■ adjective
1》 of the colour between green and orange in the spectrum, a primary subtractive colour complementary to blue; coloured like ripe lemons or egg yolks.
↘ offensive having a ~ish or olive skin (as used to describe Chinese or Japanese people).
↘denoting a warning of danger which is thought to be near but not actually imminent.
2》 informal cowardly.
3》 (of a book or newspaper) unscrupulously sensational.
■ noun
1》 ~ colour or pigment.
2》 used in names of ~ butterflies and moths, e.g. clouded ~ .
3》 ( ~s ) any of a number of plant diseases in which the leaves turn ~, typically caused by viruses and transmitted by insects.
■ verb become a ~ colour, especially with age.
Phrases
the ~ peril offensive the political or military threat regarded as being posed by the Chinese or by the peoples of SE Asia.
Derivatives
~ed adjective
~ing adjective
~ish adjective
~ness noun
~y adjective
Origin
OE geolu , geolo , of W. Gmc origin; related to gold .