Library / English Dictionary

SILVER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Silverware eating utensils

Synonyms:

flatware; silver

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

silverware (tableware made of silver or silver plate or pewter or stainless steel)

Derivation:

silver (coat with a layer of silver or a silver amalgam)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A trophy made of silver (or having the appearance of silver) that is usually awarded for winning second place in a competition

Synonyms:

silver; silver medal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

prize; trophy (something given as a token of victory)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A light shade of grey

Synonyms:

ash gray; ash grey; silver; silver gray; silver grey

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

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

gray; grayness; grey; greyness (a neutral achromatic color midway between white and black)

Derivation:

silver (turn silver)

silver (make silver in color)

silvery (of lustrous grey; covered with or tinged with the color of silver)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Coins made of silver

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

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

precious metal (any of the less common and valuable metals often used to make coins or jewelry)

Meronyms (substance of "silver"):

Ag; atomic number 47; silver (a soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal; occurs in argentite and in free form; used in coins and jewelry and tableware and photography)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal; occurs in argentite and in free form; used in coins and jewelry and tableware and photography

Synonyms:

Ag; atomic number 47; silver

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

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

conductor (a substance that readily conducts e.g. electricity and heat)

noble metal (any metal that is resistant to corrosion or oxidation)

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

coin silver (a silver of the degree of purity established for making legal silver coins)

Holonyms ("silver" is a substance of...):

silver (coins made of silver)

argentite (a valuable silver ore consisting of silver sulfide (Ag2S))

sterling silver (a silver alloy with no more than 7.5% copper)

Derivation:

silver (coat with a layer of silver or a silver amalgam)

silvery (having the white lustrous sheen of silver)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Expressing yourself readily, clearly, effectively

Example:

silver speech

Synonyms:

eloquent; facile; fluent; silver; silver-tongued; smooth-spoken

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

articulate (expressing yourself easily or characterized by clear expressive language)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Having the white lustrous sheen of silver

Example:

repeated scrubbings have given the wood a silvery sheen

Synonyms:

silver; silvern; silvery

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

bright (emitting or reflecting light readily or in large amounts)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Of lustrous grey; covered with or tinged with the color of silver

Example:

silvery hair

Synonyms:

argent; silver; silverish; silvery

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

achromatic; neutral (having no hue)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Made from or largely consisting of silver

Example:

silver bracelets

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

metal; metallic (containing or made of or resembling or characteristic of a metal)

 III. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Turn silver

Example:

The man's hair silvered very attractively

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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

color; colour; discolor; discolour (change color, often in an undesired manner)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

silver (a light shade of grey)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make silver in color

Example:

Her worries had silvered her hair

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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

color; color in; colorise; colorize; colour; colour in; colourise; colourize (add color to)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

silver (a light shade of grey)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Coat with a layer of silver or a silver amalgam

Example:

silver the necklace

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

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

plate (coat with a layer of metal)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

silver (silverware eating utensils)

silver (a soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal; occurs in argentite and in free form; used in coins and jewelry and tableware and photography)

Credits

 Context examples: 

I have some notion of putting such a trimming as this to my white and silver poplin.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

What sort of burglars are they who steal silver and then throw it into the nearest pond?

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

From the top of this boulder the gleam of something bright caught my eye, and, raising my hand, I found that it came from the silver cigarette-case which he used to carry.

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

And such a voice!—delicate and sweet, like a strain of music heard far off and faint, or, better, like a bell of silver, a perfect tone, crystal-pure.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

This also suggests you will appear on television or otherwise have your image in the media for all the world to see because Neptune rules the silver image (in this case, of you).

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

In one of my fobs there was a silver watch, and in the other a small quantity of gold in a purse.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Thanks to good brother Bartholomew, I carve in wood and in ivory, and can do something also in silver and in bronze.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

An alloy, typically a mix of silver, tin, and mercury, used in direct dental restorations.

(Amalgam, NCI Thesaurus)

For example, all the silver, nickel, and copper in the earth and even in our bodies came from the explosive death throes of stars

(Kepler Catches Early Flash of an Exploding Star, NASA)

“A latent image is formed by exposing a sensitive material in a gel to light. Then, you can develop that latent image into a real image by attaching another material, silver, afterwards.”

(Researchers Use Laser to Shrink Objects to Nanoscale, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)