dye

CEFRB1

/daɪ/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A substance used to change the color of something.

  2. 02

    verb

    To give something a different color using a substance.

Examples

  • India ink produces an interesting pattern when used as a dye.

  • Wool takes a dye well.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Any hue or color.

  2. To colour with dye, or as if with dye.

  3. A colourant, especially one that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is applied.

More examples

In context

  • You look different. Have you had your hair dyed?

  • While the yarn is soaking in its water and vinegar bath, I prepare a selection of dyes for my preferred colorway. Isolate each dye in its own jar and place it in the larger dyepot.

  • If indeed sharks were inclined to eat people, the world's oceans would be dyed crimson with the blood of millions.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

She used a bright blue blank to change the color of her old shirt.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English deye, from Old English dēah, dēag (“color, hue, dye”), from Proto-West Germanic *daugu (“color, shade”), from *daugan (“to conceal, be dark”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to smoke, raise dust, camouflage”). Cognates Cognate with Old High German tougan (“dark, secretive”), tougal (“dark, hidden, covert”), Old English dēagol, dīegle (“dark, hidden, secret”), Old English dohs, dox (“dusky, dark”). See dusk.