Yellow /(yĕl"lō̇)/

Yel·low

Yellow

a.
  1. Being of a bright saffronlike color; of the color of gold or brass; having the hue of that part of the rainbow, or of the solar spectrum, which is between the orange and the green.
    Her yellow hair was browded [braided] in a tress.
    A sweaty reaper from his tillage brought First fruits, the green ear and the yellow sheaf.
    The line of yellow light dies fast away.
  2. Cowardly; hence, dishonorable; mean; contemptible; as, he has a yellow streak. [Slang]
  3. Sensational; -- said of some newspapers, their makers, etc.; as, yellow journal, journalism, etc. [Colloq.]

Phrases & Compounds

Yellow atrophy
a fatal affection of the liver, in which it undergoes fatty degeneration, and becomes rapidly smaller and of a deep yellow tinge. The marked symptoms are black vomit, delirium, convulsions, coma, and jaundice.
Yellow bark
calisaya bark.
Yellow bass
a North American fresh-water bass (Morone interrupta) native of the lower parts of the Mississippi and its tributaries. It is yellow, with several more or less broken black stripes or bars. Called also barfish.
Yellow berry
Same as Persian berry, under Persian.
Yellow boy
a gold coin, as a guinea.
Yellow brier
See under Brier.
Yellow bugle
a European labiate plant (Ajuga Chamaepitys).
Yellow bunting
the European yellow-hammer.
Yellow cat
a yellow catfish; especially, the bashaw.
Yellow copperas
a hydrous sulphate of iron; -- called also copiapite.
Yellow copper ore
a sulphide of copper and iron; copper pyrites. See Chalcopyrite.
Yellow cress
a yellow-flowered, cruciferous plant (Barbarea praecox), sometimes grown as a salad plant.
Yellow dock
See the Note under Dock.
Yellow earth
a yellowish clay, colored by iron, sometimes used as a yellow pigment.
Yellow fever
a malignant, contagious, febrile disease of warm climates, attended with jaundice, producing a yellow color of the skin, and with the black vomit. See Black vomit, in the Vocabulary.
Yellow flag
the quarantine flag. See under Quarantine, and 3d Flag.
Yellow jack
The yellow fever. See under 2d Jack.
Yellow jacket
any one of several species of American social wasps of the genus Vespa, in which the color of the body is partly bright yellow. These wasps are noted for their irritability, and for their painful stings.
Yellow lead ore
wulfenite.
Yellow lemur
the kinkajou.
Yellow macauco
the kinkajou.
Yellow mackerel
the jurel.
Yellow metal
Same as Muntz metal, under Metal.
Yellow ocher
an impure, earthy variety of brown iron ore, which is used as a pigment.
Yellow oxeye
a yellow-flowered plant (Chrysanthemum segetum) closely related to the oxeye daisy.
Yellow perch
the common American perch. See Perch.
Yellow pike
the wall-eye.
Yellow pine
any of several kinds of pine; also, their yellowish and generally durable timber. Among the most common are valuable species are Pinus mitis and Pinus palustris of the Eastern and Southern States, and Pinus ponderosa and Pinus Arizonica of the Rocky Mountains and Pacific States.
Yellow plover
the golden plover.
Yellow precipitate
an oxide of mercury which is thrown down as an amorphous yellow powder on adding corrosive sublimate to limewater.
Yellow puccoon
Same as Orangeroot.
Yellow rail
a small American rail (Porzana Noveboracensis) in which the lower parts are dull yellow, darkest on the breast. The back is streaked with brownish yellow and with black, and spotted with white. Called also yellow crake.
Yellow rattle
See under Rattle, and Rocket.
Yellow Sally
a greenish or yellowish European stone fly of the genus Chloroperla; -- so called by anglers.
Yellow sculpin
the dragonet.
Yellow snake
a West Indian boa (Chilobothrus inornatus) common in Jamaica. It becomes from eight to ten long. The body is yellowish or yellowish green, mixed with black, and anteriorly with black lines.
Yellow spot
A small yellowish spot with a central pit, the fovea centralis, in the center of the retina where vision is most accurate. See Eye.
Yellow tit
any one of several species of crested titmice of the genus Machlolophus, native of India. The predominating colors of the plumage are yellow and green.
Yellow viper
the fer-de-lance.
Yellow warbler
any one of several species of American warblers of the genus Dendroica in which the predominant color is yellow, especially Dendroica aestiva, which is a very abundant and familiar species; -- called also garden warbler, golden warbler, summer yellowbird, summer warbler, and yellow-poll warbler.
Yellow wash
yellow oxide of mercury suspended in water, -- a mixture prepared by adding corrosive sublimate to limewater.
Yellow wren
The European willow warbler.

Yellow

n.
  1. A bright golden color, reflecting more light than any other except white; the color of that part of the spectrum which is between the orange and green.
  2. A yellow pigment.

Phrases & Compounds

Cadmium yellow
See under Cadmium, Chrome, etc.
Naples yellow
a yellow amorphous pigment, used in oil, porcelain, and enamel painting, consisting of a basic lead metantimonate, obtained by fusing together tartar emetic lead nitrate, and common salt.
Patent yellow
a yellow pigment consisting essentially of a lead oxychloride; -- called also Turner's yellow.

Yellow

v. t.

imp. & p. p. Yellowed; p. pr. & vb. n. Yellowing

  1. To make yellow; to cause to have a yellow tinge or color; to dye yellow.

Yellow

v. i.
  1. To become yellow or yellower.