I. grey 1 S2 W2 BrE AmE British English , gray American English /ɡreɪ/ adjective
1 . COLOUR having the colour of dark clouds, neither black nor white:
an old lady with grey hair
a grey sky
dark/light grey
dark grey trousers
⇨ ↑ battleship grey , ↑ iron-grey , ⇨ slate grey at ↑ slate 1 (3)
2 . HAIR having grey hair
go/turn grey
She was a tall thin woman who had gone grey early.
3 . FACE looking pale because you are tired, frightened, or ill
grey with
As he listened, his face went grey with shock.
4 . BORING boring and unattractive OPP colourful :
the grey anonymous men in government offices
visions of a grey and empty world
5 . WEATHER if the weather is grey, the sky is full of clouds and the sun is not bright OPP bright :
a grey day
6 . OF OLD PEOPLE [only before noun] British English connected with old people:
the grey vote
7 . grey area used to talk about a situation in which something is not clearly a particular thing, so that people are not sure how to deal with it:
people in the grey area between loyalty and opposition to the government
—greyness noun [uncountable]
II. grey 2 BrE AmE British English , gray American English noun
[uncountable and countable] the colour of dark clouds, neither black nor white:
Do you have these skirts in grey?
dull greys and browns
III. grey 3 BrE AmE British English , gray American English verb
[intransitive] if someone greys, their hair becomes grey:
Jim was greying a little at the temples.
a full head of greying hair