shadow

B2 · Upper Intermediate Countable noun

n. a very small amount of something.

n. the slightest trace or a very small degree of a quality or feeling.

“There was not a shadow of a doubt that he was telling the truth.”

“The prosecutor argued that there was not a shadow of evidence to support the defendant's alibi for the night in question.”

B2 · Upper Intermediate Countable noun

n. a feeling of sadness or a bad influence that spoils a situation.

n. an unhappy or gloomy influence that diminishes the quality of an event or period of time.

日本語:陰り※

“The news of the accident cast a shadow over the whole party.”

“The sudden economic downturn cast a long shadow over the administration's otherwise successful first year in office.”

B2 · Upper Intermediate

v. to follow someone closely and secretly to watch where they go.

v. to follow and observe someone closely and typically secretly.

“The private detective shadowed the suspect for three days.”

“Intelligence officers shadowed the diplomat throughout the conference, documenting every unofficial meeting he attended.”

B2 · Upper Intermediate

v. to follow someone at their job to learn how to do it.

v. to accompany a person during their work day to gain experience or understanding of a profession.

“The medical student spent the week shadowing a senior surgeon.”

“New recruits are required to shadow an experienced manager for a month before they are allowed to handle client accounts independently.”

C1 · Advanced Politics British English · Formal

adj. describing a group of politicians in the opposition who act like the real government.

adj. relating to the main opposition party's counterparts to the government's cabinet ministers.

“The shadow health minister criticised the government's new hospital plan.”

“The Shadow Cabinet met early this morning to draft a formal response to the Chancellor's latest budget proposal.”

C2 · Proficiency Computing Technical

v. to hide a piece of data by using the same name for a new one.

v. to make an identifier inaccessible by declaring another with the same name in a more local scope.

“Be careful not to shadow the global variable inside your function.”

“The compiler issued a warning because the local variable shadowed a field in the outer class, potentially leading to logic errors.”