blue

blue¹

adjective (bluer, bluest)

1》 of a colour intermediate between green and violet, as of the sky or sea on a sunny day.

    ↘(of a cat, fox, or rabbit) having fur of a smoky grey colour.

2》 informal melancholy, sad, or depressed.

3》 informal (of a film, joke, or story) with sexual or pornographic content.

4》 Brit. informal politically conservative.

5》 (of a ski run) of the second-lowest level of difficulty.

noun

1》 blue colour, pigment, or material.

    ↘(the blue) literary the sky or sea, or the unknown.

    ↘another term for bluing.

2》 Brit. a person who has represented Cambridge University or Oxford University in a particular sport in a match between the two universities.

3》 used in names of small butterflies with predominantly blue wings. [Polyommatus icarus (common blue) and related species.]

4》 Austral./NZ informal a nickname for a red-headed person.

5》 Austral./NZ informal an argument or fight.

verb (blues, bluing or blueing, blued)

1》 make or become blue.

2》 chiefly historical wash (white clothes) with bluing.

Phrases

blue on blue Military denoting or relating to an attack made by one's own side that accidentally harms one's own forces: blue-on-blue incidents. [from the use of blue to indicate friendly forces in military exercises.]

once in a blue moon informal very rarely. [because a ‘blue moon’ is a phenomenon (due to atmospheric dust) that occurs only very rarely.]

out of the blue (or out of a clear blue sky) informal without warning; unexpectedly.

talk a blue streak N. Amer. informal speak continuously and at great length.

Derivatives

blueness noun

Origin

ME: from OFr. bleu, ult. of Gmc origin.

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blue²

verb (blues, bluing or blueing, blued) Brit. informal, dated squander or spend recklessly.

Origin

C19: perh. a var. of blow¹.