colors

1. 1
   more than onenoun

   Plural of color.

   The flag combines three bold colors in a simple design.

   Sunset spread soft pinks and oranges across the sky in shifting colors.

   Note

   Only some meanings of color take a plural. When color means the makeup of light itself, or hue as opposed to black, white and gray, it is a mass noun with no plural. Colors belongs to the countable uses: named shades like pinks and oranges, the paints on a palette, and, in heraldry, the dark tinctures azure, gules, sable and vert.

2. 2
   present tenseverb

   Third-person singular simple present of color.

   The dye colors the fabric a deep, even blue within minutes.

   Her excitement colors every story she tells about that summer.

   Note

   Spelled exactly like the noun plural, this form carries every meaning of the verb, so context does the sorting. With an object it means tinting or dyeing (the dye colors the fabric) or shading something without changing its nature (regret colors her memories). Without one it can mean blushing, as when he colors at a compliment, or filling in a drawing: a child colors quietly at the table.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2