Shadow
Pronunciation
- GenAm enPR: shăd′Å, IPA: /ˈʃædoÊŠ/
- RP enPR: shăd′Å, IPA: /ˈʃædəʊ/
- Rhymes: -ædəʊ
- Hyphenation: shad + ow
Origin
From Middle English schadowe, schadewe, schadwe (also schade >
shade), from Old English sceaduwe, sceadwe, oblique form of sceadu ("shadow, shade; darkness; protection"), from Proto-Germanic *skadwaz ("shade, shadow"), from Proto-Indo-European *skot- ("darkness"). Cognate with Scots scaddow, schaddow ("shadow"), Saterland Frisian Skaad ("shade, shadow"), Dutch schaduw ("shadow"), German Schatten ("shadow, shade"), Norwegian skodde ("fog, mist"), Irish scáth ("shadow"), Ancient Greek σκότος (skótos, "darkness, gloom").
Full definition of shadow
Noun
shadow
(plural shadows)- A dark image projected onto a surface where light is blocked by the shade of an object.
- 1898, Winston Churchill, The Celebrity Chapter 1, The stories did not seem to me to touch life. … They left me with the impression of a well-delivered stereopticon lecture, with characters about as life-like as the shadows on the screen, and whisking on and off, at the mercy of the operator.
- My shadow lengthened as the sun began to set.
- Relative darkness, especially as caused by the interruption of light; gloom, obscurity.I immediately jumped into shadow as I saw them approach.
- DenhamNight's sable shadows from the ocean rise.
- SpenserIn secret shadow from the sunny ray,
On a sweet bed of lilies softly laid. - (obsolete) A reflected image, as in a mirror or in water.
- That which looms as though a shadow.
- Schuster Hepaticae V|viiHepaticology, outside the temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere, still lies deep in the shadow cast by that ultimate "closet taxonomist," Franz Stephani—a ghost whose shadow falls over us all.
- I don't have a shadow of doubt in my mind that my plan will succeed. The shadow of fear of my being outed always affects how I live my life. I lived in her shadow my whole life.
- A small degree; a shade.He did not give even a shadow of respect to the professor.
- Bible, James i. 17no variableness, neither shadow of turning
- An imperfect and faint representation.He came back from war the shadow of a man.
- Bible, Hebrews x. 1the law having a shadow of good things to come
- Miltontypes and shadows of that destined seed
- One who secretly or furtively follows another.The constable was promoted to working as a shadow for the Royals.
- MiltonSin and her shadow Death
- A type of lettering form of word processors that makes a cubic effect.
- An influence, especially a pervasive or a negative one.
- 1844, w, The early lectures of Ralph Waldo Emerson Chapter The Present Age: Politics, Men see the institution and worship it. It is only the lengthened shadow of one man....The Reformation is the shadow of Luther: Quakerism of Fox: Methodism of Wesley: Abolition of Clarkson.
- A spirit; a ghost; a shade.
- ShakespeareHence, horrible shadow!
- (obsolete, Latinism) An uninvited guest accompanying one who was invited.
Usage notes
A person (or object) is said to "cast", "have", or "throw" a shadow if that shadow is caused by the person (either literally, by eclipsing a light source, or figuratively). The shadow may then be described as the shadow "cast" or "thrown" by the person, or as the shadow "of" the person, or simply as the person's shadow.
Derived terms
Verb
- To block light or radio transmission.Looks like that cloud's going to shadow us.
- (espionage) To secretly or discreetly track or follow another, to keep under surveillance.
- (programming) To make an identifier, usually a variable, inaccessible by declaring another of the same name within the scope of the first.
- (computing) To apply the shadowing process to (the contents of ROM).