n. sing. & pl. [ AS. sceadda a kind of fish, akin to Prov. G. schade; cf. Ir. & Gael. sgadan a herring, W. ysgadan herrings; all perhaps akin to E. skate a fish. ] (Zool.) Any one of several species of food fishes of the Herring family. The American species (Alosa sapidissima formerly Clupea sapidissima), which is abundant on the Atlantic coast and ascends the larger rivers in spring to spawn, is an important market fish. The European allice shad, or alose (Alosa alosa formerly Clupea alosa), and the twaite shad (Alosa finta formerly Clupea finta), are less important species. [ Written also chad. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The name is loosely applied, also, to several other fishes, as the gizzard shad (see under Gizzard), called also mud shad, white-eyed shad, and winter shad. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hardboaded shad, or
Yellow-tailed shad, the menhaden. --
Hickory shad, or
Tailor shad, the mattowacca. --
Long-boned shad, one of several species of important food fishes of the Bermudas and the West Indies, of the genus Gerres. --
Shad bush (Bot.), a name given to the North American shrubs or small trees of the rosaceous genus Amelanchier (Amelanchier Canadensis, and Amelanchier alnifolia). Their white racemose blossoms open in April or May, when the shad appear, and the edible berries (pomes) ripen in June or July, whence they are called Juneberries. The plant is also called service tree, and Juneberry. --
Shad frog, an American spotted frog (Rana halecina); -- so called because it usually appears at the time when the shad begin to run in the rivers. --
Trout shad, the squeteague. --
White shad, the common shad. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) (a) The American, or Wilson's, snipe. See under Snipe. So called because it appears at the same time as the shad. (b) The common European sandpiper. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Mining.) Rounded stones containing tin ore, lying at the surface of the ground, and indicating a vein. Raymond. [ 1913 Webster ]

obs. imp. of Shed. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Said to be so called from a Captain Shaddock, who first brought this fruit from the East Indies. ] (Bot.) A tree (Citrus decumana) and its fruit, which is a large species of orange; -- called also forbidden fruit, and pompelmous. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

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. √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. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Darkness; obscurity; -- often in the plural. [ 1913 Webster ]

The shades of night were falling fast. Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An obscure place; a spot not exposed to light; hence, a secluded retreat. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let us seek out some desolate shade, and there
Weep our sad bosoms empty. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. Ps. cxxi. 5. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sleep under a fresh tree's shade. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let the arched knife well sharpened now assail the spreading shades of vegetables. J. Philips. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Shadow. [ Poetic. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Envy will merit, as its shade, pursue. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Swift as thought the flitting shade
Thro' air his momentary journey made. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Painting, Drawing, etc.) The darker portion of a picture; a less illuminated part. See Def. 1, above. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. Degree or variation of color, as darker or lighter, stronger or paler; as, a delicate shade of pink. [ 1913 Webster ]

White, red, yellow, blue, with their several degrees, or shades and mixtures, as green only in by the eyes. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

New shades and combinations of thought. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

Every shade of religious and political opinion has its own headquarters. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Shades, the Nether World; the supposed abode of souls after leaving the body. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

I went to crop the sylvan scenes,
And shade our altars with their leafy greens. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To shelter; to cover from injury; to protect; to screen; to hide; as, to shade one's eyes. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ere in our own house I do shade my head. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To obscure; to dim the brightness of. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou shad'st
The full blaze of thy beams. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To pain in obscure colors; to darken. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To mark with gradations of light or color. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To present a shadow or image of; to shadow forth; to represent. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

[ The goddess ] in her person cunningly did shade
That part of Justice which is Equity. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Full of shade; shady. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Being without shade; not shaded. [ 1913 Webster ]