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English (UK)
Cambridge Dictionary Online

Meaning of colour in English

colour
noun
UK (US color)
uk
/ˈkʌl.ər/ us
/ˈkʌl.ɚ/

colour noun (APPEARANCE)

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A1 [ C or U ]
red, blue, green, yellow, etc.:
What's your favourite colour?
She wears a lot of bright colours.
What colour are your eyes?
in a colour Does the shirt come in any other colour?
I like rich jewel colours, such as purple, blue, and green.
in colour Are the photos in colour or black and white?
[ U ]
the pleasant effect of a bright colour or of a lot of colours together:
I think we need a bit of colour in this room.
Red and yellow peppers give a little colour to the sauce.
ablaze with colour literary The whole garden was ablaze with colour (= full of different bright colours).
a riot of colour literary The whole garden was a riot of colour (= full of different bright colours).
[ C ]
a substance, such as a paint or dye, that you add to something to give it a particular colour:
colour runs I put my new green shirt in a hot wash and the colour ran (= the colour came out of the material).
[ U ]
a pink colour in someone's face, often showing good health or showing feelings such as embarrassment or excitement:
colour drains from I watched the colour drain from her face as she heard the news.
She has a high colour (= the natural colour of her face is red).
put some colour in someone’s cheeks
to cause someone who has been ill to look more healthy, especially by doing exercise:
That walk has put some colour in your cheeks.
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SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Colour - general words
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colour noun (INTEREST)

C2 [ U ]
interesting or exciting qualities or details:
We added your story for a bit of local colour.
Michael was there so that added a bit of colour to the evening's proceedings.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Excitement, interest, energy and enthusiasm
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colour noun (RACE)

C2 [ C or U ]
the natural colour of a person's skin which shows which race they belong to:
She felt she had not been given the job because of her colour.
There should be no discrimination on the grounds of colour.
of colour
used to describe people who do not consider themselves to be white:
a literary prize to encourage writers of colour
We value the contributions made by our colleagues of colour.
See also
person of colour
woman of colour
man of colour
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colour noun (SYMBOL)

colours [ plural ]
(at school, college, or university) an honour given to people who have been chosen for a sports team, often represented by a special symbol on a shirt or tie:
colours for She was awarded her colours for hockey/her hockey colours at the end of term.
the official flag of a country, ship, or military group:
regimental colours
the colours chosen by a team, university, or other group of people, for people to wear when they want to show they belong to or support that group:
club colours He wanted to be buried in red and white, his club colours (= the colours of his football team).
team colours The loyal Manchester United fan even chose her wedding outfit in the team colours.
Gowns are trimmed with purple and gold, the university colours.
gang colors He was chased and attacked for wearing rival gang colours.
He says that just because young men are wearing colours, it does not mean they are part of a gang.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Prizes, rewards and medals
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Idioms

see someone's true colours
show someone in their true colours
colour
adjective
UK (US color)
uk
/ˈkʌl.ər/ us
/ˈkʌl.ɚ/
Colour television, photography, or printing shows things in all their colours, not just in black and white.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Colour - general words
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colour
verb
UK (US color)
uk
/ˈkʌl.ər/ us
/ˈkʌl.ɚ/

colour verb (BECOME A COLOUR)

A1 [ I or T ]
to become a particular colour, or to make something a particular colour:
Do you think he colours his hair?
Fry the onions till they start to colour.
[ I or T ]
to use coloured pens, pencils, paints, etc. to add colour to something such as a drawing:
[ + obj + adj ] He drew a heart and coloured it red.
She coloured the picture with her crayons.
The children were busy drawing and colouring.
[ I ]
to become red in the face because you are embarrassed
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Colour - general words
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colour verb (INFLUENCE)

C2 [ T often passive ]
If something colours your opinion of something, it influences your opinion in a negative way:
I'm sure my views on marriage are coloured by my parents' divorce.
I'm trying not to let my judgment be coloured by that one incident.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Affecting and influencing
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Idiom

colour outside the lines

Phrasal verb

colour something in
(Definition of colour from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)
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Translations of colour

in Chinese (Traditional)
外表, 顏色, 色彩，色調…
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in Chinese (Simplified)
外表, 颜色, 色彩，色调…
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in Spanish
color, colorear, pintar…
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in Portuguese
cor, cor da pele…
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in more languages
in Marathi
in Japanese
in Turkish
in French
in Catalan
in Dutch
in Tamil
in Hindi
in Gujarati
in Danish
in Swedish
in Malay
in German
in Norwegian
in Urdu
in Ukrainian
in Telugu
in Bengali
in Czech
in Indonesian
in Thai
in Vietnamese
in Polish
in Korean
in Italian
रंग, गालावरची लाली, रंग - मनोरंजक किंवा रोमांचक गुण किंवा तपशील…
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色, 肌の色, ～に色を塗る…
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renk, bütün renkler, ten rengi…
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couleur, peinture, en couleur…
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color, pintar…
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kleur, verf, huidskleur…
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சிவப்பு, நீலம், பச்சை…
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रंग, (अच्छी सेहत, शर्मिंदगी या उत्साह के कारण चेहरे पर आया गुलाबी) रंग…
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રંગ, તેજસ્વી રંગ અથવા ઘણાં બધા રંગોની સામૂહિક આહલાદક અસર., લાલી…
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farve, hudfarve, liv…
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färg, kulör, hudfärg…
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warna primer, cat air, warna kulit…
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die Farbe, die Stimmung, Farb-……
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farge, -farge, (hud)farge…
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رنگ, رنگین, خوبصورت…
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колір, фарба, колір обличчя…
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రంగు, కళ, ముఖంలో కనిపించే గులాబీ రంగు. సామాన్యంగా మంచి ఆరోగ్యానికి…
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রং, লাল, নীল…
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barva, barva pleti, barvitost…
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warna, cat, warna kulit…
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สี, สีผิว, ความชัดเจน…
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màu sắc, thuốc màu, màu da…
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kolor, barwa, kolor (skóry )…
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색(영국), (인종을 나타내는) 피부 색, 색을 칠하다…
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colore, colorare, a colori…
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overwhelmed

UK
/ˌəʊ.vəˈwelm/
US
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past simple and past participle of overwhelm

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