▪ I. shadow, n.
(ˈʃædəʊ)
Forms: 1 dat. sceadwe, sceaduwe, 2 sceadewe, 2–3 scadewe, 2–5 shadewe, 3 scheadewe, scaudu, sadue, 3–4 schadw(e, 3–5 schadew(e, 3–7 schadow, 4 schadu(e, shaldw, shadw, shadu, shodow, sadwe, szadewe, Sc. schedow, -aw, 4–5 shadue, shadwe, 4–6 schadowe, 4, 6 Sc. schaudow, 4, 6–7 shaddowe, 4–7 shadowe, 4, 7 schadou, 5 schado, shadew, shedow, 5–7 shaddow, 6 shadoe, shadoo, shadou, shoddowe, Sc. schaudou, schaddou, 6–7 Sc. schaddow, 7 shaddou, 8 shadoue, 4– shadow.
[repr. OE. scead(u)we, oblique case of sceadu str. fem.; the nom. sing., with the variant form sceade of the oblique case, and the by-form scead neut., are represented by shade n., q.v. The Teut. cognates show some variation in declension and gender: OS. scado masc. or fem. (MLG. schade, schadewe, mod. LG. schadde, scharde, scharre, scharr; cf. mod. WFris. skaed, EFris. schād, NFris. skaar); MDu. schade, schaduwe (mod.Du. schaduw fem.); OHG. scato masc., genit. scatewes (MHG. schate, schatte str. and wk. masc., also schatewe, early mod.G. schatte wk. masc., mod.G. schatten masc.); wanting in ON. (the mod.Norw. skadda, skodda fog, is of doubtful origin); Goth. skadus masc. The OTeut. form was prob. *skađwo-z masc. or *skađwā fem. (the traces of u declension in Goth. and OE. being due to analogical alteration):—pre-Teut. *skotwó-s, -w{amacacu} or *skatwó-s, -w{amacacu}; cf. Gr. σκότος masc. and neut., darkness, OCeltic *skāto-s masc. (Irish scáth, Cornish scod, Breton squeut, Welsh cy-sgod, shadow).]
I. Comparative darkness.
1. a. Comparative darkness, esp. that caused by interception of light; a tract of partial darkness produced by a body intercepting the direct rays of the sun or other luminary. Cf. sense 11.
| a 1220 Bestiary 648 Ðanne cumeð ðis elp unride, and..slepeð bi ðe tre in ðe sadue. c 1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 159 E pus au boys en umbrail [glossed in the sadwe (szadewe)] Passerom desouz l'overayl. a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 1411 And fayre in shadowe was euery wel. c 1421 26 Pol. Poems 104 So soþfast sunne, by hys pouste, Dryueþ awey shadewe. 1555 Eden Decades ii. i. (Arb.) 106 The shadowe of the tree is contagious. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. iii. i. 257 That the time may haue all shadow, and silence in it. 1820 Belzoni Egypt & Nubia iii. 400 Where there is no index to direct the stranger on his way,..nor even a stone or a shadow to shelter him from the sun. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. vi. 42 The fronts of the ridges..remain in shadow all the day. 1902 R. Bagot Donna Diana xxi. 258 She quietly withdrew from the bedside, and stood in the shadow of the curtains at its head. |
b. shadow of death: a Biblical expression (
= LXX and
N.T. σκιὰ θανάτου,
Vulg. umbra mortis) embodying an ancient interpretation of
Heb. תו{hebmem}{heblamed}{hebtsade}, traditionally vocalized
{cced}alˈmāveth, as if
f. {cced}ēl shadow +
ˈmāveth death.
Ewald and many other scholars, however, think the word should be pronounced
{cced}almūth (or as
pl. {cced}⊇lāmōth = Arab. ẓalamāt), and that it comes from the Semitic root found in
Arab. as
ẓalima to be dark. However this may be, it is in the Old Testament merely a poetic word for intense darkness (so the margin of the Revised Version, ‘deep darkness’). But the phrase ‘shadow of death’ has (in
Eng. as in Christian Latin and other langs.) often been used with various meanings naturally suggested by the words; the commonest use is to denote the gloom and horror of approaching dissolution.
the valley of the shadow of death (
Ps. xxiii. 4 in
Eng. versions from Coverdale 1535; the earlier versions follow the
Vulg. and LXX, which read ‘midst’ instead of ‘valley’): often applied to the experience of being brought by illness apparently near to the grave.
The Land of the Shadow of Death: a rhetorical name for a tract of Western Africa in which the mortality among the white inhabitants is very great.
| [a 900 Cynewulf Christ 118 Þa þe longe ær..deorc deaþes sceadu dreoᵹan sceoldan.] c 1050 Lambeth Ps. cvi. 10 Ða sittendan on þeostrum & on sceaduwe deaþes. a 1340 Hampole Psalter cvi. 10 In shadow of ded, þat is in vicious life, þat is, ymage of endles ded. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. 177 The lond of mysese and of derknesse, where as is the shadwe of deeth [= Job x. 22, Vulgate]. 1535 Coverdale Ps. xxii[i]. 4 Though I shulde walke now in the valley of the shadowe of death [so 1611]. 1678 Bunyan Pilgr. i. (1900) 58 Now at the end of this Valley, was another, called the Valley of the Shadow of Death. 1889 ‘Mark Twain’ Yankee at Crt. K. Arthur xli. 480 If you've watched your child through the valley of the Shadow and seen it come back to life. 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 441 The..depressing scenery of the Land of the Shadow of Death—a land that stretches from Goree to Loanda. 1910 Lond. Mag. Dec. 478/2 That Valley of the Shadow of Death which lies between Wolverhampton and Birmingham. |
c. fig. with various notions: Gloom, unhappiness; a temporary interruption of friendship; something that obscures the lustre of a reputation.
| 1855 Longfellow Hiawatha x, Love is sunshine, hate is shadow. 1894 Doyle Sherlock Holmes 38 There never was a shadow between us until this accursed affair began. 1905 Century Mag. Aug. 484/1 The episode left an unfortunate shadow on the sportsmanship of the visitors. |
d. Psychol. In the theory of C. G. Jung (1875–1961), the dark aspect of personality formed by those fears and unpleasant emotions which, being rejected by the self or persona of which an individual is conscious, exist in the personal unconscious; an archetype in which this aspect is concentrated.
| 1923 H. G. Baynes tr. Jung's Psychological Types iv. 203 For the sake of understanding, it is, I think, a good thing to detach the man from his shadow, the unconscious... One sees much in another man which does not belong to his conscious psychology, but which gleams out from his unconscious. 1940 S. Dell tr. Jung's Integration of Personality (1941) iii. 70 To take his [sc. the devil's] place there are human beings to whom we gratefully resign our shadows. With what pleasure.. we read newspaper reports of crime. Ibid. 88 The three archetypes so far mentioned—the shadow, the anima, and the wise old man—are of the kind immediately experienced in personified form. 1959 Listener 29 Oct. 723/2 Jung defined an archetypal image which he called the shadow... The shadow actually became, in his designation, a term which covered a wide variety of impulses and wishes, most of which were felt to be evil or at least inadmissible. 1973 Jrnl. Genetic Psychol. Mar. 165 The shadow is described as the dark side of the personality or representing the original conception of evil in the world. The latter conception places the shadow in the collective unconscious. |
2. pl. a. The darkness of night; the growing darkness after sunset.
| 1382 Wyclif Song Sol. ii. 17 To the time that the dai springe, and shadewes be bowid in. a 1611 Beaum. & Fl. Four Plays in One, Tri. Death Wks. 1912 X. 349 Give me such kisses as the Queen of shadows Gave to the sleeping boy she stole on Latmus. 1728 Young Ocean xix, The stars are bright To chear the night, And shed, thro' shadows, temper'd fire. 1865 Baring-Gould Hymn, ‘Now the day is over’ i, Shadows of the evening Steal across the sky. |
† b. the shadows: the shades, Hades.
Obs. rare.
| 1490 Caxton Eneydos xx. 73 Wherof I shalle make my reporte vnto the pryue goddis, beyng in the lowe shadowes. |
3. a. Painting and
Drawing. The darker part of a picture, etc. representing the less illuminated portions of the original. Also the colour used in the tincture of such a part.
= shade n. 3 (which is now more usual).
| 1486 Bk. St. Albans, Her. c viij, A dowte theer is yit of a certayn shadow of a mylnerys cros as it shewith here folowyng [etc.]. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus, Vmbræ pictorum..Shadows cast in peynctyng. 1675 A. Browne App. Art Limning 9 An Excellent Shadow for Old Mens Bodies, temper Pink, Lake, and Red Lead. 1778 Sir J. Reynolds Disc. viii. (1779) 19 One of the first rules..respecting his conduct and management of light and shadow, would be what Leonardo Da Vinci has actually given. 1885 Lock Workshop Rec. Ser. iv. 365/1 The result is a negative harmonious from high light to clear shadow. 1907 J. A. Hodges Elem. Photogr. (ed. 6) 116 The lights being hard and the shadows dense. |
b. = eye-shadow s.v. eye n.1 28.
| 1936 Time 26 Oct. 39/2 Make-up Man Senz ‘deepened’ Miss Phillips' bulgy eyes with dark brown ‘shadow’. 1966 Vogue Dec. 84/3 Soft liquid shadows in browns, greys and seaweed greens to put near the curve. 1976 ‘E. McBain’ Guns vii. 198 She wears orange lipstick... There is green shadow on her eyelids. |
II. Image cast by a body intercepting light.
4. a. The dark figure which a body ‘casts’ or ‘throws’ upon a surface by intercepting the direct rays of the sun or other luminary; the image (approximately exact or more or less distorted) which this figure presents of the form of the intercepting body. Phr.
