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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

live in the shadow of en · VERB

Pronunciation

  • /lɪv ɪn ðə ˈʃædoʊ ʌv/ (General-American)

Meanings

  1. (idiomatic) To be overshadowed one's entire life, especially by a relative or predecessor.
    • Paul Fisher lives in the shadow of his older brother, Erik. Legally blind, Paul still manages to play soccer while Erik steals the family's attention as a star football kicker. Slowly the truth about Paul's blindness comes out in[…] 2004, Christie Jo Bott, The Bully in the Book and in the Classroom, Scarecrow Press, →ISBN, page 162:
    • Many historical personalities have lived in the shadow of great men; Harry Truman in the shadow of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Joseph Lowery in the shadow of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Hank Aaron in the shadow of Babe Ruth. 1995, Robert Smith, In the Shadow of C. L. Franklin:
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see live, in, the, shadow, of.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
lives in the shadow of Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
live in someone's shadow alternative lexicographic
living in the shadow of Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
lived in the shadow of Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
lived in the shadow of Tense=Past lexicographic