Gray (?), a. [Compar. Grayer (); superl. Grayest.] [OE. gray, grey, AS. gr?g, gr?g; akin to D. graauw OHG. gr?o, G. grau, Dan. graa, Dw. gr?, Icel. grdr.] [Written also grey.]
1.
White mixed with black, as the color of pepper and salt, or of ashes, or of hair whitened by age; sometimes, a dark mixed color; as, the soft gray eye of a dove.
These gray and dun colors may be also produced by mixing whites and blacks.
Sir I. Newton.
2.
Gray-haired; gray-headed; of a gray color; hoary.
3.
Old; mature; as, gray experience. Ames.
Gray antimony (Min.), stibnite. -- Gray buck Zool., the chickara. -- Gray cobalt (Min.), smaltite. -- Gray copper (Min.), tetrahedrite. -- Gray duck Zool., the gadwall; also applied to the female mallard. -- Gray falcon Zool. the peregrine falcon. -- Gray Friar. See Franciscan, and Friar. -- Gray hen (Zool.), the female of the blackcock or black grouse. See Heath grouse. -- Gray mill or millet Bot., a name of several plants of the genus Lithospermum; gromwell. -- Gray mullet Zool. any one of the numerous species of the genus Mugil, or family Mugilid&ae;, found both in the Old World and America; as the European species (M. capito, and M. auratus), the American striped mullet (M. albula), and the white or silver mullet (M. Braziliensis). See Mullet. -- Gray owl Zool., the European tawny or brown owl (Syrnium aluco). The great gray owl (Ulula cinerea) inhabits arctic America. -- Gray parrot Zool., a parrot (Psittacus erithacus), very commonly domesticated, and noted for its aptness in learning to talk. -- Gray pike. Zool. See Sauger. -- Gray snapper Zool., a Florida fish; the sea lawyer. See Snapper. -- Gray snipe Zool., the dowitcher in winter plumage. -- Gray whale Zool., a rather large and swift California whale (Rhachianectes glaucus), formerly taken in large numbers in the bays; -- called also grayback, devilfish, and hardhead.
© Webster 1913.
Gray, n.
1.
A gray color; any mixture of white and black; also, a neutral or whitish tint.
2.
An animal or thing of gray color, as a horse, a badger, or a kind of salmon.
Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day.
That coats thy life, my gallant gray.
Sir W. Scott.
© Webster 1913.