under or in the shadow of: within the purlieus of, close up against, in proximity to.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 19277 Þe seke war born þam for to mete, Þat petre scaudu on þaim suld rine Þar-of had mani seke medicine. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. 212 Certes a shadwe hath the liknesse of the thyng of which it is shadwe. c 1450 Mirk's Festial 188 Wher þat euer he ȝeode, and his schadow glod on a seke body, he was hole anon. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. ii. 56, I solde you not the shadowe of the Asse. 1635 N. Carpenter Geog. Del. i. x. 226 The shaddow is alwayes found to be opposite in place to the Sunne-beams. 1785 S. Fielding Ophelia I. xxiii, Lord Larborough..followed me about like a shadow. 1822 J. Imison Sci. & Art I. 467 Eclipses of the moon are owing to the shadow of the earth falling upon the moon. 1874 tr. Lommel's Light 14 An opaque body is illuminated on that side of its surface only which is turned towards the light, its opposite surface, as well as a space covered by it, the shadow, remains dark. |
| fig. 1801 Campbell Lochiel's Warn. 56 Coming events cast their shadows before. 1853 C. Brontë Villette I. v. 85, I lie in the shadow of St. Paul's. 1931 Times Lit. Suppl. 20 Aug. 625/4 The gradual rise of Innsbruck from a little village lying under the shadow of the great castle of the Dukes of Andechs to the..capital city of Tyrol. |
b. Phrases,
to be afraid of one's own shadow: to be unreasonably timorous.
may your shadow never grow (be) less! may you keep on increasing (in prosperity)! [A Persian phrase.]
| 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 659 Whether shee were afrayed of her awne shadowe..the truth is, that the whole army returned to their Shippes. 1824 [Morier] Hajji Baba xxviii. II. 64 ‘May his shadow never be less’, said another. 1863 R. F. Burton Wand. W. Africa I. 9 note, The little fleet—may its shadow never be less!—began with chartered ships. 1887 Referee 2 Jan. (Cass.), The recipients hope..that Sara's shadow may never grow less. |
c. As a type of what is fleeting or ephemeral.
| a 1272 Luue Ron 32 in O.E. Misc. 94 Þus is þes world as þu mayht seo al so þe schadewe þat glyt away. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 715 Man..passes away Als a shadu on the somers day. ? c 1415 Hoccleve Min. Poems 67 Lyf passith as a shadwe in euery age. 1830 Scott Jrnl. II. 160 In this phantasmagorial place [London] the objects of the day come and depart like shadows. 1871 Caswall Hymn, ‘Days and Moments’ ii. i, As a shadow life is fleeting. |
d. Optics, etc.
† right shadow: the figure thrown by an opaque body upon a horizontal plane to which it is perpendicular.
† contrary shadow,
† versed shadow: the figure thrown by an opaque body upon a vertical plane to which it is perpendicular.
geometric shadow: the figure produced upon a vertical screen by extending the lines from a luminous point which envelop an opaque body placed between the screen and the point.
† line of shadows: a scale engraved upon some mathematical instruments used in taking altitudes;
= quadrat.
| 1571 Digges Pantom. i. xii. D iij b, Marke well the diuisions of pointes touched in your scale, if they be of right shadow... But and if they bee of contrarie shadow, worke contrarely. 1644 Nye Gunnery ii. (1670) 37 But if of contrary or vers'd shadow, multiply the distance from the middle of your foot by the parts cut. 1727–52 Chambers Cycl., Quadrat, Quadratum, called also geometrical square, and line of shadows, is an additional member on the face of the common Gunter's and Sutton's quadrants. 1882 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 581/1 How to place a plane quadrilateral of given form so that its geometric shadow may be a square. |
e. transf. (See
quots.)
| 1873 Proc. London Math. Soc. IV. 271 Immediately in the rear of a sufficiently large sphere there will be a sound shadow. 1875 Tyndall Sound vii. (ed. 3) 317 The possible influence of a sound-shadow. 1883 Ibid. (ed. 4) 299 heading, Acoustic Shadows. 1895 Funk's Stand. Dict., Shadow, A region protected or screened off from radiation of any kind: used with qualification or in composition; as, a sound-shadow; an electric shadow. |
f. A dark area in a (positive) radiograph (appearing as a light area in a negative).
| 1903 Pusey & Caldwell Practical Application Röntgen Rays i. v. 120 (caption) Apparatus for orthographic projection of x-ray shadows on fluorescent screen. 1928 A. Turnbull tr. Köhler's Röntgenol. 187 Dense bean-like shadows lateral to the upper opening of the hip-joint..have been observed. 1964 le Roux & Dodds Portfolio Chest Radiographs i. 17 (caption) A normal P.A. chest radiograph of a young adult female with dense mammary shadows. |
5. In loose or extended use.
a. A reflected image.
A similar use of the corresponding
n. is found in many other langs.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 29 Hu maht þu iseon þine sceadewe in worie watere? c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 29 Hie [sc. þe wimman] bihalt hire sheawere, and cumeð hire shadewe þaronne, þe shadewe hire tacheð [etc.]. a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 1529 He [sc. Narcissus] louede his owne shadowe soo That atte laste he starf for woo. c 1470 Henryson Mor. Fab. x. (Fox & Wolf) xxiv, The schadow of the mone schone in the well. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. i. ii. 58 Such Mirrors..That you might see your shadow. 1692 R. L'Estrange Fables vi. 5 But out of a Greediness to get Both, he [sc. the dog] Chops at the Shadow, and Loses the Substance. 1797–8 Coleridge Anc. Mar. vi. xvi, And on the bay the moonlight lay, And the shadow of the Moon. 1803 Wordsw. Yarrow Unvisited 44 Let..The swan on still St. Mary's Lake Float double, swan and shadow! 1823 Scott Quentin D. xxix, The planets which shine above us as little influential of our destiny, as their shadows, when reflected in the river, are capable of altering its course. |
† b. The faint appearance of something seen through an obscuring medium.
Obs.| 1594 Plat Jewell-ho. i. 42 Let the scholler write vpon the shadowe of the text lines. |
c. Applied to the appearance of degenerate corpuscles, bacilli, etc. faintly visible under the microscope; also known as
shell-shadows.
| 1885 Buck's Med. Handbk. I. 204 (Cent. Suppl.), The occurrence of..‘shell shadows’ in the blood after release from the bell jar. 1896 Allbutt's Syst. Med. I. 83 In tuberculosis..it is not unusual to find in the giant-cells some bacilli..but faintly traceable as unstained, translucent shadows. |
6. fig. a. An unreal appearance; a delusive semblance or image; a vain and unsubstantial object of pursuit. Often contrasted with
substance.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 366 He þet neuede nout of sunne, bute scheadewe one. 1526 Abp. Warham in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. iii. II. 42, I..shulde bee as a shadoo and ymaige of an Archebisshop and Legate, voide of auctoritie and jurisdiction. 1602 Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 265 The very substance of the Ambitious is meerely the shadow of a Dreame. 1611 Mure Misc. Poems i. 52 Thy pleasour is bot paine, A dreame, a toy, a schadou. 1701 De Foe Trueborn Eng. 41 Titles are Shadows, Crowns are empty things. 1780 Burke Sp. Bristol declining Poll ¶5 The worthy gentleman..has feelingly told us, what shadows we are, and what shadows we pursue. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas xi. vi. (Rtldg.) 405 The minister..was now determined to seize the substance as well as catch at the shadow. 1840 J. H. Newman Par. Serm. V. i. 4 At present we are in a world of shadows. |
† b. Applied rhetorically to a portrait as contrasted with the original; also to an actor or a play in contrast with the reality represented.
Obs.| 1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 259 For Appelles shadowes are to be seene of Alexander, but not Alexanders of Appelles. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. v. i. 213, 430. 1591 ― Two Gent. iv. ii. 126 To your shadow, will I make true loue. 1609 Ev. Woman in Hum. iii. i. in Bullen O. Pl. IV. 347, I have a dumbe-shewe of all their pictures, each has sent in his several shadow. 1679 in Spalding Club Miscell. V. 186 He was wont to gaze away whole days on her picture,..practising upon the shadow to fit himself for the substance. |
c. An obscure indication; a symbol, type; a prefiguration, foreshadowing.
| 1382 Wyclif Col. ii. 17 The whiche ben schadowe of thingis to come; forsoth the body is of Crist. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 3 b, But all these were but fygures and shadowes of thynges to come. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 233 Religious Rites Of sacrifice; informing them, by types And shadowes, of that destind Seed to bruise The Serpent. 1704 Swift Mech. Operat. Spir. Misc. (1711) 305 Certain curious Figures,..which were so many Shadows and Emblems of the whole Mystery. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! xix, That eternal world, whereof all here is but a shadow and a dream. |
d. Something of opposite character that necessarily accompanies or follows something else, as shadow does light.
| 1830 Tennyson Love & Death 10 Thou [Death] art the shadow of life. 1872 Morley Voltaire (1886) 1 A new type of belief, and of its shadow, disbelief. |
e. An imitation, copy; a counterpart.
spec. The Opposition counterpart of a cabinet minister; a member of the shadow cabinet (see sense 16 b below).
| 1693 Humours Town 31, I desire you to parallel the Follies and Vices of the Town with the shadows of such in the Country. 1825 T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Passion & Princ. xv. III. 362 Everything [on a voyage] goes on with the precision of clockwork, and one day is only the shadow and echo of another. 1864 Bryce Holy Rom. Emp. xviii. (1875) 330 The Roman Empire was the shadow of the Popedom. 1912 Ld. Lansdowne Let. 23 Feb. in R. Blake Unknown Prime Minister (1955) v. 103 But if the House of Commons ‘shadows’ are to number 11, I don't see how I can leave out Londonderry. 1961 Daily Tel. 1 Dec. 14 The five members of the Labour front bench who have exchanged ‘shadows’. 1975 R. Lewis Margaret Thatcher i. 4 When he resigned from the leadership, out of all the Shadows, only Lord Carrington, one of nature's gentlemen, went round to his old chief to express his consolation and regrets. 1980 Times 8 Dec. 2/4 Mr Denis Healey..has continued as shadow on Treasury affairs. |
f. Used
hyperbolically to designate a person extremely emaciated or feeble. Freq. in
phr. to wear (oneself or another) to a shadow.
