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shadow

sha·dow

UK/ˈʃædəʊ̯/ US/ˈʃʰædəʊ̯/ common uk us
noun (9) verb (3)

noun

1.

shade within clear boundaries

2.

an unilluminated area

  • “he moved off into the darkness”
Synonyms
3.

something existing in perception only

  • “a ghostly apparition at midnight”
Synonyms
4.

a premonition of something adverse

  • “a shadow over his happiness”
5.

an indication that something has been present

  • “there wasn”
  • “;”
Synonyms
6.

refuge from danger or observation

  • “he felt secure in his father”
7.

a dominating and pervasive presence

  • “he received little recognition working in the shadow of his father”
8.

a spy employed to follow someone and report their movements

Synonyms
9.

an inseparable companion

  • “the poor child was his mother”

verb

1.

follow, usually without the person''s knowledge

  • “The police are shadowing her”
2.

cast a shadow over

Synonyms
3.

make appear small by comparison

  • “This year”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English schadowe, schadewe, schadwe (also schade > shade), from Old English sċeaduwe, sċeadwe, oblique form of sċeadu (“shadow, shade; darkness; protection”), from Proto-West Germanic *skadu, from Proto-Germanic *skaduz (“shade, shadow”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃- (“darkness”). Doublet of shade. Cognates Cognate with Scots shedda (“shadow”), Saterland Frisian Skaad, Skade (“shade, shadow”), West Frisian skaad, skâd (“shade, shadow”), Central Franconian and Limburgish Schatte (“shadow”), Dutch schade, schaduw (“shadow”), German Schatten (“shade, shadow”), German Low German Scharr, Scharre (“shade, shadow”), Luxembourgish Schiet (“shade, shadow”), Vilamovian siota (“shadow”), Yiddish שאָטן (shotn, “shadow”), Faroese skadda (“thick wet mountain fog”), Icelandic skodda, skoddi (“shadow”), Norwegian Bokmål skodde (“fog, mist”), Norwegian Nynorsk skodde, skåddj, skåidd (“fog; ice fog”), Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌳𐌿𐍃 (skadus, “shadow”); also Breton skeud (“shadow; reflection; ghost”), Cornish skeus (“shadow; reflection”), Irish scáth (“shadow”), Manx scaa, skæ (“shield; shade, shadow”), Scottish Gaelic sgàth (“shade, shadow”), Latin obscurus (“dark, dusky, shadowy”), Ancient Greek...

Phrases

  • acoustic shadow
  • afraid of one's own shadow
  • beyond a shadow of a doubt
  • beyond a shadow of doubt
  • beyond the shadow of a doubt
  • cast a shadow
  • digital shadow
  • eye shadow

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.