silver /silˈvər/

1. A whitish-grey element (symbol Ag; atomic no 47), one of the precious metals
2. A whitish-grey colour
3. Silver money
4. Silverware
5. Cutlery, sometimes even when not of silver
6. A silver medal

1. Of or like silver
2. Silver-coloured
3. Belonging or relating to elderly people (informal)
4. Clear and ringing in tone

1. To cover with silver
2. To make silvery

To become silvery

silˈveriness noun

silˈvering noun

Coating with, or of, silver or quicksilver

silˈverize or silˈverise transitive verb

To coat or treat with silver

silˈverling noun (Bible)

A small silver coin

silˈverly adverb

With the appearance or sound of silver

silˈvern adjective (poetic)

1. Made of silver
2. Silvery

silˈvery adjective

1. Like silver
2. Silver-coloured
3. Light in tone
4. Having a clear ringing sound

Silver Age noun

1. The reign of Zeus, second of the ages of the world, following and less innocent than the Golden Age of Kronos (classical myth)
2. In Latin literature, the time of Martial, Tacitus and Juvenal

silˈverback noun

An older male gorilla with grey hair on its back and flanks

silˈver-bath noun (photography)

A solution of a silver salt, or a vessel for it, for sensitizing plates

silˈver-beater noun

A person who beats silver into foil

silver bell noun

Any of various deciduous trees or shrubs of the genus Halesia, native to N America and China, having bell-shaped silvery-white flowers (also called snowdrop tree)

silˈverbill noun

The name of three species of the genus Lonchura of weaver-finches, with a silvery sheen to their bills

silver birch noun

A species of birch, Betula pendula, with silvery-white peeling bark

silver bullet noun

1. A bullet made of silver, supposedly the only variety fatal to a werewolf
2. Any wonderful solution to a difficult problem

silˈvereye noun

An Australasian songbird with a white ring around the eyes

silver fern noun

Another name for the ponga

silver fir noun

1. A European fir, Abies alba, with shiny needles, green on top and silvery beneath, an important timber tree
2. A small Japanese fir, Abies veitchii, with notched needles banded with silver underneath

silˈverfish noun

1. Any wingless primitive insect of the genus Lepisma (order Thysanura), eg L. saccharina, which feeds on starch in wallpaper, bookbindings, etc
2. A silvery-white goldfish, or other silvery fish

silver foil noun

Silver leaf

silver fox noun

1. An American red fox in a colour phase in which the fur is black with white tips
2. This fur

silver gate see ivory gate under gate¹

silver-giltˈ noun

Gilded silver (also adjective)

silˈver-glance noun

Native sulphide of silver

silˈver-grain noun

Medullary rays in longitudinal section

silver iodide noun

A yellow powder that darkens when exposed to light, is used in photography, is scattered on clouds to cause rainfall, and has various medical uses

silver jubilee noun

A twenty-fifth anniversary

Silver Latin noun

That written by authors of the Silver Age

silver leaf noun

1. Silver beaten into thin leaves
2. A disease of plum trees

silver lining noun

A redeeming aspect of an otherwise unpleasant or unfortunate situation

silver medal noun

(in athletics competitions, etc) the medal awarded as second prize

silˈver-mountˈed adjective

silver nitrate noun

A poisonous colourless crystalline salt that turns grey or black in the presence of light or organic matter, and has uses in photography, as an antiseptic, etc

silver paper noun

1. Silver foil
2. (usu) tinfoil (sometimes with a backing of greaseproof paper)
3. Fine white tissue paper

silver pheasant noun

A white-tailed E Asian pheasant, introduced to Europe, etc

silver plate noun

1. Utensils, esp tableware, made of silver
2. Electroplate

silver-plāˈted adjective

silˈverpoint noun

The process or product of drawing with a silver-tipped pencil

silver salmon noun

The coho

silver screen noun

1. The cinema screen
2. (with the) the film industry (informal)

silver service noun

A method of serving food in restaurants, etc, in which the waiter or waitress uses a spoon and fork held in one hand to transfer food from the serving dish to the diners' plates

silˈverside noun

A cut of beef taken from the rump, below the aitchbone

silˈversides singular noun

Any small fish of the family Atherinidae, eg Atherina presbyter, the sand smelt

silˈverskin noun

The fine skin of a coffee bean

silˈversmith noun

A worker in silver

silˈversmithing noun

silver steel noun

A type of carbon steel containing silicon, manganese and chromium, and low in phosphorus and sulphur

silˈver-stick noun

A palace officer, from his silvered wand

silver surfer noun (informal)

An older person who enjoys using the Internet

silverˈtail noun (obs Aust inf)

1. A wealthy socialite
2. A social climber

silver thaw noun (Can)

Ice formed by rain freezing rapidly as it hits the ground or other surface

silˈver-tongued adjective

Plausible, eloquent

silver tree noun

A silvery-leaved S African proteaceous tree (Leucadendron argenteum)

silˈver-voiced adjective

silˈverware noun

Items, esp tableware or sporting trophies, made from or coated with silver

silver wedding noun

The twenty-fifth wedding anniversary

silˈverweed noun

A creeping plant (Potentilla anserina) with silvery leaves and yellow flowers whose starchy roots were used as food from prehistoric times

silver white see China white under white

silˈver-white adjective

Of a lustrous greyish-white colour

silver Y noun

A noctuid moth (Autographa gamma) with Y-shaped markings on the forewings

born with a silver spoon in one's mouth

Born to affluence

• illiterateness
• illiteratenesses
• illiterates
• illites
• ill-judged
• ill-looking
• ill luck
• ill-manned
• ill-mannered
• ill-matched
• ill nature
• ill-natured
• ill-naturedly
• ill-naturedness
• illness
• illnesses
• illocution
• illocutionary
• illocutions
• ill off
• ill-off
• illogic
• illogical
• illogicalities
• illogicality