| 1588 Greene Pandosto Wks. (Grosart) IV. 262 This tragicall discourse of fortune so daunted them, as they went like shadowes, not men. 1590 Sir J. Smythe Disc. Weapons Ded. 11 Great numbers of miserable and pitiful ghosts or rather shadowes of men. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. i. 45 All were faire knights, and goodly well beseene, But to faire Britomart they all but shadowes beene. 1773 Life N. Frowde 8, I hardly eat or drank, and became a perfect Shadow. 1815 Scott Guy M. xli, He appeared to wither into the shadow of himself. 1840 Dickens Lett. (1969) II. 51 Commend me to him though he does wear me to a shadow. 1847 C. M. Yonge Scenes & Characters xviii. 236 And poor Lily wearing herself to a shadow, in vain attempts to mend matters. 1887 Bowen Virg. æneid iii. 590 A stranger, by want to a shadow worn. 1977 Grimsby Even. Tel. 14 May 1/6 He was wearing himself to a shadow touring the country and Holland and Sweden trying to get new contracts. |
g. An attenuated remnant; a form from which the substance has departed. Also,
the shadow of a name (L.
nominis umbra), a shadowy or faintly surviving renown.
| a 1569 A. Kingsmill Godly Adv. (1580) 13 Least instead of a man, ye finde but the shadowe of a man. a 1674 Clarendon Hist. Reb. xv. §152 But his greatness at home was but a shadow of the glory he had abroad. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & Fall xvii. II. 29 The emperors themselves, who disdained the faint shadow of the republic. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. iv. iv, Who shall become the eloquent orator of Royalism, and earn the shadow of a name. 1862 Brougham Brit. Const. iii. 52 The prerogative of the Crown was reduced to a shadow. |
h. A slight or faint appearance, a small insignificant portion, a trace.
| 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) 8 Simple, plaine, and of the lowest and meanest stile, utterly devoide of any shadow of high and loftie speeches. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. iv. §18 (1743) 321 There was no shadow of reason, why [etc.]. 1736 Butler Anal. i. i. Wks. 1874 I. 28 There is not so much as this shadow of probability, to lead us to any such conclusion. 1831 Keble Serm. v. (1848) 113 For the shadow of anything like proof of it, we may search far and wide in vain. 1867 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) I. App. 774 There is not a shadow of evidence that Harold ever reigned as Under-king in England. |
7. A spectral form, phantom;
= shade n. 6.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints ii. (Paulus) 1151 Þan come a schadow full hugly, blak and blay, & stud hyme by. 1460 J. Capgrave Chron. (1858) 266 Eke he [Rich. II] thoute evyr that a schadow of a man walkid before him. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. i. i. 100 That so the shadowes be not vnappeased. ― Mids. N. iii. ii. 347 Beleeue me, King of shadowes, I mistooke. c 1590 Marlowe Faust. 146 And I..Will be as cunning as Agrippa was, Whose shadowes made all Europe honor him. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 264 Whom thus the meager Shadow answerd soon. 1790 Cowper Iliad ii. 71 At mine head The shadow took his stand. 1812 Cary Dante, Purg. viii. 45 To the valley now..let us descend; and hold Converse with those great shadows. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lxiv. 153 No handful of earth shall bury me, pass'd to the shadows. 1888 H. Morten Sk. Hosp. Life 48 Every second the silent shadow feared of man drew nearer. |
8. One that constantly accompanies or follows another like a shadow.
a. A parasite, toady; also (
= L.
umbra) a companion whom a guest brings without invitation.
| 1579 Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 40 Though the pryde of their shadowes (I meane those hangebyes whome they succour with stipend) cause them to be somewhat il talked of abroade. 1609 B. Jonson Sil. Wom. ii. ii, Laught at by the Lady of the Colledge, and her shadowes. 1639 Massinger Unnat. Combat iii. i, I must not haue my boord pester'd with shadowes, That under other mens protection breake in Without invitement. |
b. A spy or detective who follows a person in order to keep watch upon his movements.
Cf. shadow v. 12.
| 1859 Matsell Rogue's Lex. 78 Shadow, a first-class police officer, one who possesses naturally the power..to follow his quarry. 1890 Daily News 4 Oct. 4/6 The refusal of the magistrates to allow a policeman to be asked whether he was a ‘shadow’. 1908 Westm. Gaz. 8 Aug. 10/2 His duties as official police ‘shadow’ to the Prince of Wales. |
c. Westminster School. (See
quot.)
| 1884 Forshall Westminster Sch. 4 The master..called me to him, and along with me another boy, whom he assigned to me as my ‘Substance’. I was the ‘Shadow’. The ‘Substance’ was, for the space of a week, responsible for the proper conduct of his ‘Shadow’. 1903 F. Markham Recoll. Town Boy Westminster 231. |
d. Football. A player who marks (
mark v. 15 c) another player in the opposing team.
| 1976 Southern Even. Echo (Southampton) 15 Nov. 13/7 The rare occasions he outwitted his experienced close⁓marking shadow, Billy Tucker. 1976 Times 2 Dec. 12/2 The ability of Everton's forwards to escape from their marking shadows had been apparent throughout. |
† 9. An outline for a picture.
Obs.| 1656 Jeanes Fuln. Christ 14 Painters, whose first rude or imperfect draught is termed a shadow, or adumbration. |
10. Algebra. A symbol having no meaning apart from a symbol of another kind to which it is attached.
| 1898 A. N. Whitehead Univ. Algebra I. 87 The Greek letters have no meaning apart from the Roman letters to which they assign properties, and therefore should not be written alone. Let these Greek letters be called shadows or umbral letters; and let the Roman letters denoting regions be called regional letters. |
III. Shelter from light and heat.
11. a. Protection from the sun; shade. Now
rare.
† in the shadow = ‘in the shade’ (
shade n. 8 b).
‘Dry it in the shadow’ is a constant direction in pharmaceutical recipes in the 17th c.
| c 1350 Will. Palerne 754, & vnder a tri appeltre tok him tid a sete, Þat was braunched ful brode & bar gret schadue. c 1425 Cursor M. 8451 (Trin.) Vndir þe shadow of þat tre þe kynde of þingis lerned he. 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. ciii. [xcix.] 299 They shall be in the sonne and in great heate, and we shall be in the shadowe and in the fresshe ayre. 1601 Holland Pliny xxviii. ix. II. 320 Prepared they ought to bee and dressed, before Autumne, when they be new and fresh washed, & dried in the shaddow. |
† b. concr. That which affords shade.
Cf. 13.
| 1667 Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 402 Though an only son be inestimable, yet it is like Jonah's sin, to be angry at God for the withering of his shadow. |
† c. A shady place.
Obs.| 1526 Grete Herball lxii. (1529) D iv, Betony..groweth on hylles, woodes, & shadowes, and about trees. 1688 Holme Armoury ii. 176/1 A Shepheards Bower..[is] called Shades, or shaddows, by the Poets. |
† d. Retirement, seclusion.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1612 Bacon Ess., Of Gt. Place (Arb.) 280 They..are impatient of priuatenesse, euen in age and sicknesse, which require the shadow. |
12. a. Overshadowing (of wings, etc.), as affording security; protection or shelter from danger or observation.
| c 1200 Vices & Virtues 101 Vnder ðare scadewe of ðine fiðeres. a 1300 E.E. Psalter xvi. 10 Hile me vnder schadou of þi wenges twa. 1474 Caxton Chesse iv. viii. (1883) 187 Praynge your good grace to resseyue this lityll and symple book made vnder the shadowe of your noble protection. 1607 Shakes. Timon v. iv. 6 Such As slept within the shadow of your power. 1719 Watts Hymn, ‘O God our Help’ ii, Beneath the shadow of Thy throne Thy Saints have dwelt secure. 1821 Scott Kenilw. i, There is no treason, sure, in a man's enjoying his own thoughts, under the shadow of his own bonnet? 1827 ― Surg. Dau. xii, She is under the shadow of the British flag, and she shall experience its protection. 1871 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xviii. 106 Deeds were done under the shadow of his name which we may be sure that in his own heart he abhorred. |
† b. under the shadow of [
= Fr. † en l'ombre de,
sous (
l')ombre de,
It. sotto ombra di]:
= under colour of, on pretence of.
Obs.| 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cccxxvi. 206 b, He was nat worthy to holde any herytage in the realme of Fraunce, vnder the shadowe of his children. 1632 Lithgow Trav. iv. 146 He stroue (vnder the shaddow of inuented lies) to mitigate the fury of her..disdaine. |
† 13. Denoting various appliances for affording shade.
a. A handscreen; also a parasol, sunshade.
b. A woman's headdress, or a portion of a headdress, projecting forward so as to shade the face.
c. A tester or canopy for a bed.
