gray area


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Related to gray area: grey areas

gray area

n.
An area of uncertainty or indeterminacy: "people ... whose problems lie in that vast gray area between the physical and mental" (Carla Cantor).
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.gray area - an intermediate area; a topic that is not clearly one thing or the other
area - a subject of study; "it was his area of specialization"; "areas of interest include..."
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in periodicals archive ?
In the Gray Area: A Marine Advisor Team at War by Seth W.
This central segment of the spectrum, which may be more or less narrow, depending on the extent of the morphologic complexity of the lesions, objectively constitutes a morphologically gray area and contains cases that are difficult to diagnose.
11, 2010, members of the Retired Reserve who aren't age 60, the so-called "gray area" retirees, have been able to purchase TRR to provide health coverage for themselves and their eligible family members.
These questions are, in fact, "preemptive rationalization." What was a pretty clear cut issue at the start has quickly been transformed into a gray area. By focusing on these concerns, she never allows herself to create the space and time to consider, creatively and constructively, what she might say and do were she to address this reporting problem.
I think everything in this world is not black and white, there is always a gray area and the gray area right now is sensitivity to those affected by 9/11, the survivors of the people lost," the New York Times quoted, Marilyn Fisher a resident of the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn, as saying.
There is one standard of right and wrong--two extremes, no gray area. Of course real life is seldom that way, but the only people that understand that are those who are out in the world trying daily to live the Gospel--especially the part about loving your neighbor as yourself.
Ten years ago, we examined appellate court trends in permanent alimony in gray area marriages.
Hiroaki Ota said in a speech in Tokyo, ''We don't oppose individual research on matters in the gray area'' -- a reference to Article 9 of the Constitution.
When a broker from a firm brings a tenant to a building that is represented by another broker of the same firm, a gray area is created, Hennessy says, where conflicts of interest can emerge.
(Note: Online gambling constitutes a legal gray area, so play at your own risk.)
"The gray area is when women have had estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer," said Jennifer Reilly, senior nutritionist for the Cancer Project, a nonprofit organization.
HONGKONG China-based Web sites offering Hong Kong viewers free downloads ranging from films such as "Brokeback Mountain" to Korean drama and sports are exploiting a gray area in the fight against intellectual property violations.