Adjacent Words

Blue definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BLUE, a. blu. One of the seven colors, into which the rays of light divide themselves, when refracted through a glass prism. There are various shades of blue, as sky-blue, or azure, Prussian blue, indigo blue, smalt blue, etc.
Prussian blue, a combination of the oxyd of iron with an acid called ferro-prussic.
BLU'E, v.t. To make blue; to dye of a blue color; to make blue by heating, as metals etc.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: of the color intermediate between green and violet; having a color similar to that of a clear unclouded sky; "October's bright blue weather"- Helen Hunt Jackson; "a blue flame"; "blue haze of tobacco smoke" [syn: blue, bluish, blueish]
2: used to signify the Union forces in the American Civil War (who wore blue uniforms); "a ragged blue line"
3: filled with melancholy and despondency ; "gloomy at the thought of what he had to face"; "gloomy predictions"; "a gloomy silence"; "took a grim view of the economy"; "the darkening mood"; "lonely and blue in a strange city"; "depressed by the loss of his job"; "a dispirited and resigned expression on her face"; "downcast after his defeat"; "feeling discouraged and downhearted" [syn: gloomy, grim, blue, depressed, dispirited, down, downcast, downhearted, down in the mouth, low, low-spirited]
4: characterized by profanity or cursing; "foul-mouthed and blasphemous"; "blue language"; "profane words" [syn: blasphemous, blue, profane]
5: suggestive of sexual impropriety; "a blue movie"; "blue jokes"; "he skips asterisks and gives you the gamy details"; "a juicy scandal"; "a naughty wink"; "naughty words"; "racy anecdotes"; "a risque story"; "spicy gossip" [syn: blue, gamy, gamey, juicy, naughty, racy, risque, spicy]
6: belonging to or characteristic of the nobility or aristocracy; "an aristocratic family"; "aristocratic Bostonians"; "aristocratic government"; "a blue family"; "blue blood"; "the blue-blooded aristocracy"; "of gentle blood"; "patrician landholders of the American South"; "aristocratic bearing"; "aristocratic features"; "patrician tastes" [syn: aristocratic, aristocratical, blue, blue-blooded, gentle, patrician]
7: morally rigorous and strict; "the puritan work ethic"; "puritanic distaste for alcohol"; "she was anything but puritanical in her behavior" [syn: blue, puritanic, puritanical]
8: causing dejection; "a blue day"; "the dark days of the war"; "a week of rainy depressing weather"; "a disconsolate winter landscape"; "the first dismal dispiriting days of November"; "a dark gloomy day"; "grim rainy weather" [syn: blue, dark, dingy, disconsolate, dismal, gloomy, grim, sorry, drab, drear, dreary] n
1: blue color or pigment; resembling the color of the clear sky in the daytime; "he had eyes of bright blue" [syn: blue, blueness]
2: blue clothing; "she was wearing blue"
3: any organization or party whose uniforms or badges are blue; "the Union army was a vast blue"
4: the sky as viewed during daylight; "he shot an arrow into the blue" [syn: blue sky, blue, blue air, wild blue yonder]
5: used to whiten laundry or hair or give it a bluish tinge [syn: bluing, blueing, blue]
6: the sodium salt of amobarbital that is used as a barbiturate; used as a sedative and a hypnotic [syn: amobarbital sodium, blue, blue angel, blue devil, Amytal]
7: any of numerous small butterflies of the family Lycaenidae v
1: turn blue

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective (bluer; bluest) Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French blef, blew, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German bl?o blue; akin to Latin flavus yellow Date: 13th century 1. of the color blue 2. a. bluish <the blue haze of tobacco smoke> b. discolored by or as if by bruising <blue with cold> c. bluish gray <a blue cat> 3. a. low in spirits ; melancholy b. marked by low spirits ; depressing <a blue funk> <things looked blue> 4. wearing blue 5. of a woman learned, intellectual 6. puritanical 7. a. profane, indecent <blue