Obs.| a. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies v. xxix. 418 They put vpon him certaine ensignes of feathers, with fannes, shadowes and other things. 1611 Cotgr., Ombraire, an Vmbrello, or shadow. Ibid., Ombrelle. |
| fig. 1623 Fletcher Rule Wife iii. (init.), Now you have got a shadow, an umbrella To keep the scorching worlds opinion From your fair credit. |
| b. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 116 Besides all this their shadows, their spottes, their lawnes, their leefekyes, their ruffes, their rings, shew them rather Cardinals curtisans, then modest Matrones. 1598 Florio, Velaregli, bone⁓graces, shadowes, vailes or launes that women vse to weare on their foreheads for the sunne. 1631 R. Knevet Rhodon & Iris iii. i. E 3, Shadowes, rebatos, ribbands, ruffes, cuffes and fals. 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 106 Lawne..is much used for fine necke-kerchers, and fine shadowes, and dressinges. |
| c. 1604 T. M. Black Bk. in Middleton's Wks. (Bullen) VIII. 25 The testern, or the shadow over the bed. |
14. Theatr. A penthouse or roof over the stage.
Obs. exc. Hist.| 1600 in Greg Henslowe Papers (1907) 5 W{supt}{suph} a shadowe or cover over the saide Stadge. 1831 J. P. Collier Dram. Poetry III. 305 The projecting tiled roof over the stage [at the ‘Fortune’] is called in this agreement ‘the shadow’, but it is also technically termed ‘the heavens’. |
IV. Comb. 15. a. Simple
attrib., as
shadow-side,
shadow-streak; (sense 4)
shadow-leaf,
shadow-pattern,
shadow-show,
shadow-tackle,
shadow-tracery,
shadow-train; (sense 4 c)
shadow-wave; (sense 7)
shadow-crown,
shadow-king,
shadow-patriarch,
shadow-shape,
shadow-wife,
shadow-word,
shadow-world; (sense 13)
shadow-plant;
shadow-like adj. (and
adv.); also quasi-adj.
= shady, as
† shadow ditch,
† shadow hedge,
† shadow hilet,
† shadow place,
† shadow tree.
| 1844 Mrs. Browning Vis. Poets cccxiv, The figure of a palm-branch brown Traced on its brightness up and down In fine fair lines,—a *shadow-crown. |
| 1568 Turner Herbal iii. 54 Nummularia..groweth by hedge sydes, and in *shaddowe ditches. |
| 1602 tr. Pastor Fido I1, Where a *shadow hedge [vna siepe ombrosa] doth close it in. |
| 1382 Wyclif Isa. iv. 6 And a tabernacle shal ben in to a *shadewe hilet of the dai, fro brennyng. |
| 1896 L. Eckenstein Wom. Monasticism 75 Ebruin..again became house-mayor to one of the *shadow kings, rois fainéants, the unworthy successors of the great Merovech. |
| 1957 C. Day Lewis Pegasus 55 Frecklings of sunlight and flickerings of *shadowleaf. |
| 1601 Holland Pliny xxxii. ix. II. 444 The garbage and skales of the *shadow-like Sciæna. 1623 Drummond of Hawthornden Flowres of Sion (1630) 31 Glories breath, which Shadow-like on wings of Time doth glide. 1863 I. Williams Baptistery i. Imag. xiii. (1874) 170 A something deep, And shadowlike, yet shadowless. |
| 1639 Fuller Holy War iii. ii. (1640) 111 Let those who are delighted with Sciographie, paint out..these *shadow-Patriarchs. |
| 1943 Koestler Arrival & Departure iii. 86 He stared at the ceiling of the dim room on which the shutters projected a streaky *shadow-pattern of grey and white ribs. 1967 E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage i. 32 Shadow patterns. If any three-dimensional object is suspended between a bright light and a sheet of white card or paper, and the object revolved, a series of patterns will be made by the shadow of the object on the card. |
| 1551 Turner Herbal i. E v b, Astragalus..groweth in places open to the wynde in *shadowe places. |
| 1885 A. Brassey The Trades 140 ‘*Shadow⁓plants’ which have to be grown in order to protect the young cacao-plants. |
| 1872 FitzGerald Omar (ed. 3) lxviii, We are no other than a moving row Of Magic *Shadow⁓shapes. |
| 1859 Ibid. xlvi, 'Tis nothing but a Magic *Shadow⁓show. |
| 1570 T. Wilson Demosth. Orat., Life 117 When the sunne was verie hote about noonetide, they both would go on the *shadow side of the Asse. 1890 Anthony's Photogr. Bull. III. 147 If the light is too strong on the nose it must be lowered by bringing up the shade on the cheek, especially on the shadow side. |
| 1833 Tennyson Pal. Art 76 The ragged rims of thunder brooding low, With *shadow-streaks of rain. |
| 1888 G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 72 Shivelights and *shadowtackle in long lashes lace, lance, and pair. |
| 1885 Warren & Cleverly Wand. Beetle 72 Lying on the sunny sward, dappled with the restless *shadow⁓tracery of the trees. |
| 1932 Auden in Rev. Eng. Stud. (1978) Aug. 282 A *shadow-train flitted foreshortened through fields. |
| 1602 tr. Pastor Fido F 3 b, Among these *shadow trees. |
| 1871 G. Macdonald Wks. Fancy & Imag. II. 11 Scaring *shadow-waves o'er fields of corn. |
| 1939 Auden & Isherwood Journey to War 279 Loss is their *shadow-wife. |
| 1932 D. H. Lawrence Etruscan Places ii. 42 Pelasgian is but a *shadow-word. 1957 E. Partridge English gone Wrong ii. 38 In the U.S.S.R., right is a shadow-word; and rights, something one possesses only theoretically. |
| 1853 *Shadow-world [see live v.1 5]. 1891 F. Thompson Sister Songs (1895) 50 A shadow-world, wherethrough the shadows wind Of all the loved and lovely of my kind. 1953 S. Spender Creative Element 93 What Lawrence protested against was not intellect but the kind of intellectualization whereby men create a shadow-world for themselves. |
b. Instrumental, as
shadow-chequered,
shadow-coloured,
shadow-dappled,
shadow-haunted,
shadow-hung,
shadow-peopled,
shadow-strokedshadow-vested,
shadow-winged adjs.; also similative, as
shadow-white adj.| 1830 Tennyson Arab. Nts. 102 Many a *shadow-chequer'd lawn. |
| 1947 K. Tennant Lost Haven x. 147 In these sweeps of land were *shadow-coloured birds and the beautiful midnight blue of the wild pigeons. 1952 R. Campbell tr. Baudelaire's Poems 43 When you're asleep, dear shadow-coloured wench. |
| 1857 Kingsley Two Y. Ago xxv, Gazing out over the *shadow-dappled lawn. |
| 1887 Morris Odyss. xii. 285 To wander o'er the *shadow-haunted sea. |
| 1913 ‘Saki’ When William Came (1914) xviii. 288 A grey *shadow-hung land which seemed to have been emptied of all things that belonged to the daytime. |
| 1820 Shelley Hymn Merc. xxix, But we will leave this *shadow-peopled cave And live among the Gods. |
| 1866 G. M. Hopkins Jrnls. & Papers (1959) 144 Prettily *shadow-stroked spikes of pale green grain. |
| 1832 Shelley Invoc. Misery i, *Shadow-vested Misery. |
| 1918 D. H. Lawrence New Poems 54 Into the shadow-white chamber silts the white Flux of another dawn. |
| 1871 Palgrave Lyr. Poems 131 *Shadow-winged night hovers nearer above. |
c. Objective, as
shadow-bringer,
shadow-fighter,
shadow-hunting,
shadow-maker,
shadow-painting,
shadow-pursuer;
shadow-bringing,
shadow-fighting,
shadow-grasping adjs.| 1902 W. S. Crockett Scott Country xix. 479 The great *Shadow-bringer was fast approaching. |
| 1730 Bailey (fol.), Umbriferous,..*Shadow-bringing. |
| 1845 Maurice Mor. Philos. in Encycl. Met. II. 582/1 He becomes a mere *shadow-pursuer and *shadow⁓fighter. |
| 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) I. 473 Locke..then addressed the *shadow-fighting champion in these words. |
| a 1644 Quarles Sol. Recant. vi. 81 Thou, whose *shadow⁓grasping hand even tires Vpon the vanity of thy vast desires. |
| 1856 Ruskin Mod. Paint. IV. v. v. §11 The strange shapes it [a cast shadow] gets into..cannot be imagined until one is actually engaged in *shadow-hunting. |
| a 1887 Jefferies Field & Hedgerow (1889) 226 That singular *shadow-painting seen on the wings of moths. |
16. a. Special comb., as
† shadow-adder (
tr. L.
coluber, pseudo-etymologically ‘qui colit umbram’), a serpent lurking in shady places;
shadow-band1, a company of or resembling phantoms;
shadow-band2, one of a series of parallel bands, alternately light and dark, seen passing over any light-coloured surface immediately before and after totality in a solar eclipse;
shadow-bird, a popular name for
Scopus umbretta, a bird of nocturnal habits native in Africa and Madagascar;
shadow box, a case with a protective transparent front in which is displayed a painting, jewel, etc.; also
attrib.;
shadow-box v. intr. and trans., to box (against) an imaginary opponent, as a form of training; also
fig.; so
shadow-boxing vbl. n.;
shadow-building (see
quot.);
shadow canoe (
cf. shadow-building);
shadow catcher, (
a) one who grasps at and retains trifles; (
b) a photographer;
shadow-check (see
quot. 1957); chiefly
attrib.;
shadow cretonne,
-print,
-tissue, a reversible material having a woven-in pattern which gives a shadowy, blurred effect;
† shadow dial, ? a sundial;
shadow embroidery = shadow work below;
shadow-fight, a fighting with shadows (
i.e. imaginary foes), or a fight between shadows, a sciamachy;
shadow figure, a silhouette;
= shadow puppet below;
shadow-fish = sciæna;
† shadow grass, ?
