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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

overcolour en · NOUN

Etymology

From over- + colour.

Meanings

  1. (qualifier:painting) Colour that is superimposed on another previously applied to obtain a different gradation, or a particular transparency effect.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
overcolours Number=Plur lexicographic
overcolor alternative lexicographic

overcolour en · VERB

Etymology

From over- + colour.

Meanings

  1. (figuratively, transitive) To exaggerate.
    • He never sought to gain or augment the confidence of his followers by concealing facts, minimising difficulties, or overcolouring expectations. 1922, Ronald McNeill, Ulster's Stand For Union:
    • But simultaneously, the growing force of her mind's intelligence, wherein was no enthusiasm to misdirect by overcolouring, enabled her to gather more than a suspicion of comparative feebleness in the man stripped of his terrors. 1895, George Meredith, The Amazing Marriage:
    • He was seized after a minute, face to face with his actual comrade, with the impulse to overcolour. 1903 September 28, Henry James, The Ambassadors, London: Methuen & Co. […], →OCLC, 3rd part, page 78:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
overcolor alternative lexicographic
overcoloured Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
overcoloured Tense=Past lexicographic
overcolours Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
overcolouring Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic