verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a colour fades (= loses colour and brightness )
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The colour of the curtains had faded in the sun.
a mark fades (= it gradually disappears )
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His scratch marks have faded, but the memories never will.
a memory fades (= becomes less clear and accurate )
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Write down how you felt before the memory fades.
fade into oblivion (= gradually become forgotten or no longer important )
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Many political figures just fade into oblivion.
fade into obscurity (= to gradually be forgotten after being well-known )
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The band faded into obscurity as the 1980s progressed.
faded
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All her life she kept a faded photograph of him in his army uniform.
hopes are fading (= people have much less hope of doing something )
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Hopes are fading that rescuers will find any more survivors.
sb’s anger goes away/subsides/fades (= it stops )
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I counted to ten and waited for my anger to go away.
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His anger slowly subsided.
sb’s smile fades/vanishes (= they stop smiling )
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Her smile faded and a shaft of panic shot through her.
the fading sunlight
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We sat in the fading sunlight of the early evening.
the light is fading (= it is getting darker as the sun is going down )
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
already
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In two weeks, her light summer tan was already fading .
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The sound was already fading away to his left, away from the path he had to follow.
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I think he fears she will die soon - is already fading away.
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His seat is safe but high hopes of Liberal Democrats holding the balance of power in a new administration have already faded .
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The lilies she'd brought a couple of days ago were already fading .
away
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But unlike John Major's predecessor, he shows no sign of fading away .
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Just when it looked as if pen-based computing might fade away , Microsoft has decided to get into the game.
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The laughter faded away , leaving me with a sense of unease.
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They feel the pressure, like everything is fading away .
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The new group did not in fact achieve its target of 100,000 pledged supporters and had faded away by March.
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If the stimulation is absent, those unused connections may fade away .
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The international community could no longer hope that the reasons for war would fade away .
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Then the anger faded away and the desire died with it.
fast
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Read in studio Swindon Town's hopes of promotion are fading fast , after another defeat last night.
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It is just a little smile, and it fades fast .
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It was thin, fading fast like all horses in this bitter land.
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He was happy but was fading fast .
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Wet air blows in from the river, and the light is fading fast .
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The Raiders, sole occupants of last place in the West, are fading fast .
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Any expectations he may have had of inheriting a larger share of the Angevin Empire were fading fast .
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But the next half-century witnessed the general settlement of California, and by 1900 the condor was fading fast .
gradually
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The Balfourites did gradually fade from the scene.
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The hills are wrapped in a shawl of pink light gradually fading into dusk.
in
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Then she had descended through the familiar outer layers of Dreamspace, and faded in on the bus.
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As Neta faded out of the picture, he faded in .
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He fades in and out of the conversation, has a hint of trouble lifting the fork to his mouth.
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It starts with a multicoloured starfield and some text fading in and out.
never
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It came from where memory is young and the power in a young eagle's flight is great and can never fade .
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Just like those it commemorates, the holiday of D a de los Muertos will never fade .
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Anna was rubbing her arm where Liz had held it, rubbing as if the pain would never fade .
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Your feelings of shyness may never fade entirely, but your shy behavior will.
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This was one rose that would never fade .
out
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When Silje faded out of consciousness the boys ran away in fear.
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We just kind of faded out after that.
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Sometimes the couple may allow the physical side of their relationship to fade out altogether.
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As Neta faded out of the picture, he faded in.
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We should always try to fade out rewards.
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I was sad when he faded out .
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So. Fade out , fade in.
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Spider faded out , squinting past the windshield as some guy approached the car.
quickly
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Daylight was quickly fading as they walked up the street to the nurse's house.
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But that issue quickly faded when the prison got built in Eloy.
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She hoped for his sake the memory of his time working for MacQuillan would quickly fade .
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But the idea of one consolidated government for metropolitan Tucson quickly faded when Volgy left office.
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His half smile faded quickly as several pairs of eyes met his expectantly.
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You can let some time pass and hope that this whole incident quickly fades away, which it may well do.
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But it was a burst of rage, and it faded quickly .
rapidly
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In a new world of international travel, the boundaries between East and West are rapidly fading .
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Serious problems from a life onshore can fade rapidly to distant memories as sight of land is lost.
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Fenn blinked his eyes and focused on the ceiling, the dream fading rapidly .
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A look in the mirror confirmed that the bruise round her eye was fading rapidly .
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And editor Jane Nicholson's involvement was fading rapidly .
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Everywhere was quiet, however, and the light was fading rapidly , filling the little house with shadow.
slowly
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Although so little was heard from them, those who kept tabs on them were convinced that they were slowly fading away.
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The multimillionaire has slowly faded from the industry in the past decade but has been eager to be a big player again.
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With engagement, patience and plenty of laughter, they slowly fade .
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Hotels and high-rises give way to subdivisions, which slowly fade to a scattering of homes.
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It faded slowly , and has now passed below binocular range.
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The sky burned white-hot, then slowly faded through yellow and orange to a glowering copper-red.
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It slowly faded as he walked along the shadowed path towards the church.
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Their original union under a strong 60s influence had slowly faded with age and various commercial pressures.
then
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He heard the roar of the motorcycle being started up and then fading until it was silent.
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And Mazursky was reassuring in noting that hot toy items typically enjoy popularity for three to five years, then fade .
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He waited until the noises faded then pressed his face against the mesh of the air vent.
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It writhed for a moment, trying to clutch at the arrow with insubstantial hands, and then faded .
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The sound seemed to come in waves, getting louder and louder, then fading away.