Luzula sylvatica;
shadow-grey a. and n., (a) dark grey;
shadow-half,
-part, ‘that portion of land which lies towards the north, or is not exposed to the sun’ (
Jam.);
† shadow-house, a summer-house;
shadow lace, a lace with an indistinct pattern;
shadow-light, a reflected light;
shadow-line, (
a)
= line of shadows (sense 4 d); (
b) a line cast by the shadow of an upright post or by the gnomon of a sun-dial;
shadow mask Television, a perforated metal screen situated directly behind the phosphor screen in certain types of colour television tube, and having a pattern of precisely located holes through which the electron beams pass so as to strike the correct dots on the phosphor screen;
freq. attrib., as
shadow-mask tube;
shadow-photograph, a picture taken by means of the Röntgen rays; hence
shadow-photography;
shadow-picture, (
a) a shadow-photograph; (
b) a picture formed by a shadow (
usu. of a person's hand or hands) thrown upon a screen or other surface (
cf. shadowgraph 1);
shadow-pin (see
quot.);
shadow-play, a play in which the actors appear as shadows cast upon a screen placed between the stage and the auditorium; also, a puppet play of the shadow theatre; also
attrib. and
fig.;
† shadow-plough, ? a
plough (sense 3 a) on the shady part of an estate;
shadow-price (see
quot. 1965); also
transf.; hence
shadow-pricing vbl. n.;
shadow print: see
shadow cretonne above;
shadow puppet, a puppet used in a shadow play;
shadow-script (?
nonce-use), markings in shadow;
shadow-site, an archaeological site revealed by shadowing on the ground;
shadow-stick, an upright post used for casting a shadow line;
shadow-stitch, (
a) ‘in
Lace-making, a mode of using the bobbins so as to produce delicate openwork borderings and the like’ (
Cent. Dict. 1891); (
b) a criss-cross embroidery stitch used on sheer materials for filling in spaces, and which, being worked on the wrong side, shows through on the right side in a shadowy way with an outline resembling a back-stitch;
shadow stripe (see
quots. 1940, 1947); so
shadow-striped a.;
shadow tag N. Amer. (see
quot. 1977);
shadow test, (
a) a method of finding out by refraction whether an eye is myopic or hypermetropic; (
b) a method of examining the outer side of an eye affected with cataract in its second stage (
Syd. Soc. Lex. 1898);
shadow theatre, a form of puppetry in which flat figures are passed between a strong light and a translucent screen, the audience watching on the other side of the screen; also, a place where such puppet shows are performed;
shadow tissue: see
shadow cretonne above;
shadow work, embroidery done in shadow-stitch; also
attrib. and
fig.| 1382 Wyclif Prov. xxiii. 32 It shal bite as a *shadewe eddere. |
| 1891 C. Dawson Avonmore 156 In dear memory's hallowed land They move a silent *shadow band. 1900 S. P. Langley in Science 22 June 977 (Cent. Suppl.) Shadow bands were seen. 1905 Westm. Gaz. 1 Sept. 6/3 The shadow-bands were splendidly exhibited before and after totality. |
| 1869–73 T. R. Jones Cassell's Bk. Birds IV. 62 The Hammer-head, or *Shadow-bird. |
| 1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., *Shadow-box..n. 1969 [see optical a. 2 c]. 1973 Houston Chron. 21 Oct. 18 (Advt.), Giant hutch mirror with shadow-box frame and shelves. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 17 Jan. 14/1 (Advt.), This stunning golden shadow box pendant. |
| 1924 S. Lewis Free Air i. 8 She fought the steering-wheel as though she were *shadow-boxing. 1927 [see punch-bag s.v. punch n.2 3]. 1932 H. S. Drago Champ i. 15 Andy protested that it wasn't necessary as he shadow-boxed an imaginary opponent. 1951 Scott. Jrnl. Theol. IV. 321 Unlike many Fundamentalists he is aware that the battle has passed into new phases and he is not satisfied to shadow box on deserted fields. 1971 Nature 22 Oct. 510/1 These representatives of European governments are still shadow⁓boxing with each other. 1977 Time 19 Dec. 68/2 It was O.K. to shadowbox at a professional gym. |
| 1919 E. Corri Refereeing 1,000 Fights 69 The mascot stripped to the waist to do some *shadow boxing. 1939 Sun (Baltimore) 17 Feb. 10/1 Shadow boxing over the selection of a site for the Leakin Memorial Park will continue next week. 1966 Illustr. London News 10 Sept. 10/3 But in any case, the gnomes know that a good deal of what is going on is ‘shadow-boxing’. 1978 A. Garve Counterstroke i. 60 He did a little shadow boxing and some skipping. |
| 1891 Winn Boating Man's Vade-M. 9 The construction of small boats without regard to particular lines and without special intermediate dimensions is termed ‘*Shadow building’. |
| 1883 Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 197 Full-size whale boat, dories, *shadow canoe,..Indian birch canoe, &c. |
| 1774 Mitford Ess. Harmony Lang. 53 note, Such a *shadow-catcher as I. Vossius..seems to have been. 1907 N. & Q. Ser. x. VII. 67 A firm of photographers in Bishopsgate Street are now describing themselves as ‘Shadow-catchers’. |
| 1908 Sears, Roebuck Catal. 1058/2 The background is a fairly dark *shadow check effect. 1957 Terms & Definitions (Textile Inst.) (ed. 3) 89 Shadow stripe.., an effect, due to different reflections of light, produced in woven fabrics by employing yarns of different physical properties, usually of ‘S’ and ‘Z’ twist, in warp or weft (or in both, when it becomes a shadow check). 1960 Woman 23 Apr. 9/1 Dainty shadow-check shirt-waisters. |
| 1932 Sale Catal., Made of good quality *Shadow Cretonne. 1943 E. Bowen Seven Winters 48 Pink-and-cream ‘shadow’ cretonne. 1973 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Starry Bird xviii. 284 His bruises stood out like shadow cretonne on a chesterfield. |
| 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. vii. A aaa 2, A Globe with two Pole-Dials, and one *Shadow-Dial. |
| 1920 J. Hergesheimer Linda Condon ii. 11 *Shadow embroidery and fine shell edges. |
| 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) I. 471 Who is that antagonist whom he bumps and pummels so furiously in his *shadow⁓fight? 1816 Coleridge Statesm. Man. 34 While the latter present a shadow-fight of Things and Quantities, the former gives us the history of Men. |
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 311 The *shadow-figures sold this winter by one of my informants were of Mr. and Mrs. Manning, the Queen, Prince Albert [etc.]. 1935 H. Edib Clown & his Daughter xliii. 240 It meant that she could easily buy a leather set of shadow figures for Tewfik. 1976 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts Apr. 254/2 Flat Figures and Shadow Figures are a distinct type of puppet... In the Shadow Theatre the figures are placed between a light and a translucent screen. |
| 1598 Epulario F iiij b, To dresse a Latus or *shadow fish. 1705 Dale Pharmacol. Suppl. 348 Umbra... The Grunter or Shadow-Fish. |
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal i. vi. 8 Wood grasse or *Shadow grasse. |
| 1918 W. Beebe Jungle Peace (1919) ii. 26 The *shadow-grey sea. 1932 Sale Catal., A beautiful quality plain silk... Shades:..shadow grey and gunmetal. |
| 1505 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 600/2, 6 mercatas terrarum bine partis de Smythtoun de Noth, viz., le *Schaddow-half earundem. |
| 1574 Ibid. 1585, 263/1 The *schaddow or myd thrid part and how schaddow thrid part. 1586–7 Reg. Privy Council Scot. IV. 149 With the barnis, byris, biggingis and uthiris abonespecifeit standing upoun the shaddow halff thairof. 1869 C. Leslie Family Leslie III. 45 George Leslie of Tocher granted a charter of the shadow half of the town and lands of Drumdurno. |
| 1649 in Archæologia X. 419 One garden summer or *shadowe house. |
| 1914–15 T. Eaton Catal. Fall & Winter 32 All White Evening Dress of Paillette Silk and Allover *Shadow Lace. 1977 C. McCullough Thorn Birds iii. 61 His mother clad in a long bustled gown of palest pink shadow lace. |
| 1623 Drummond of Hawthornden Flowres of Sion (1630) 6 Of which that golden Eye, which cleares the Skies, Is but..a *Shadow light. |
| 1764 J. Ferguson Lect. 207 So as the uppermost edge of the shadow of the gnomon may just cover the *shadow-line. 1900 Jrnl. Sch. Geog. (U.S.) Jan. 2 The shadow-line is marked at each hour during the school day. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 17 Oct. 4/2 They watched the slowly moving shadow-line and cast sorrowful glances towards the erratic clocks in the neighbourhood. |
| 1951 Proc. IRE XXXIX. 1187/1 The first public demonstration of..*shadow-mask color tubes..was made in March, 1950. Ibid. 1188/2 The triangular pattern [of holes] was chosen for the shadow mask in experimental tubes primarily because of its mechanical properties. 1965 Wireless World July 354/2 The Mullard colour-selection shadow mask with graded holes. 1975 K. Wicks Television 54 The most common type of picture tube in use today is the shadow⁓mask tube. |
| 1896 Daily News 13 Feb. 2/1 At least two years ago a German scientist took what are now called *shadow photographs in a small way. |
| Ibid., ‘*Shadow photography’, nevertheless, is the term that has ‘caught on’. |
| 1889 J. Pollard Plays & Games for Little Folks 32 *Shadow Pictures. In order to make these pictures show well on the wall, there must be but one lamp in the room, and that must stand back of the performer. 1896 McClure's Mag. VI. 415/2 A Crookes tube..with which he has taken all his shadow pictures. 1977 O. Schell China (1978) iii. 244 At break we sit on the freshly turned earth and make shadow pictures with our hands. |
| 1891 Naut. Mag. Sept. 809 The *shadow-pin..attached to a compass card, to indicate the bearing of the sun at noon. |
| 1890 Champlin & Bostick Young Folks' Cycl. Games & Sports 625/2 *Shadow plays, plays in which not the actors, but their shadows, are seen by the audience. 1895 Mrs. Grindrod Siam 49 Burlesques, comedies introducing current events, and shadow-plays, are productive of much mirth at fair-times. 1900 W. W. Skeat Malay Magic vi. 514 Another very characteristic performance is the Shadow-Play. 1910 Handbk. Ethnogr. Coll. Brit. Mus. 102 The first two forms of Wayang are shadow-plays, the puppets being cut from leather. 1932 E. Waugh Black Mischief iii. 92 He liked..to appear in society..to survey the shadow-play of fashion. 1938 Burlington Mag. Aug. 87/2 Shadow-play puppets. 1964 Catal. National Mus. Kuala Lumpur 3/1 The shadow play exhibit is arranged so that the visitor can see backstage and learn how the figures are manipulated during the drama. 1971 Country Life 17 June 1544/1 A shadow play, the Wayang Kulit of parchment puppet figures manipulated from behind a lamplit screen. |
