fade

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Weak; insipid; tasteless.

   1825, Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey, review of Theodric by Thomas Campbell Passages that are somewhat fade.

2. 2
   noun

   A golf shot that curves intentionally to the player's right (if they are right-handed) or to the left (if left-handed).

   If you confine yourself to hitting straight shots while you are developing your golf swing, you are less likely to develop a preference for hitting a fade or a draw.

3. 3
   noun

   The act of disappearing from a place so as not to be found; covert departure.

   Ace could have done a fade. Instead, he gathered all his courage — which was not inconsiderable, even in his middle age — and went to see the Flying Corson Brothers.

4. 4
   verb

   To hit the ball with the shot called a fade.

   The Golden Bear faded the ball from left to right with great consistency, so he seldom had to worry about trouble on the left.

5. 5
   verb

   To grow weak; to lose strength; to decay; to perish gradually; to wither, as a plant.

   The earth mourneth and fadeth away.

6. 6
   verb

   To lose freshness, color, or brightness; to become faint in hue or tint; hence, to be wanting in color.

   [flowers] that never fade

7. 7
   verb

   To sink away; to disappear gradually; to grow dim; to vanish.

   The milkman's whistling faded into the distance.

8. 8
   verb

   To bet against (someone).

   I tried to get some bets that y'all were fixin' to get married but nobody would fade me.

Etymology

From Middle English fade, vad, vade (“faded, pale, withered, weak”), from Middle Dutch vade (“weak, faint, limp”), from Old French fade (“weak, witless”), of obscure origin. Probably from Vulgar Latin *fatidus, from Latin fatuus (“insipid”).