grayout

1 of 2

noun

gray·​out ˈgrā-ˌau̇t 

variants or less commonly greyout

plural grayouts also greyouts

: a transient dimming or haziness of vision resulting from temporary impairment of cerebral circulation

gray out

2 of 2

verb

ˌgrā-ˈau̇t 

variants or less commonly grey out

grayed out also greyed out; graying out also greying out; grays out also greys out

intransitive verb

: to experience a grayout

She cut her head, bloodied her nose … and had actually grayed out for a few moments with shock.

—Stephen King

transitive verb

: to cause (something or someone) to appear gray or grayish

"In terms of what shows up on the public website, we will be greying out faces and licence plates for now."

—Jesse Zeman

specifically : to cause (an element of a computer interface, webpage, etc.) to appear gray or grayish (as to indicate that its function is unavailable or already used)

Similarly, the visual signal of graying out a headline to remind readers they've already read it needs to work across devices.

—Ken Doctor

grayed out adjective

or less commonly grayed-out or greyed out or greyed-out

grayed out vision

a grayed out button

Examples of grayout in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Those apps become paused, grayed out and notifications are hidden. —Sabrina Weiss, WIRED, 4 Sep. 2019

States with absolute mortalities <20 are grayed out because of unreliable crude death rates (these include Arkansas, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming, and District of Columbia). —Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 7 Sep. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1942, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1938, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Medical Definition

grayout

1 of 2 noun

gray·​out

variants or chiefly British greyout

ˈgrā-ˌau̇t 

: a transient dimming or haziness of vision resulting from temporary impairment of cerebral circulation compare blackout, redout

gray out

2 of 2 intransitive verb

ˌgrā-ˈau̇t 

: to experience a grayout compare black out, red out