King James Bible Dictionary

GRAY, adjective [This is probably the name given to the Greeks, on account of their fair complexion compared with the Asiatics and Africans. [See Europe.] 'Keto bore to Phorcus the Graiae with fair cheeks, white from their birth, and hence they were called Graiae.' The Greek word is rendered an old woman, and in this passage of Hesiod, is supposed to mean certain deities. The probability is, that it is applied to an old woman, because she is gray But the fable of Hesiod is easily explained by supposing the author to have had in his mind some imperfect account of the origin of the Greeks.]

1. White, with a mixture of black.

These gray and dun colors may be also produced by mixing whites and blacks.

2. White; hoary; as gray hair. We apply the word to hair that is partially or wholly white.

3. Dark; of a mixed color; of the color of ashes; as gray eyes; the gray-eyed morn.

4. Old; mature; as gray experience.

GRAY, noun A gray color.

1. A badger.

GRA'Y-BEARD, noun An old man.

GRA'Y-EYED, adjective Having gray eyes.

GRA'YFLY, noun The trumpet-fly.

GRA'Y-HAIRED, adjective Having gray hair.

GRA'Y-HEADED, adjective Having a gray head or gray hair.

GRA'YHOUND, noun A tall fleet dog, used in the chase.

GRA'YISH, adjective Somewhat gray; gray in a moderate degree.

GRA'YLING, noun A fish of the genus Salmo, called also umber, a voracious fish, about sixteen or eighteen inches in length, of a more elegant figure than the trout; the back and sides of a silvery gray color. It is found in clear rapid streams in the north of Europe, and is excellent food.

GRA'YNESS, noun The quality of being gray.

GRAYWACKE, noun A rock somewhat remarkable in its structure and geological relations; a kind of sandstone, composed of grains or fragments of different minerals, chiefly of quartz, feldspar, siliceous slate and argillite. These fragments are sometimes angular, and sometimes their edges and angles are rounded, thus forming nodules or globular masses. The size is very variable, passing from grains to nodules of a foot in diameter. The several ingredients are united by an indurated argillaceous substance, or the interstices between the larger fragments are filled by the same materials which compose the larger parts of the rock, but in grains so comminuted as to resemble a homogeneous cement. The colors are some shade of gray or brown, as bluish gray, reddish brown. etc.