| 1544 in Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 1587, 402/1 Octo bovatas terre..vocatas the *Schaddow-pleuch of Sonny⁓syde. |
| 1965 A. Waterston Development Planning ix. 322 If the true economic cost of a project is to be determined in situations where market prices are out of line..it may be necessary to ‘adjust’ the prevailing prices by estimating the extent to which they deviate from ‘equilibrium’ prices. The adjusted prices, variously known as ‘*shadow’ or ‘accounting’ prices, are then substituted for prevailing prices and used to determine real costs and benefits to an economy and to compare the project under consideration with other projects on a comparable basis. 1970 S. L. Barraclough in I. L. Horowitz Masses in Lat. Amer. iv. 157 Should labor be counted as a cost valued at current wage rates when there are no alternative job opportunities? If not, what ‘shadow prices’ should be used? 1981 Sci. Amer. June 116/3 Marginal values are sometimes called shadow prices or imputed prices. |
| 1965 A. Waterston Development Planning ix. 323 *Shadow-pricing can also permit valid comparisons to be made of a public sector project with a private sector project. 1976 Nature 8 July 84/1 Does this justify the attachment of a money-tag to all values, even though this means what economists call ‘shadow pricing’ (for example, the ‘value’ of a view of the South Downs is the extra cost of not defacing the view if a road or a line of electric pylons has to be built in the neighbourhood)? |
| 1926 G. G. Denny Fabrics (ed. 2) i. 111 Warp print or *shadow print. Silks, ribbons and cretonnes woven with plain filling on a printed warp which gives a faint and shadowy design. 1968 J. Ironside Fashion Alphabet 246 Shadow print, the warp yarns are printed with the design before weaving, giving a shadowy print effect. |
| 1923 H. W. Whanslow Everybody's Theatre, & How to make It iv. 42 A fine collection of these Javanese *shadow puppets. 1971 H. Trevelyan Worlds Apart iii. 43 There were the ingenious hand-made toys, the shadow-puppets manipulated on sticks. |
| 1898 Edin. Rev. Apr. 312 The Fraunhofer spectrum, being a *shadow-script on a bright ground. |
| 1929 O. G. S. Crawford Air-Photography for Archaeologists 3/1 Inequalities in the surface of the ground produce shadows. All sites where remains are visible on the ground fall into this class. They may be called *shadow-sites. 1946 R. J. C. Atkinson Field Archaeol. I. 47 Shadow-sites are those whose surface is irregular, consisting of banks, mounds, ditches and terraces whose presence is revealed by the shadows they cast when seen in the low light of the rising or setting sun. |
| 1900 Jrnl. Sch. Geog. (U.S.) Jan. 2 The *shadow-stick aids in teaching latitude. |
| 1882 Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework 248 *Shadow Stitch..is used in Pillow Lace making to form the shadow of a pattern, to fill in the inside of curves [etc.]. 1932 Mod. Woman Feb. 56/1 This shadow stitch is just like herring-boning worked rather closely together... It gives you the shape of the leaf outlined in back-stitch on the right side and padded with long, crossed stitches on the wrong. |
| 1932 Pontings Whitsun Sales Catal. 11 Morning Washing Frock for the larger than stock size in *shadow stripe art. silk. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 762/2 Shadow stripes,..cotton cloths, of plain or satin weave, in which stripes are produced by using warp yarns of different directions of twist. The shadow effect is due to light being reflected in different directions by the different twists. 1947 J. Stevenson-Hamilton Wild Life S. Afr. vi. 52 Burchell's zebra..‘Shadow stripes’, that is to say light brown bands impinged upon the white ground which separates the black markings. |
| 1930 Economist 18 Oct. 713/1 As a result a substantial amount of business was booked, principally in *shadow striped poplins. |
| 1969 I. & P. Opie Children's Games ii. 86 The game [sc. Shadow Touch] is also played in Canada and the United States (‘*Shadow Tag’). 1977 Hartford (Conn.) Courant 6 June 15/3 There was ‘Shadow Tag’ on sunny days—the ‘It’ player ran after the others, trying to jump on a shadow with a foot. |
| 1884 H. E. Juler Ophthalmic Sci. & Pract. xiv. 363 The two following [methods] are very useful in estimating refraction; in both the ophthalmoscopic mirror alone is employed, and is held at a considerable distance from the eye. The first of these may be called the ‘Fundus-Image’ test; the other has been called ‘Retinoscopy’, but would be more appropriately designated by some such term as ‘*Shadow Test’. 1889 G. A. Berry Dis. of Eye xiv. 462 It has been called the shadow test because attention is directed perhaps more to the dark shadow which borders the illuminated area than to the area itself. 1964 S. Duke-Elder Parsons' Dis. of Eye (ed. 14) vii. 69 Retinoscopy, or, more correctly, skiascopy or the shadow test, is the most practicable method of estimating the conditions of the refraction objectively. |
| 1923 H. W. Whanslow Everybody's Theatre, & How to make It iv. 41 China..has had its *shadow-theatres for many centuries. 1932 J. Nicoll tr. Van Boehn's Dolls & Puppets viii. 35 The Chinese shadow theatre..has no public, and the educated classes pay no attention to it now. 1970 Guardian 22 July 20 Mr P. L. Amin Sweeney, who has just gained a Ph.D. for a thesis on the Malay shadow theatre, yesterday demonstrated the art with a lamp, a screen, and 40 flat hide puppets. |
| 1920 Queen 3 Apr. 17 (Advt.), *Shadow Tissue. 1939–40 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 1073/2 Shadow tissues at 1/3 per yard. |
| 1919 ‘C. Dane’ Legend 94, I possess that underlying *shadow-work (I admit it's no more) of fact to guide me in deciphering her method in the first book. 1932 D. C. Minter Mod. Needlecraft 25/1 If the material is very transparent, a white thread on a white ground is..effective. This ‘shadow work’, as it is called.., can be prettily used on collars and cuffs and small articles. 1932 Mod. Woman Feb. 56 The shadow work tea cloth and cosy. 1967 Shadow work [see pattern darning s.v. pattern n. 13 b]. |
b. Designating members of an opposition party nominated as counterparts of members of the government in power holding cabinet or other offices, or the offices held, as
shadow cabinet,
shadow minister,
shadow ministry, etc.
| 1906 A. J. Balfour Let. in Ld. Newton Ld. Lansdowne (1929) 354 If we are to have, as you suggest, a Committee consisting of members selected from the Front Bench in both Houses,..what we should really have would be a shadow Cabinet once a week. 1925 J. O'Connor Hist. Ireland 1798–1924 II. xxiii. 302 The Dail might go on to the crack of doom passing secret resolutions, appointing shadow ministers, [etc.]. 1953 Earl Winterton Orders of Day p. xi, I was in Mr. Churchill's ‘Shadow Cabinet’ from 1945 to 1950. 1958 Spectator 20 June 799/2 The Chancellors and Shadow-Chancellors. 1965 New Statesman 19 Mar. 436/2 Mr Ernest Marples, ‘Shadow’ Minister of Technology, will start work today at the English Electric Leo-Marconi works at Kidsgrove, Staffs. 1970 C. Hampton Philanthropist ii. 18 The Shadow Minister of Health..was hit in the ankle by a ricochet. 1973 Ottawa Jrnl. 21 Feb. 29/2 Opposition Leader Stanfield and his shadow cabinet have been using it to try and discredit Liberal economic policies in advance of the budget. 1976 H. Wilson Governance of Britain vii. 150 As shadow chancellor, I had..made some strong comments on some of the projects. Ibid. viii. 158 The Conservative leader..also nominates the members of the so-called Shadow Cabinet and allocates the shadow ‘portfolios’. 1977 M. Walker National Front iii. 57 The Shadow Home Secretary..supported the motion. 1980 Austral. Financial Rev. 11 Apr. 15/2 Labor's energy policy for the next Federal election, which was unveiled..by the Leader of the Opposition.. and the Shadow Minister for Minerals and Energy. |
c. Designating organizations, structures, etc., built or instituted to substitute for or duplicate those existing in an emergency or to fulfil special needs,
esp. before and during the war of 1939–45. Also as
adj.| 1936 Economist 31 Oct. 195/2 There was the scheme for the ‘shadow’ industry... This..was to consist of a set of new factories built at the expense of the Government, but supplied with skilled labour and management by the private companies. 1937 Sunday Express 24 Jan. 14/2 Experts other than Lord Nuffield have doubts whether the Government's shadow factory system for air-craft production is wise or workable in war time. 1938 Times 16 Mar. 7/2 Both in the regular industry..and in the shadow scheme, which was designed as a reinforcement and an insurance, engines were somewhat ahead of air⁓frames. 1939 Sun (Baltimore) 6 July 1/5 The factories themselves, conventional and ‘shadow’, are turning out a certain number of aircraft and engines each month—the actual number could not be learned. 1939 Air Ann. Brit. Empire 3 The Standard Motor Company is also concerned in shadow manufacture of new engine components. 1940 Ann. Reg. 1939 20 The whole ‘shadow’ organisation should be in a position to function as soon as an emergency arose. 1944 Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XLVIII. 370 Considerable experience had been gained by the Bristol Co., in their licence manufacture all over the world, which had already taught them the method of laying out drawings and preparing data remote from the parent factory, and this was of the utmost help in getting going on the ‘shadow’ production. 1946 R.A.F. Jrnl. May 160 He may have spent his last few years before donning a uniform on a war job in a shadow factory—a shadow factory which, with the coming of peace, has now closed. 1980 J. Ditton Copley's Hunch ii. iv. 178 The war came..then they put up one of those shadow factories at—well, I'd best not say where. |
Add:
[8.] e. = work-shadow s.v. *
work n. IV. 34 d. (orig
U.S.).
