Shade \Shade\ (sh[=a]d), n. [OE. shade, shadewe, schadewe, AS. sceadu, scead; akin to OS. skado, D. schaduw, OHG. scato, (gen. scatewes), G. schatten, Goth. skadus, Ir. & Gael. sgath, and probably to Gr. sko`tos darkness. [root]162. Cf. Shadow, Shed a hat.]

1. Comparative obscurity owing to interception or interruption of the rays of light; partial darkness caused by the intervention of something between the space contemplated and the source of light.

Note: Shade differs from shadow as it implies no particular form or definite limit; whereas a shadow represents in form the object which intercepts the light. When we speak of the shade of a tree, we have no reference to its form; but when we speak of measuring a pyramid or other object by its shadow, we have reference to its form and extent.

2. Darkness; obscurity; -- often in the plural.

The shades of night were falling fast. --Longfellow.

3. An obscure place; a spot not exposed to light; hence, a secluded retreat.

Let us seek out some desolate shade, and there Weep our sad bosoms empty. --Shak.

4. That which intercepts, or shelters from, light or the direct rays of the sun; hence, also, that which protects from heat or currents of air; a screen; protection; shelter; cover; as, a lamp shade.

The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. --Ps. cxxi. 5.

Sleep under a fresh tree's shade. --Shak.

Let the arched knife well sharpened now assail the spreading shades of vegetables. --J. Philips.

5. Shadow. [Poetic.]

Envy will merit, as its shade, pursue. --Pope.

6. The soul after its separation from the body; -- so called because the ancients it to be perceptible to the sight, though not to the touch; a spirit; a ghost; as, the shades of departed heroes.

Swift as thought the flitting shade Thro' air his momentary journey made. --Dryden.

7. (Painting, Drawing, etc.) The darker portion of a picture; a less illuminated part. See Def. 1, above.

8. Degree or variation of color, as darker or lighter, stronger or paler; as, a delicate shade of pink.

White, red, yellow, blue, with their several degrees, or shades and mixtures, as green only in by the eyes. --Locke.

9. A minute difference or variation, as of thought, belief, expression, etc.; also, the quality or degree of anything which is distinguished from others similar by slight differences; as, the shades of meaning in synonyms.

New shades and combinations of thought. --De Quincey.

Every shade of religious and political opinion has its own headquarters. --Macaulay.

The Shades, the Nether World; the supposed abode of souls after leaving the body.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Shade \Shade\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Shaded; p. pr. & vb. n. Shading.]

1. To shelter or screen by intercepting the rays of light; to keep off illumination from. --Milton.

I went to crop the sylvan scenes, And shade our altars with their leafy greens. --Dryden.

2. To shelter; to cover from injury; to protect; to screen; to hide; as, to shade one's eyes.

Ere in our own house I do shade my head. --Shak.

3. To obscure; to dim the brightness of.

Thou shad'st The full blaze of thy beams. --Milton.

4. To pain in obscure colors; to darken.

5. To mark with gradations of light or color.

6. To present a shadow or image of; to shadow forth; to represent. [Obs.]

[The goddess] in her person cunningly did shade That part of Justice which is Equity. --Spenser.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Shade \Shade\, v. i. [See Shade, n.]

To undergo or exhibit minute difference or variation, as of color, meaning, expression, etc.; to pass by slight changes; -- used chiefly with a preposition, as into, away, off.

This small group will be most conveniently treated with the emotional division, into which it shades. --Edmund Gurney.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)