination of shades that identifies a school, team, club, or other group, especially as worn by its members or fans.
   - Simple: The special shade or shades that stand for a school, team or club, often worn by its players or fans.
   - _Fans in their club's colors packed the stadium hours before kickoff._
   - _The sorority's official color is pale lavender, and new members wear a lavender ribbon._
8. A paint or pigment, especially one an artist uses to apply color.
   - Simple: A paint or coloring material that an artist puts on a surface.
   - _He ground his own color from natural minerals._
   - _The painter laid the color on thickly with a knife._
9. Vivid, expressive detail or flavor that makes something interesting or enjoyable.
   - Simple: Lively detail that makes a story or place more interesting and fun.
   - _The reporter's anecdotes gave the piece real color._
   - _Good travel writing thrives on vivid local color._
10. The hue of a person's face or skin, especially as a sign of health or emotion, whether rosy and healthy, flushed, or pale.
   - Simple: How pink, red, or pale a person's face or skin looks, showing health or feelings.
   - _After the long walk, color came back into her pale face._
   - _Fever often brings a high color to the cheeks._
14. A flag, banner, or standard carried or flown to represent a nation, military unit, or organization.
   - Simple: A flag that stands for a country, army group, or team.
   - _Each regiment marched behind its color at the start of the campaign._
   - _The crew raised the ship's colors as they entered the harbor._
15. Distinctive insignia or clothing worn to signal membership in a particular gang.
   - Simple: Clothing or items worn to show which gang a person belongs to.
   - _At the funeral, the gang turned out in full colors, blue bandanas and all._
   - _On that corner, wearing the wrong color could be read as a challenge to the rival crew._
16. The distinctive character or timbre of a sound, such as that of an instrument, an orchestral passage, a voice, or a vowel.
   - Simple: The special quality of a sound that makes it different, like the sound of a voice or instrument.
   - _The orchestrator chose muted strings to darken the color of the passage._
   - _Adding a harp lent the whole section a shimmering color._
17. A false appearance or pretext, especially an appearance of legal right or authority, as in 'under color of law'.
   - Simple: Something that looks true or lawful but is really an excuse or a cover.
   - _The official seized the goods under color of a regulation that did not exist._
   - _Their committee acted with the color of authority but no legal standing._
18. An award granted for sporting achievement, especially within a school or university. *(British, Ireland)*
   - Simple: A prize given for doing very well in a sport at a school or college.
   - _After leading the rowing team to three straight wins, he was awarded a full color at the end-of-year dinner._
   - _Few students earn their colors before the final year._
19. In snooker, any of the balls other than the reds: the yellow, green, brown, blue, pink, or black.
   - Simple: In snooker, one of the balls that is not red, like the yellow, green, or black ball.
   - _Her miss on an easy color in the final frame handed her opponent the match._
   - _Once all the reds are gone, each color is potted in order._

## Verb

4. To give something color, especially by applying a dye, a paint, or another coloring agent.
   - Simple: To give something color, often by using dye or paint.
   - _The dye colored the fabric a deep indigo._
   - _Sunlight can color glass over many years._
5. To fill the areas within the outlines of a line drawing using colored markers or crayons.
   - Simple: To fill the shapes in a line drawing with crayons or colored markers.
   - _She finds it relaxing to color after a long day._
   - _The students colored within the lines very neatly._
11. To become red, especially in the face, as a result of increased blood flow.
   - Simple: To turn red in the face as blood rushes to the skin.
   - _He colored deeply at the unexpected praise._
   - _Her face tends to color in the cold wind._
12. To influence or affect something without completely changing its basic nature.
   - Simple: To affect something, such as a story or an opinion, without changing it completely.
   - _Personal bias colored her account of the events._
   - _Old memories color how he sees his hometown._
13. To attribute a quality to someone or something; to portray as being a certain way. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To describe someone or something as having a certain quality.
   - _Color me skeptical, but I doubt this plan will work._
   - _The senator actually showed up to the town hall? Color me surprised._

## Adjective

6. Conveying full color, as opposed to only shades of gray.
   - Simple: Showing real colors, not just black, white, and gray.
   - _The documentary includes rare color footage of the city in the 1930s._
   - _Early color photographs were expensive and difficult to produce._

## Other meanings

- (noun) The daily military ceremony in which the national flag is raised in the morning or lowered in the evening.
- (verb) To assign colors to the vertices of a graph, or the regions of a map, so that no two joined by an edge or a shared border share a color.
- (noun) In heraldry, any of the standard dark tinctures used on a coat of arms, such as azure, gules, sable, or vert.
- (noun) A property of quarks that comes in three values (red, green, and blue) which they exchange by passing gluons; also called color charge.
- (noun) The overall lightness or darkness of a mass of printed or written text as it appears on a page.
- (noun) Gold in the form of small particles found in soil or gravel while prospecting.
- (noun) In options trading, a measure of how fast an option's gamma changes as time passes, or how its charm shifts as the underlying price moves.
- (noun) In professional wrestling, blood shed during a match, often from a deliberate small cut, as in 'get color'.
- (verb) To turn a tobacco pipe, typically one made of meerschaum, a deep dark shade by smoking it over a long time.
- (verb) To change the sound of a vowel or other speech sound.

## Origin

Latin color passed into Old French as colour and into Anglo-Norman as colur, and Middle English borrowed it as colour or color. Noah Webster made the spelling color popular in modern American English, so that it would match the Latin source and keep American spellings consistent.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/color (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).