fade (fade)

verb

• 1gradually grow faint and disappear: the light had faded and dusk was advancing the noise faded away figurative hopes of peace had faded
• lose or cause to lose colour or brightness: [no object]: his fair hair had faded to a dusty grey [with object]: (usually as adjective faded) faded jeans
• (of a flower) lose freshness and wither.
• (fade away) (of a person) gradually become thin and weak, especially to the point of death: without help, those of us who are ill will surely fade away and die
• (of a racehorse, runner, etc.) lose strength and cease to perform well: she faded near the finish
• (of a vehicle brake) become temporarily less efficient as a result of frictional heating: the brakes faded, needing a firmer push to bring the car to halt

• 2 [with adverbial] (with reference to film and television images) come or cause to come gradually into or out of view, or to merge into another shot: [no object]: fade into scenes of rooms strewn with festive remains [with object]: some shots have to be faded in
• (with reference to recorded sound) increase or decrease in volume or merge into another recording: [no object]: they let you edit the digital data, making it fade in and out [with object]: he skilfully fades the guitar lines up and down

• 3 Golf (of the ball) deviate to the right (or, for a left-handed golfer, the left), typically as a result of spin given to the ball: the ball faded toward an area left of the green
• [with object] (of a golfer) cause (the ball) to deviate: he had to fade the ball around a light pole

• 4 [with object] North American informal (in craps) match the bet of (another player): Lovejoy faded him for twenty-five cents

noun

• 1 [mass noun] the process of becoming less bright: the sun can cause colour fade
• [count noun] an act of causing a film or television image to darken and disappear gradually: a fade to black would bring the sequence to a close

• 2 Golf a shot causing the ball to deviate to the right (or, for a left-handed golfer, the left): when they get to the 18th the ideal shot is a fade