PALE


Meaning of PALE in English

transcription, транскрипция: [ peɪl ]

( paler, palest, pales, paling, paled)

Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.

1.

If something is pale , it is very light in colour or almost white.

Migrating birds filled the pale sky...

As we age, our skin becomes paler.

≠ dark

ADJ

Pale is also a combining form.

...a pale blue sailor dress...

COMB in COLOUR

2.

If someone looks pale , their face looks a lighter colour than usual, usually because they are ill, frightened, or shocked.

She looked pale and tired...

ADJ : usu v-link ADJ

• pale‧ness

...his paleness when he realized that he was bleeding.

N-UNCOUNT : oft with poss

3.

If one thing pales in comparison with another, it is made to seem much less important, serious, or good by it.

When someone you love has a life-threatening illness, everything else pales in comparison.

...a soap opera against which other soaps pale into insignificance.

VERB : V , V prep

4.

If you think that someone’s actions or behaviour are not acceptable, you can say that they are beyond the pale .

This sort of thing really is quite beyond the pale.

= unacceptable

PHRASE : PHR after v , oft PHR of n

Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary.      Английский словарь Коллинз COBUILD для изучающих язык на продвинутом уровне.