movie> b. off-color, risque <blue jokes> 8. of, relating to, or used in blues <a blue song> • bluely adverb • blueness noun II. noun Date: 13th century 1. a color whose hue is that of the clear sky or that of the portion of the color spectrum lying between green and violet 2. a. a pigment or dye that colors blue b. bluing 3. a. blue clothing or cloth b. plural a blue costume or uniform 4. a. a Union soldier in the American Civil War b. often capitalized the Union army 5. a. (1) sky (2) the far distance <disappeared into the blue> b. sea 6. a blue object 7. bluestocking 8. any of numerous small chiefly blue butterflies (family Lycaenidae) 9. bluefish 10. blue cheese III. verb (blued; blueing or bluing) Date: 1606 transitive verb to make blue intransitive verb to turn blue

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. adj., n., & v. --adj. 1 having a colour like that of a clear sky. 2 sad, depressed; (of a state of affairs) gloomy, dismal (feel blue; blue times). 3 indecent, pornographic (a blue film). 4 with bluish skin through cold, fear, anger, etc. 5 Brit. politically conservative. 6 having blue as a distinguishing colour (blue jay). --n. 1 a blue colour or pigment. 2 blue clothes or material (dressed in blue). 3 Brit. a a person who has represented a university in a sport, esp. Oxford or Cambridge. b this distinction. 4 Brit. a supporter of the Conservative party. 5 any of various small blue-coloured butterflies of the family Lycaenidae. 6 blue powder used to whiten laundry. 7 Austral. sl. a an argument or row. b (as a nickname) a red-headed person. 8 a blue ball, piece, etc. in a game or sport. 9 (prec. by the) the clear sky. --v.tr. (blues, blued, bluing or blueing) 1 make blue. 2 treat with laundering blue. Phrases and idioms: blue baby a baby with a blue complexion from lack of oxygen in the blood due to a congenital defect of the heart or great vessels. blue bag a lawyer's brief-bag. blue blood noble birth. blue-blooded of noble birth. Blue Book a report issued by Parliament or the Privy Council. blue cheese cheese produced with veins of blue mould, e.g. Stilton and Danish Blue. blue-chip (attrib.) of shares of reliable investment, though less secure than gilt-edged stock. blue-collar (attrib.) of manual or unskilled work. blue dahlia something rare or impossible. blue ensign see ENSIGN. blue-eyed boy esp. Brit. colloq. usu. derog. a favoured person; a favourite. blue funk esp. Brit. colloq. a state of great terror or panic. blue-green alga = CYANOBACTERIUM. blue ground = KIMBERLITE. blue in the face in a state of extreme anger or exasperation. blue metal broken blue stone used for road-making. blue mould a bluish fungus growing on food and other organic matter. blue-pencil (-pencilled, -pencilling; US -penciled, -penciling) censor or make cuts in (a manuscript, film, etc.). Blue Peter a blue flag with a white square raised on board a ship leaving port. blue ribbon 1 a high honour. 2 Brit. the ribbon of the Order of the Garter. blue rinse a preparation for tinting grey hair. blue roan see ROAN(1). blue rock = rock-dove (see ROCK(1)). blue stone (or vitriol) copper sulphate crystals. blue tit a common tit, Parus caeruleus, with a distinct blue crest on a black and white head. blue water open sea. blue whale a rorqual, Balaenoptera musculus, the largest known living mammal. once in a blue moon very rarely. out of the blue unexpectedly. Derivatives: blueness n. Etymology: ME f. OF bleu f. Gmc 2. v.tr. (blues, blued, bluing or blueing) sl. squander (money). Etymology: perh. var. of BLOW(1)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Blue Blue, a. [Compar. Bluer; superl. Bluest.] [OE. bla, blo, blew, blue, Sw. bl?, D. blauw, OHG. bl?o, G. blau; but influenced in form by F. bleu, from OHG. bl[=a]o.] 1. Having the color of the clear sky, or a hue resembling it, whether lighter or darker; as, the deep, blue sea; as blue as a sapphire; blue violets. ``The blue firmament.'' --Milton. 