| 1973 H. F. Wolcott Man in Principal's Office i. 2 The principals whom I met volunteered a number of descriptive titles for my role, such as ‘anthropologist in residence’, ‘assistant without portfolio’, ‘lap dog’, and ‘shadow’. Ultimately the last term became my nickname. Ibid. 3, I intended to pursue him as his ‘shadow’; maintaining a constant written record of what I observed in behavior and conversation; attending formal and informal meetings, [etc.]. 1985 (title) Shadows. Schoolgirls in Industry—helping women reach the top. (Dept. Trade & Industry). Ibid. 4 ‘I learned a great deal, not only about the daily work of a manager, but also the workings of her office..,’ Shadow—Lucinda Dalziel. 1988 D. Lodge Nice Work i. iii. 54 A genuine, inward understanding of..work is obtained by the shadow, which could not be obtained by a simple briefing or organized visit. 1989 Daily Tel. 6 June 17/7 All the ‘shadows’ I have had lose their preconceived notion that accountants are men in pinstriped suits lacking any sense of humour. |
▪ II. shadow, v. (
ˈʃædəʊ)
Forms: 3–4
shadu, 3–5
schadow, 4
sseduy, 4–5
shadew,
-dwe,
schadew(e, 4, 6
schadou, 4–7
shadowe, 4, 6–7
shaddow, 5
schado,
schad(o)we, 6
schaddow,
shad(d)o, 6–8
shaddowe, 4–
shadow.
[OE. sceadwian f. sceado shadow n. (cf. OS. skadowan, skadoian, OHG. scatewen, also OE. ofer-sceadwian overshadow v., and its Teut. equivalents).] 1. a. trans. To protect or shelter (a person or thing) from the sun; to shade. Now
rare or
Obs.| a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 1511 Whan he was to that welle comen, That shadowid was with braunches grene. 1530 Palsgr. 699/2 The sonne can nat come hyther, yonder house shadoweth me. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 98 Against the heat of the sun..shadow them as wel as you may. 1630 R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 69 The Land is..shadowed with huge woods. 1675 Covel in Early Voy. Levant (Hakl. Soc.) 202 Two more in like manner went fanning him all the way and shadowing him (for it was about ten o'clock, and a most excessive hot day). 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 48 These..Stones..make a kind of pavement at top to shadow and protect the Substructure. |
† b. refl. To obtain shade, take shelter from the sun.
Obs.| 1340 Ayenb. 97 Ine þe ssede of þise trawe him ssel guod herte sseduy. 1530 Palsgr. 700/1, I wyll go shadowe my selfe under yonder fayre oke. 1648 Gage West Ind. 69 A rock, under which they shadowed themselves. 1682 Lister Gœdart Of Insects 138 These Spiders delight to be about the herbe Balm; and in Summer time they shaddow them⁓selves under it. |
† c. intr. for refl. Obs.| a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) Z j, Agaynste enuye is no..thycke wodde to shadowe in. 1607 Norden Surv. Dial. v. 205, I find that under these trees the grasse is most rancke and fruitefull,..by reason of..the cattle sheltring and shadowing under them. |
2. a. trans. To shelter or protect as with covering wings; to enfold with a protecting and beneficent influence;
= overshadow v. Chiefly in Biblical use.
Obs. exc. poet. with
over.
| c 1000 Lambeth Ps. xc. 4 His sculdrum he scaduaþ þe [obumbrabit tibi]. a 1325 Prose Ps. xc. 4 And he shal shadow þe wyþ hys shulderis. c 1420 Hoccleve Lam. Green Tree 18 in Reg. Princes App. p. xxxvii, O holy gost,..That of heye vertue shadowist me. c 1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Gilbert xxxv. 112 Þe commemoraciones of holy seyntis used in þe cherch, be whech we be schadowyd fro wyndes of temptaciones. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 202 The holy goost shall comme ouer the, and the vertue or myght of the moost hye god shall shadowe the. 1595 Shakes. John ii. i. 14 You giue his offspring life, Shadowing their right vnder your wings of warre. 1830 Tennyson Supposed Confess. 181 Let Thy dove Shadow me over, and my sins Be unremember'd. |
¶ b. intr. with
prep. on,
over,
up (
= L.
obumbrare with
super), in the same senses.
Obs. rare.
| a 1300 E.E. Psalter cxxxix. 8 [cxl. 7] Lauerd..Þou schadowed ouer mi heued in dai ofe fighte. a 1325 Prose Psalter, Þou shadued, Lord, vp min heuede. 1382 Wyclif, Thou al aboute shadewedest on myn hed. |
† 3. a. trans. To screen, protect from attack.
Obs.| 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. i. xix. 56 A rowte of folke on horsbake that ouer ranne about the felde here and there for to shadowe theyre fote men. 1558 Ld. Wentworth Let. to Q. Mary 2 Jan. Cal. State Pap., For. 1553–8, 355 The enemy, shadowing themselves under the turnpike wall..kept themselves so secure that the pieces from the bridge could not touch them. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres v. iii. 154 The Cauallerie, in their quarters.., would be defended and shadowed by the Infanterie. |
† b. In immaterial sense: To be a security or protection to; to take under one's protection or patronage; to screen from blame or punishment, or from wrong. Also, to put (oneself, one's rights, etc.) under the protection of another.
Obs.| a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VI, 127 b, And so, shadowed with this counsaill..he tooke a determinate peace. 1565 J. Phillip Patient Grissell 2116 (Malone Soc.), Shadow and defend them, with thy glorious spright. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. I. 161/1 Though she were no nun, yet the offense seemed verie heinous, for that he should not once touch anie woman shadowed vnder that habit. 1588 Greene Pandosto Ep. Ded. (1607) A 2 b, But I hope my willing minde shall excuse my slender skill, and your Honours courtesie shadowe my rashnesse. 1621 Fletcher Isl. Princess iii. i, Was't not enough I saw thou wert a Coward, And shadowed thee? 1630 R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 420 He invaded Livonia.., which had shadowed it selfe under the protection of the said Sigismund. 1704 Trapp Abra-Mulé i. ii. 286 Those Laurels which his conqu'ring Sword has won Should shadow this Miscarriage. |
4. a. To cast a shadow upon, to cover or obscure with a shadow.
| 1382 Wyclif Acts v. 15 That..the schadowe of him schulde schadowe [Vulg. obumbraret] ech of hem. [Similarly Tindale 1526.] 1414 Brampton Penit. Ps. (Percy Soc.) 64 (Harl. MS.), My dayes..ben shadowed and waxen drye and derke. 1563 Shute Archit. D iiij b, The Proiecture, shalbe as before..sauing onely that Mutili shall hange ouer so farre as ye maye conueniently not hyddinge or shadowing his Cymatium. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. vii. 56 The warlike Elfe much wondred at this tree, So faire and great, that shadowed all the ground. 1613 Chapman Maske Inns Court, Her tresses in tucks braided with siluer: The hinder part shadowing in waues her shoulders. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing ii. ¶1 When the Compositer is at work the Light may come in on his Left-hand; for else his Right-hand..might shadow the Letter he would pick up. 1795 Southey Joan of Arc x. 168 The dark battalions of the foe Shadowing the distant plain. 1825 Scott Talism. xxiii, The features..no longer shadowed by the mass of hair. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xlv[i], The path we came by, thorn and flower, Is shadow'd by the growing hour. |
† b. In
pass. of a shadow: To be ‘cast’ by an object. (If the reading be genuine: other
MSS. read ‘shadwe’.)
| c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. 212 (Camb. MS.) Certis a schadewe hat the liknesse of the thyng of whiche it is schadewid. |
c. intr. To cast a shadow. Now
rare.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 42 On huyle þer perle hit trendeled doun, Schadowed þis wortez ful schyre & schene. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xviii. 431 May no grysly gost glyde þere it [the cross] shadweth. 1513 Douglas æneis iv. Prol. 2 Thow bricht Cytheria, Quhilk only schaddowist amang sterris lite. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 100 To seek the brook that down the meadows glides, Where the grey willow shadows by its sides. 1847 Tennyson Princess v. 515 As comes a pillar of electric cloud,..shadowing down the champaign till it strikes On a wood. |
d. To grow dark or gloomy. Also
transf.| 1888 Harper's Mag. Apr. 753 Evening shadowed; the violet deepened. 1891 Meredith One of Conq. III. 12 ‘There's the mother too’, said he; and Nesta saw that the ladies shadowed. |
† 5. trans. To intercept or dim the light of (the sun or other luminary).
Obs.| c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode ii. xl. (1869) 91 Whan the sunne is shadewed, and at time of miday is shoven vnder a cloude. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. IV, 1 The bright glory of the triumphant Rome was eclipsed and shadowed. 1561 B. Googe Palingenius' Zodiac Life i. B j, As the sonne behinde the cloude, or shadowde of the moone. 1608 Willet Hexapla Exod. 117 They are in such multitudes that they shadow the sun. a 1633 Austin Medit. (1635) 42 He [Christ] was borne in the Night, to shew that the dignity and glory of his Godhead was shaddowed and darkened with the Night, and vaile of our flesh. |
† 6. a. To screen from view or knowledge; to keep dark, conceal.
