colour

1 BrE color AmE noun

1 A COLOUR (C) red, blue, yellow, green, brown, purple etc: "What colour are your eyes?" "They're brown." | My favourite colour is purple. | light/bright/pastel etc colour: Children like bright colors. | be an orange/greenish etc colour: It was kind of an orangey-red colour.

2 COLOUR IN GENERAL (C, U) the appearance of something, especially something with a lot of different colours: Chameleons can change colour to match their surroundings. | I had always wanted to go to New England to see the fall colors. (=the colours of the trees)

3 in (full) colour a television programme or film that is in colour contains colours such as red, green, and blue rather than just black and white

4 SB'S RACE (C, U) how dark or light someone's skin is, which shows which race they belong to: people of all colours | discrimination on the basis of color

-see also: coloured 2

5 SB'S FACE (C, U) the general appearance and colour of a person's skin, especially when this shows the state of their health or emotions: Well, you look better than you did. You've got some colour in your face now. | a high colour (=a red colour in someone's face that shows they are ill)

6 SUBSTANCE (U) a substance that makes something red, blue, yellow etc: After a few washes, dark clothes begin to lose their color.

7 STH INTERESTING (U) interesting and exciting details or qualities that a place or person has: The old market is lively, full of colour and activity. | add/give colour to (=make something more interesting): A few illustrations or anecdotes will add colour to your report.

8 lend/give colour to sth to make something, especially something unusual, appear likely or true: We now have independent evidence that lends colour to the accusation of fraud.

9 off colour

a) not in good health: You look a little off colour today.

b) jokes, stories etc that are off-colour are rude and often about sex

10 colours (plural)

a) the colours that are used as a sign to represent a team, school, club etc: The national colours of Italy are green, white, and red.

b) especially BrE a flag, ribbon, badge etc that you wear or carry to show that you belong to or support a team, school etc

11 show yourself in your true colours to behave in a way that shows what your real character is, especially if you are unpleasant or dishonest

12 see the colour of sb's money spoken to have definite proof that someone has enough money to pay for something: "A whiskey, please." "Let's see the color of your money first."

13 nail your colours to the mast to say clearly what your opinion is on a particular subject

2 BrE color AmE verb

1 (T) to make something coloured rather than just black, white, or plain: Do you colour your hair or is it naturally red? | colour sth red/blue etc: Sunset came and coloured the sky a brilliant red.

2 also colour in (I, T) use coloured pencils to put colours inside the lines of a picture: As a kid, I used to love colouring in shapes.

3 (I) when someone colours, their face becomes redder because they are embarrassed

4 (T) colour sb's judgement/opinions/attitudes etc to influence the way someone thinks about something, especially so that they become less fair or reasonable: Don't you think your opinions are colored by prejudice?

-see also: colour code code 2 (3) 3 BrE color AmE adjective colour television/photograph/monitor etc a television etc that produces or shows pictures in colour rather than in black, white and grey -opposite monochrome