"By Definition" helped me discover that everything has meaning beyond its concrete denotation. This piece by Isabella Ng includes an assortment of descriptions for the color gray, as well as its purposes. Using figurative language and strategic spacing, Isabella strengthened her piece's impact. For example, she describes gray as "the hollow yellow of a summer spent alone..." and "the sick violet undertone of a bruising memory..." In one of these two lines, gray is portrayed as lonely. In doing this, Isabella added to her readers' remarkable experience by placing a melancholy mood in her piece.

Isabella's vivid descriptions of what gray means to her is what truly gives "By Definition" its character. For example, the poem states, "bread that smells sublime but tastes stale." "Sublime" and "stale" illustrate the feelings that Isabella wanted her readers to encounter, regarding the traits of gray. Between its marvelous descriptions and figurative language, "By Definition" made me feel a moment, where  was "sitting on the edge of the moon with both feet hanging off, and all the empty colors."