Obs.| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) VII. 369 Thenkynge to schado his rape by the simplicite of seynte Wulstan. 1436 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 501/1 Under ye umbre of such vidimus, all an hole Navye of Adversaries myght been and been shadewed. c 1560 Trag. Rich. II (1870) 51 You and I will heere shadowe ourselues, and writ downe the speches. 1581 G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. ii. (1586) 71 Manie, to the ende they may be taken for others then they are, vse to shadow the trueth. 1588 Kyd Househ. Philos. Wks. (1901) 257 Neyther are their [women's] faces shadowed with beards. 1605 Shakes. Macb. v. iv. 5 Let euery Souldier hew him downe a Bough, And bear't before him, thereby shall we shadow The numbers of our Hoast. 1608 Middleton Mad World iii. i. 29 Though I shadow it, that sweet virgin's sickness grieves me not lightly! |
b. ? To clothe (a person)
with a garment, to wrap, enfold.
| 1605 B. Jonson Masque of Blackness, Oceanus..shaddowed with a robe of sea-greene. Ibid., Niger..shaddowed with a blue, and bright mantle. |
7. a. To represent by a shadow or imperfect image; to indicate obscurely or in slight outline; to symbolize, typify, prefigure. Now chiefly with
adv. forth,
out.
| 1575 tr. Marlorat's Apocalips 47 The mysterie of the election and sealyng vp of Gods children by the holie Ghoste, seemeth too be ryghte trimly shadowed vnder this figure of speeche. 1606 Bacon Consid. Plant. Irel. Resuscit. (1657) 257 That Glorious Embleme or Allegory, wherein the wisdome of Antiquity, did figure, and shadowe out, works of this Nature. 1625 T. Godwin Moses & Aaron vi. viii. 312 By the same foure [creatures], in the opinion of many of the Fathers, are shadowed forth the foure Euangelists. 1697 Dryden æneid Ded. (b) 2, Augustus is still shadow'd in the Person of æneas. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 327 ¶5 Tho' the Catastrophe of the Poem is finely presag'd on this Occasion, the Particulars of it are so artfully shadow'd, that they do not anticipate the Story which follows in the ninth Book. 1715 J. Chappelow Right way Rich (1717) 18 As the times grew nearer that dispensation which they shadowed out. 1820 Shelley Prometheus i. 247 Tremendous Image, as thou art must be He whom thou shadowest forth. 1843 Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xxix. 370 Some of them [i.e. symptoms] will be faintly shadowed out, or altogether absent. 1894 Knowledge 1 May 99/2, I have ventured..to shadow forth what I believe will be the most hopeful principle on which to mount a monster reflecting telescope. |
† b. intr. To hint
at something.
Obs.| 1621 R. Brathwait Nat. Embassie (1877) 150 My purpose is rather to shadow at some, then amply to dilate on all. |
† 8. trans. To portray, paint the likeness of; to draw or paint (a picture).
Obs. Very common in Lyly and some of his contemporaries.
| 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 58 It surpasseth all the pictures shadowed with the painters pencill. 1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 213 The first picture that Phydias the first Paynter shadowed, was the portraiture of his owne person. 1584 B. R. tr. Herodotus ii. 89 A Phœnix..I neuer saw but portrayed and shadowed in coloures. 1589 Lodge Scillaes Met. D 3, The pencile man that with a careles hand Hath shaddowed Venus, hates his slack regard. 1603 H. Crosse Vertues Commw. (1878) 130 Apelles would not loose a day without shadowing a phisnomie. 1615 W. Lawson Country Housew. Gard. (1626) 36 This is the best forme of a fruit⁓tree, which I haue here only shadowed out for the better capacity of them that are led more with the eye, than the mind. 1635 H. Gellibrand in J. W[ells] Sciographia {fatpara}3 b, Others voice it on that witty Samian Aristarchus,..as first shadowing out the houre lines on a Plane. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. vii. iv. 8 The Stile..you may make with Copper.., in form as you see shadowed. |
† 9. To depict the shadows in (an object, a scene); to place the shadows in (a picture or a part of it); to shade.
Obs.| 1612 Peacham Gentl. Exerc. i. ix. 29 The shinbone from the knee to the instep, is made by shadowing one halfe of the leg with a single shadow. 1674 Leybourn Surv. 311 Vmber is good to shadow upon Gold. 1682 T. A. Carolina 23 A deep Green, shadow'd with a Murry. 1714 Jervas Let. to Pope 20 Aug., I have done Homer's head, shadow'd and heighten'd carefully. 1735 Dict. Polygraph. II. H h 4, Umber is shadowed with umber burnt... Masticote is shadowed with red orpiment. c 1790 J. Imison Sch. Art II. 2 With the pencil and gold size touch the places you would have shadowed. 1821 Craig Lect. Drawing, etc. vii. 367 He cannot by means of his art singly, delineate and shadow the face and person of his friend. |
10. intr. † a. To be tinged
with a darker colour.
Obs. † b. To agree in shade of colour
with (in
quot. fig.); to border or verge
upon a certain colour.
Obs. c. (Also
pass.) To pass by degrees, shade off
to or
into a certain hue; also
fig.| 1648 J. Goodwin Right & Might 32 Nor doth the Act of the Army in that dissociation of the Parliament..colour, or shadow (in the least) with the act of the King, breaking into their House. 1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. Boccalini's Pol. Touch-stone (1674) 256 [She] is of so sallow a complexion, that she shadows upon the Moor. 1666 W. Boghurst Loimogr. (1894) 39 A urine shadowing with a greenish black. 1839 Standard 25 Feb., This sphere [of falsehood] is so wide, and its several degrees so shadowed into one another. 1868 Lowell Pict. Appledore ii, Now pink it blooms, now glimmers gray, Now shadows to a filmy blue. |
† 11. trans. To reflect, to imitate.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1553 Brende Q. Curtius F f vij, I have not thought it unsemely for the Percians to shadow y⊇ customes of the Macedons. |
12. a. To follow (a person) like a shadow; in
mod. journalistic language said of a detective who dogs the steps of a person under surveillance.
| 1602 Rowlands Greenes Ghost 17 Then did Gibson sweare that he shuld not buy one peniworth of ware that day..and thereupon he shadowed him vp and downe, and mard his market quite. 1876 Besant & Rice Gold. Butterfly i, A bear who was ‘shadowing’ the man and meant claws. 1899 Yorksh. Post 20 Dec. 3 A Spanish Steamer shadowed by a British Cruiser. |
b. Speech Therapy.
trans. and intr. To repeat (another's words) with the minimum of delay, as a treatment for stuttering.
| 1955 Nature 5 Nov. 874/2 The subject ‘shadows’ an unseen message read by the operator steadily and continuously. Ibid., It now seems that stammerers..find little difficulty and can be induced to ‘shadow’ fluently. 1973 C. Van Riper Treatment of Stuttering iii. 80/2 When stutterers ‘shadowed’ the speech of a model speaker almost complete ‘suppression’ of stuttering occurred. 1977 D. Fry Homo Loquens x. 149 A stammerer who is shadowing will hear the appropriate sequence of sounds in advance and this should cancel out any built-in delay in his system. |
c. trans. To act as a shadow (see
shadow n. 6 e) in respect to (a parliamentary minister, ministry, etc.). Also
absol.| 1969 Daily Tel. 28 Oct. 16 An unusual trio of Tory political partners is associated with the..gallery... One is Geoffrey Rippon, who ‘shadows’ Defence. 1971 F. R. Leavis in Human World Aug. 8 The politician..was at that time ‘shadowing’ Education. 1974 Times 12 Mar. 1/1 Mr Carr shadows Mr Healey at the Treasury. Sir Alec Douglas Home maintains..foreign affairs and Mr Rippon will shadow on Europe. 1977 Times 5 Nov. 1/5 The new spokesman on Treasury and economic affairs..will be Mr Peter Tapsell, who formerly helped to ‘shadow’ the Foreign Office. |
13. Microscopy. To subject (a specimen) to the process of
shadow-casting vbl. n. 1.
| 1945 Proc. Soc. Exper. Biol. & Med. LVIII. 267 (caption) A micrograph of a similar preparation after it has been shadowed by the oblique deposition upon it of a thin layer of chromium. 1966 D. G. Brandon Mod. Techniques Metallogr. 48 By shadowing the surface of the replica with a heavy metal from a carefully collimated source at a known angle, the intensity differences from point to point on the surface can be related directly to the surface topography of the specimen. 1978 Nature 19 Jan. 231/2 Increased ammoniation is indicated principally by the change in morphology of particles collected (during ascent) on a carbon surface and ‘shadowed’ with silicon oxide later in the laboratory. |
Add:
[12.] d. To accompany (a person) at work,
esp. for a short period, either for training purposes or to gain understanding of the profession in question.
orig. U.S.| 1975 Research & Devel. Project in Career Educ. 31 July 29 Would you recommend the person shadowed for others interested in this career? 1976 E. Andrews Exploring Arts & Humanities Careers in Community 16 A class of 30 students interested in crafts wished to shadow 30 different craftspeople. 1980 M. Watson Operation Shadow 1 They then ‘shadow’ their parent or assigned adult host by spending a half or full day at the work site. 1988 D. Lodge Nice Work i. iii. 54 A working party was set up last July..and one of its recommendations..is that each Faculty should nominate a member of staff to ‘shadow’ some person employed at senior management level in local manufacturing industry. 1991 W. Self Quantity Theory of Insanity 24 If you shadow me this morning, you can get to know some of the patients informally this afternoon. |