Library / English Dictionary

SHADOW

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Refuge from danger or observation

Example:

he felt secure in his father's shadow

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("shadow" is a kind of...):

recourse; refuge; resort (something or someone turned to for assistance or security)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Something existing in perception only

Example:

a ghostly apparition at midnight

Synonyms:

apparition; fantasm; phantasm; phantasma; phantom; shadow

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("shadow" is a kind of...):

illusion; semblance (an erroneous mental representation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "shadow"):

flying saucer; UFO; unidentified flying object (an (apparently) flying object whose nature is unknown; especially those considered to have extraterrestrial origins)

Flying Dutchman (a phantom ship that is said to appear in storms near the Cape of Good Hope)

ghost; shade; specter; spectre; spook; wraith (a mental representation of some haunting experience)

Derivation:

shadowy (lacking in substance)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An indication that something has been present

Example:

a tincture of condescension

Synonyms:

shadow; tincture; trace; vestige

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("shadow" is a kind of...):

indicant; indication (something that serves to indicate or suggest)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "shadow"):

footprint (a trace suggesting that something was once present or felt or otherwise important)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A premonition of something adverse

Example:

a shadow over his happiness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Hypernyms ("shadow" is a kind of...):

boding; foreboding; premonition; presentiment (a feeling of evil to come)

Sense 5

Meaning:

An unilluminated area

Example:

he moved off into the darkness

Synonyms:

dark; darkness; shadow

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Hypernyms ("shadow" is a kind of...):

scene (the place where some action occurs)

Derivation:

shadow (cast a shadow over)

Sense 6

Meaning:

An inseparable companion

Example:

the poor child was his mother's shadow

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("shadow" is a kind of...):

follower (someone who travels behind or pursues another)

Derivation:

shadow (follow, usually without the person's knowledge)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A spy employed to follow someone and report their movements

Synonyms:

shadow; shadower; tail

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("shadow" is a kind of...):

follower (someone who travels behind or pursues another)

spy (a secret watcher; someone who secretly watches other people)

Derivation:

shadow (follow, usually without the person's knowledge)

Sense 8

Meaning:

A dominating and pervasive presence

Example:

he received little recognition working in the shadow of his father

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("shadow" is a kind of...):

presence (the state of being present; current existence)

Derivation:

shadow (make appear small by comparison)

Sense 9

Meaning:

Shade within clear boundaries

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("shadow" is a kind of...):

shade; shadiness; shadowiness (relative darkness caused by light rays being intercepted by an opaque body)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "shadow"):

umbra (a region of complete shadow resulting from total obstruction of light)

penumbra (a fringe region of partial shadow around an umbra)

Derivation:

shadow (cast a shadow over)

shadowy (filled with shade)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Follow, usually without the person's knowledge

Example:

The police are shadowing her

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "shadow" is one way to...):

follow (to travel behind, go after, come after)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

Sam cannot shadow Sue

Derivation:

shadow (an inseparable companion)

shadow; shadower (a spy employed to follow someone and report their movements)

shadowing (the act of following someone secretly)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make appear small by comparison

Example:

This year's debt dwarfs that of last year

Synonyms:

dwarf; overshadow; shadow

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "shadow" is one way to...):

command; dominate; overlook; overtop (look down on)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

shadow (a dominating and pervasive presence)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cast a shadow over

Synonyms:

shade; shade off; shadow

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Hypernyms (to "shadow" is one way to...):

darken (make dark or darker)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

shadow (an unilluminated area)

shadow (shade within clear boundaries)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The x-rays are taken from different angles and show the kidneys clearly, without the shadows of the organs around them.

(Nephrotomogram, NCI Dictionary)

We're seeing signs that the clouds have shadows, possibly indicating that the clouds are at a higher altitude than other features.

(Jupiter's North Pole Unlike Anything Encountered in Solar System, NASA)

Afterwards he got worse, and became quite my shadow.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

I tell you that there never was a shadow between us until this accursed affair began.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Now they ride forth from the shadow.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There is not a shadow of wavering.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I cast a quick glance at my uncle, and I saw that the shadow had deepened upon his face.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was a tree-shadow flung by the moon, from whose face the clouds had been brushed away.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Not quite: you have secured the shadow of your thought; but no more, probably.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

As I passed out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)