■ NOUN
background
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With a mouth like that, she's not exactly going to fade into the background is she?
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On the other hand other close losers, such as Thomas Dewey or Jimmy Carter, faded into the background .
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They might fade into the background , but they are unlikely to go away.
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The songs repeat sentiments so much that some of them fade into the background and lose their meaning.
face
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High boned face , blue-eyed, faded permed lock of fair hair flopping over her eyes.
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Rachel's face will fade into the kind of indeterminate image it is now, in the dark.
hope
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Read in studio Swindon Town's hopes of promotion are fading fast, after another defeat last night.
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Now those hopes are fading in the midst of a worrying upsurge in violence.
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He was supposed to be getting that for the gerbil babies, but his hopes were fading .
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As time wore on that hope faded .
light
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Shivering, she realised the light was beginning to fade , and almost reluctantly she turned to make her way back inside.
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The light faded , and it seemed night was coming on.
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Finally, as the light faded , we set off back to the caravan.
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If the light is fading , a darker hue might be required.
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The light was beginning to fade now.
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We sat eating as the last glow of light faded behind the pass.
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The light was fading on the walls of the Imperial city.
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As the light faded over Noyack Bay the young couple started kissing.
memory
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Surely he was only afraid his memories might fade , leaving him dispossessed.
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Senators may be able to hope memory will fade .
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Much of her memory was fading .
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But in a parallel supercomputer with a sparse, distributed memory , the distinction between memory and processing fades .
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One disadvantage of this to all parties is that over a long period memories fade and evidence becomes more difficult to establish.
obscurity
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It was ironic, though, that without the official opposition the bull-running would probably have faded quietly away into obscurity .
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As times and contexts change the visionaries of yesterday fade into obscurity or, worse, become the villains of today.
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Would the idea of drugs useful against germs once again have faded into obscurity ?
picture
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As Neta faded out of the picture , he faded in.
scene
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He does not want to fade away from the scene .
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During the waiting period that person may fade from the scene .
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It is quite impossible to believe that he will fade from the scene on formal retirement in a few years' time.
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For once she took notice and Wyatt faded from the scene ... only to be replaced by another.
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The Balfourites did gradually fade from the scene .
shirt
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His bony wrists dangled out of the faded shirt .
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There was a faded image on the shirt , a University of California Golden Bear.
smile
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As the car drove away Holly's smile faded .
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It is just a little smile , and it fades fast.
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He saluted Melissa with a smile that faded as he became aware of the argument going on across the yard.
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His half smile faded quickly as several pairs of eyes met his expectantly.
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His smile faded , became a wistful, boyish expression of loss.
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But presently the smile faded , and Ruth thought he had seen something wrong in her face.
view
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I was running blind, but then Macrae faded from view and from my senses.
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With that, talk of an early summit meeting faded from view .
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People such as Safire huffed and puffed about her futures-trading profits, but the matter faded from view .
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Unfortunately, time took its toll: By 1900 the fiesta had largely faded from view .
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It appeared to be rising as it faded from view .
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The fireball passed over the northern horizon and had nearly faded from view when the sky was lit by a tremendous flash.
voice
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There was no sign of her pursuers and their voices had faded away.
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As Riker and I trudged off to find our tents, his voice faded to silence.
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Make sure your voice does not fade .
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At the far end of the house, where her voice had faded , he heard a faucet going on.
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The voice of Mission Control faded out.
■ VERB
begin
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This trite communication put an end to Emma's overtures and she began to fade from their lives.
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The lights of Salt Lake City began to fade , an evanescent shimmer lon the rear horizon.
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Under such circumstances, the differences between hawk and dove-so clear when peace seems possible-\#begin to fade .
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Most signs were originally symbols, becoming signs as the original relationships began to fade .
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Once you eventually reach the products the nightmare begins to fade .
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The dust storm, which may have begun very abruptly, fades very slowly away.
seem
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But it has not toppled them, and as things stand it seems to be fading .
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The gaslights flickered softly, and as the time passed the surroundings no longer seemed faded and threadbare but rich and sumptuous.
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The tan seemed to have faded since last night.
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Just as suddenly as it had begun, the spasm seemed to fade .
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A while ago she had felt hungry; now her appetite seemed suddenly to have faded .
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I stroke her lifeless cheek, and as I do the deep purple bruises seem to fade a little.
start
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He heard the roar of the motorcycle being started up and then fading until it was silent.
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But his hopeful look started to fade .
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We tidy the tent, sort our kit and the light starts to fade .
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The illustrations were going unexpectedly well and the emotional ups and downs of yesterday were starting to fade from her memory.
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Within three laps they were starting to fade-and fade quite badly.
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We were coming to the end of the day, and the light was starting to fade .
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
fade/blend into the woodwork
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The skipper turned out to be a quiet figure intent on blending into the woodwork .
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The guy does know how to blend into the woodwork .
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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He's wearing a red shirt and faded jeans.
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Hopes of an early end to the strike are beginning to fade .
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Over the years the green paint had faded.
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The Broncos faded in the second half.
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Your natural hair colour begins to fade as you grow older, and eventually you go grey.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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As Neta faded out of the picture, he faded in.
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He saluted Melissa with a smile that faded as he became aware of the argument going on across the yard.
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Just as suddenly as it had begun, the spasm seemed to fade .
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New roads spring up, old roads fade away.
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The colors would soon disperse, merging with others and moving on or fading as the night appeared.
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The laughter faded away, leaving me with a sense of unease.
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The wireless set hissed and crackled and Max Bygraves faded all away.