Gray adj. (compar. grayer; superl. grayest) (Written also grey) 1.Any color of neutral hue between white and black; white mixed with black, as the color of pepper and salt, or of ashes, or of hair whitened by age; sometimes, a dark mixed color; as, the soft gray eye of a dove. "These gray and dun colors may be also produced by mixing whites and blacks."
2.Gray-haired; gray-headed; of a gray color; hoary.
3.Old; mature; as, gray experience.
Gray antimony (Min.), stibnite.
Gray buck (Zool.), the chickara.
Gray cobalt (Min.), smaltite.
Gray copper (Min.), tetrahedrite.
Gray duck (Zool.), the gadwall; also applied to the female mallard.
Gray falcon (Zool.) the peregrine falcon.
Gray Friar. See Franciscan, and Friar. Gray hen (Zool.), the female of the blackcock or black grouse. See Heath grouse. Gray mill or Gray millet (Bot.), a name of several plants of the genus Lithospermum; gromwell.
Gray mullet (Zool.) any one of the numerous species of the genus Mugil, or family Mugilidae, found both in the Old World and America; as the European species (Mugilidae capito, and Mugilidae auratus), the American striped mullet (Mugilidae albula), and the white or silver mullet (Mugilidae Braziliensis). See Mullet. Gray owl (Zool.), the European tawny or brown owl (Syrnium aluco). The great gray owl (Ulula cinerea) inhabits arctic America.
Gray parrot (Zool.), an African parrot (Psittacus erithacus), very commonly domesticated, and noted for its aptness in learning to talk. Also called jako. Gray pike. (Zool.) See Sauger. Gray snapper (Zool.), a Florida fish; the sea lawyer. See Snapper. Gray snipe (Zool.), the dowitcher in winter plumage.
Gray whale (Zool.), a rather large and swift whale of the northern Pacific (Eschrichtius robustus, formerly Rhachianectes glaucus), having short jaws and no dorsal fin. It grows to a length of 50 feet (someimes 60 feet). It was formerly taken in large numbers in the bays of California, and is now rare; called also grayback, devilfish, and hardhead. It lives up to 50 or 60 years and adults weigh from 20 to 40 tons.
