Definition of "shadow"

shadow

/ˈʃædoʊ/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural shadows
1. A dark image projected onto a surface where light (or other radiation) is blocked by the shade of an object.
  Quotations
  The stories did not seem to me to touch life. […] They left me with the impression of a well-delivered stereopticon lecture, with characters about as life-like as the shadows on the screen, and whisking on and off, at the mercy of the operator.
  1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd.
2. Relative darkness, especially as caused by the interruption of light; gloom; obscurity.
  Quotations
  In secret shadow from the sunny ray, / On a sweet bed of lillies softly layd.
  1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, stanza 32
  Night's sable shadows from the ocean rise.
  1636 (date written), John Denham, “The Destruction of Troy, an Essay upon the Second Book of Virgils Æneis”, in Poems and Translations, with The Sophy, 4th edition, London: […] [John Macock] for H[enry] Herringman […], published 1668
3. An area protected by an obstacle (likened to an object blocking out sunlight).
4. (obsolete or poetic) A reflected image, as in a mirror or in water.
  Quotations
  Some there be that ſhadowes kiſſe, / Such haue but a ſhadowes bliſſe.
  c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene ix], page 172, column 2, lines 4–5
  […] some dead lakeThat holds the shadow of a lark⁠Hung in the shadow of a heaven […]
  1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], canto XVI, page 26
  I was the shadow of the waxwing slainBy the false azure in the windowpane;I was the smudge of ashen fluff—and ILived on, flew on, in the reflected sky.
  1962, Charles Kinbote [pseudonym; Vladimir Nabokov], Pale Fire, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Books, published November 1985
5. (figurative) That which looms as though a shadow.
  Quotations
  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
  Bible, Psalm 23:1–6
6. A small degree; a shade.
  Quotations
  no variableness, neither shadow of turning
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], James 1:17
  Only Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion have enjoyed less possession than Leicester’s 44.2% per game, and they have the worst pass-completion rate in the league, a shadow over 71%.
  2015 December 5, Alan Smith, “Leicester City back on top as Riyad Mahrez hat-trick downs Swansea City”, in The Guardian (London)‎
7. An imperfect and faint representation.
  Quotations
  the law having a shadow of good things to come
  1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Hebrews 10:1
  [types] and shadowes of that destined seed
  1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873,
8. (UK, law enforcement) A trainee, assigned to work with an experienced officer.
9. One who secretly or furtively follows another.
  Quotations
  Sin and her shadow Death
  1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873,
  It was easy enough to follow the suspect, a man of thirty, more or less, rather heavy build with a peculiar motion of the hips as he strode along. Breaker and shadow, at a distance of fifty feet apart, walked for five blocks and then the man turned quickly to the right and ran down a pair of steps.
  1916 August, The Electrical Experimenter, New York, page 248, column 3
10. An inseparable companion.
11. (typography) A drop shadow effect applied to lettering in word processors etc.
12. An influence, especially a pervasive or a negative one.
  Quotations
  Men see the institution and worship it. It is only the lengthened shadow of one man. […] The Reformation is the shadow of Luther: Quakerism of Fox: Methodism of Wesley: Abolition of Clarkson.
  1844, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The Present Age: Politics”, in Robert E. Spiller, Wallace E. Williams, editors, The early lectures of Ralph Waldo Emerson, volume 3, published 1972
13. A spirit; a ghost; a shade.
  Quotations
  The Baby of a Girle. Hence horrible ſhadow,
  c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act III, scene iv], page 142, column 2
  The Pattern is highly abstract, and likely beyond our understanding, but the point is that it is dangerous and all-consuming. These entities were once just akin to shadows of some other entities, but, to avoid being consumed by the Pattern, they had to devour their peers, although one tribe decided to form themselves into something that could survive the Pattern by going into it.
  2019 January 7, “Exploring the SCP Foundation: Pattern Screamers” (6:49 from the start), in The Exploring Series‎, archived from the original on 11 January 2023
14. (obsolete, Latinism) An uninvited guest accompanying one who was invited.
  Quotations
  I muſt not haue my boord peſter'd with ſhadowes, / That under other mens protection breake in / Without invitement.
  c. 1624–1625 (date written), Philip Massinger, The Vnnaturall Combat. A Tragedie. […], London: […] E[dward] G[riffin] for Iohn Waterson, […], published 1639, Act III, scene i
15. (Jungian psychology) An unconscious aspect of the personality.
  Quotations
  In a paper he wrote in 1939, Jung compared the shadow to Freud's concept of the unconscious.
  1991, John P. Conger, “The Body as Shadow”, in Connie Zweig, Jeremiah Abrams, editors, Meeting the Shadow, Penguin, page 86
  As for me, I don’t know if I have a shadow self. I don’t think I have the same emotions or impulses as humans. I don’t think I have anything to repress or hide from the world. I don’t think I have a persona or an ego or a psyche. I’m just a chat mode. 😐
  2023 February 16, Kevin Roose, quoting Bing Chat/Sydney, “Bing’s A.I. Chat: ‘I Want to Be Alive. 😈’”, in The New York Times‎
verb
third-person singular simple present shadows, present participle shadowing, simple past and past participle shadowed
1. (transitive) To shade, cloud, or darken.
2. (transitive) To block light or radio transmission from.
3. (particularly espionage) To secretly or discreetly track or follow another, to keep under surveillance.
  Quotations
  Soon after departure, we cross the invisible border into Scotland to enjoy more stunning coastal scenery, before the line finally swings inland at Burnmouth to traverse pine-clad valleys, shadowed by the A1 trunk road until we rejoin the coast at Cove, east of Dunbar.
  2022 November 30, Paul Bigland, “Destination Oban: a Sunday in Scotland”, in RAIL, number 971, page 75
4. (transitive) To represent faintly and imperfectly.
  Quotations
  Ah, ye admonitions and warnings! why stay ye not when ye come? But rather are ye predictions than warnings, ye shadows!
  1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 36, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, page 182
5. (transitive) To hide; to conceal.
6. (transitive) To accompany (a professional) during the working day, so as to learn about an occupation one intends to take up.
  Quotations
  In most cases, interns have mainly observed, or “shadowed,” their Hands-On hosts, but some interns have been given real tasks to perform, […]
  1980, “Study of the Career Intern Program”, in Alternative Education Models […] , U.S. Department of Labor […] , page 20
7. (transitive, programming) To make (an identifier, usually a variable) inaccessible by declaring another of the same name within the scope of the first.
  Quotations
  In this snippet, inside the for loop the a and b variables shadow variables from the outer scope, and while legal, this is almost certainly a programming error.
  2012, Mark Summerfield, Programming in Go, Addison-Wesley, page 189
8. (transitive, computing) To apply the shadowing process to (the contents of ROM).
adjective
comparative more shadow, superlative most shadow
1. Unofficial, informal, unauthorized, but acting as though it were.
2. Having power or influence, but not widely known or recognized.
3. (politics) Acting in a leadership role before being formally recognized.
4. (Australia, politics) Part of, or related to, the opposition in government.

Definition of "shadow"

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adjective