pale

♦ pale /p'eɪl/ (paler palest pales paling paled)
1 [ADJ]
If something is pale, it is very light in colour or almost white.
Migrating birds filled the pale sky...
As we age, our skin becomes paler.
≠ dark
[COMB in COLOUR]
Pale is also a combining form.
...a pale blue sailor dress...
2 [ADJ] usu v-link ADJ
If someone looks pale, their face looks a lighter colour than usual, usually because they are ill, frightened, or shocked.
She looked pale and tired...
● paleness [N-UNCOUNT] oft with poss
...his paleness when he realized that he was bleeding.
3 [VERB] V, V prep
If one thing pales in comparison with another, it is made to seem much less important, serious, or good by it.
When someone you love has a life-threatening illness, everything else pales in comparison.
...a soap opera against which other soaps pale into insignificance.
4 [PHRASE] PHR after v, oft PHR of n
If you think that someone's actions or behaviour are not acceptable, you can say that they are beyond the pale.
This sort of thing really is quite beyond the pale.
= unacceptable