Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (UK Und.) a wig.

1738

Ordinary of Newgate Accounts 8 Nov. 🌐 He told Dr. Fluellin, he had seen a Tale, (a Sword) a Scout, (a Watch) a Calm and Shade, (a Hat and Wig) a Brace of Wedges, (Silver Buckles) and an outside Toge, (a Cloak).

2. (US Und.) an umbrella or sunshade.

1848

Ladies’ Repository (N.Y.) Oct. VIII:37 317/1: Shade, an umbrella.

3. in pl., a variety of late-night music-halls and bars on or near the Strand, London; used generically in US [their opening during the ‘shady’ hours].

1823		‘Jon Bee’ Dict. of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, etc. 157: Shades (the) at London-bridge are under Fishmongers’ hall. [...] The Shades at Spring-gardens, is a subterranean ale-shop.
1840		Flash Mirror 4: The Shades, Strand. [...] This house is called The Darkeys. Swell men, wide awake customers, and mechanics of all sorts nightly congregate here.
1857		J.E. Ritchie Night Side of London 118: Wine-shades attract us; we hear the clink of billiards.
1859		G.A. Sala Gaslight and Daylight 176: Where there are now cafés chantants with a Shades beneath. [Ibid.] 179: The Shades, a remnant of the old London night cellars, bringing to mind Tom King’s Coffee-house.
1872		Schele de Vere Americanisms 315: In the cities Shades are perhaps the most numerous, suggesting cozy retreats, secure from the bright light of day.
1882		E. Edwards Words, Facts and Phrases 507: Shades. [...] The name originated at Brighton. [...] Numbers of other publicans, in London and elsewhere, adopted the name ‘Shades’, which is now fully established in the language as a synonym for wine vaults .
1909		J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era 110/1: Dive (Amer. Eng.). An underground drinking-bar. [...] Equivalent to the lost London word ‘Shades’ – from the underground darkness of these resorts. The last ‘shades’ were in Leicester Square. The first dive is scarcely more than a gun-shot away in Piccadilly.

4. in racial contexts.

5. (US Und.) a receiver of stolen goods.

1925		Collier’s n.p.: If [the loot] is merchandise, it is sold to a ‘fence’ or ‘shade.’.
1989		J. Morton Lowspeak.

6. (Irish) a police officer [allegedly a travellers’ nickname reflecting the police wearing their caps low over the brow, casting shade on the face].

1961		T. Murphy Whistle in the Dark Act III: Mush’d bring the police awful fast. She’s a terror for the shades when she’s in trouble.
1968		(con. 1930s) J. Healy Death of an Irish Town 19: ‘The shades! Screw the shades,’ was the dialect to warn the combatants that the guards were here.
2001		G. Coughlan Everyday Eng. and Sl. 🌐 Shades (n): police.
2017		L. McInerney Blood Miracles 8: Half of Ireland will want in on it. The Shades and the shams, all looking for a cut [of drug dealing].
2021		L. McInerney Rules of Revelation 28: I thought the Shades would demand that I help them with their enquiries.

7. in pl., dark glasses, sunglasses [note 19C shades, goggles, e.g. for use during stone-breaking].

1954		Hepster’s Dict. 9: Shades – Eye glasses.
1957		H. Simmons Corner Boy 30: A curly-haired [...] thin guy in beret and shades.
1966		T. Keyes All Night Stand 7: He’s taken to wearing shades lately.
1970		E. Tidyman Shaft 11: Behind the reflecting glass of the shades they both wore, Shaft felt their eyes lock.
1973		Tharunka (Sydney) 8 Nov 28/2: Exit lean streak of misery wearing shades and beer-stained Levis, unwashed dirty tee-shirt.
1980		M. Thelwell Harder They Come 243: He was busy with his shades.
1990		S. Morgan Homeboy 18: The leader dropped his shades, shuttering the toxic stare.
2006		C. Carr Our Town 367: Here they cut to Thompson, wearing round blue-tinted shades.
2010		in K. Richards Life 178: ‘Wear shades and don’t say a thing’.