shadow
/ˈʃædoʊ̯/ noun A2- A dark image projected onto a surface where light (or other radiation) is blocked by the shade of an object. · My shadow lengthened as the sun began to set.· The X-ray showed a shadow on his lung.
- Relative darkness, especially as caused by the interruption of light; gloom; obscurity. · I immediately jumped into shadow as I saw them approach.
- An area protected by an obstacle (likened to an object blocking out sunlight). · The mountains block the passage of rain-producing weather systems and cast a "shadow" of dryness behind them.
- That which looms as though a shadow. · I lived in her shadow my whole life.
- A small degree; a shade. · He did not give even a shadow of respect to the professor.· I don't have a shadow of doubt in my mind that my plan will succeed.
- An imperfect and faint representation. · He came back from war the shadow of a man.· The neopagan ritual was only a pale shadow of the ones the Greeks held thousands of years ago.
- One who secretly or furtively follows another. · The constable was promoted to working as a shadow for the Royals.
- An inseparable companion.
Plural shadows
From the library
For an instant I could have sworn that the faintest shadow of a smile flickered over the woman’s lips.
Strange that now in its old age this dark business should have cast its shadow upon the venerable walls!
## The Dog and the Shadow
A DOG, crossing a bridge over a stream with a piece of flesh in his mouth, saw his own shadow in the water and took it for that of another Dog, with a piece of meat double his own in size.
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