fade /feɪd/ BrE AmE verb
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: French ; Origin: fader , from Latin fatuus ; ⇨ ↑ fatuous ]
1 . [intransitive] ( also fade away ) to gradually disappear:
Hopes of a peace settlement are beginning to fade.
Over the years her beauty had faded a little.
2 . [intransitive and transitive] to lose colour and brightness, or to make something do this:
the fading evening light
a pair of faded jeans
The sun had faded the curtains.
3 . [intransitive] ( also fade away ) to become weaker physically, especially so that you become very ill or die
4 . [intransitive] if a team fades, it stops playing as well as it did before
5 . fade into insignificance to seem unimportant:
Our problems fade into insignificance when compared with those of the people here.
fade in phrasal verb
to appear slowly or become louder, or to make a picture or sound do this
fade something ↔ in
Additional background sound is faded in at the beginning of the shot.
—ˈfade-in noun [countable]
fade out phrasal verb
to disappear slowly or become quieter, or to make a picture or sound do this
fade something ↔ out
He slid a control to fade out the music.
—ˈfade-out noun [countable]