2. Pale, without redness or glare, -- said of a flame; hence, of the color of burning brimstone, betokening the presence of ghosts or devils; as, the candle burns blue; the air was blue with oaths. 3. Low in spirits; melancholy; as, to feel blue. 4. Suited to produce low spirits; gloomy in prospect; as, thongs looked blue. [Colloq.] 5. Severe or over strict in morals; gloom; as, blue and sour religionists; suiting one who is over strict in morals; inculcating an impracticable, severe, or gloomy mortality; as, blue laws. 6. Literary; -- applied to women; -- an abbreviation of bluestocking. [Colloq.] The ladies were very blue and well informed. --Thackeray. Blue asbestus. See Crocidolite. Blue black, of, or having, a very dark blue color, almost black. Blue blood. See under Blood. Blue buck (Zo["o]l.), a small South African antelope (Cephalophus pygm[ae]us); also applied to a larger species ([AE]goceras leucoph[ae]us); the blaubok. Blue cod (Zo["o]l.), the buffalo cod. Blue crab (Zo["o]l.), the common edible crab of the Atlantic coast of the United States (Callinectes hastatus). Blue curls (Bot.), a common plant (Trichostema dichotomum), resembling pennyroyal, and hence called also bastard pennyroyal. Blue devils, apparitions supposed to be seen by persons suffering with delirium tremens; hence, very low spirits. ``Can Gumbo shut the hall door upon blue devils, or lay them all in a red sea of claret?'' --Thackeray. Blue gage. See under Gage, a plum. Blue gum, an Australian myrtaceous tree (Eucalyptus globulus), of the loftiest proportions, now cultivated in tropical and warm temperate regions for its timber, and as a protection against malaria. The essential oil is beginning to be used in medicine. The timber is very useful. See Eucalyptus. Blue jack, Blue stone, blue vitriol; sulphate of copper. Blue jacket, a man-of war's man; a sailor wearing a naval uniform. Blue jaundice. See under Jaundice. Blue laws, a name first used in the eighteenth century to describe certain supposititious laws of extreme rigor reported to have been enacted in New Haven; hence, any puritanical laws. [U. S.] Blue light, a composition which burns with a brilliant blue flame; -- used in pyrotechnics and as a night signal at sea, and in military operations. Blue mantle (Her.), one of the four pursuivants of the English college of arms; -- so called from the color of his official robes. Blue mass, a preparation of mercury from which is formed the blue pill. --McElrath. Blue mold, or mould, the blue fungus (Aspergillus glaucus) which grows on cheese. --Brande & C. Blue Monday, a Monday following a Sunday of dissipation, or itself given to dissipation (as the Monday before Lent). Blue ointment (Med.), mercurial ointment. Blue Peter (British Marine), a blue flag with a white square in the center, used as a signal for sailing, to recall boats, etc. It is a corruption of blue repeater, one of the British signal flags. Blue pill. (Med.) (a) A pill of prepared mercury, used as an aperient, etc. (b) Blue mass. Blue ribbon. (a) The ribbon worn by members of the order of the Garter; -- hence, a member of that order. (b) Anything the attainment of which is an object of great ambition; a distinction; a prize. ``These [scholarships] were the --blue ribbon of the college.'' --Farrar. (c) The distinctive badge of certain temperance or total abstinence organizations, as of the --Blue ribbon Army. Blue ruin, utter ruin; also, gin. [Eng. Slang] --Carlyle. Blue spar (Min.), azure spar; lazulite. See Lazulite. Blue thrush (Zo["o]l.), a European and Asiatic thrush (Petrocossyphus cyaneas). Blue verditer. See Verditer. Blue vitriol (Chem.), sulphate of copper, a violet blue crystallized salt, used in electric batteries, calico printing, etc. Blue water, the open ocean. To look blue, to look disheartened or dejected. True blue, genuine and thorough; not modified, nor mixed; not spurious; specifically, of uncompromising Presbyterianism, blue being the color adopted by the Covenanters.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Blue Blue, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Blued; p. pr. & vb. n. Bluing.] To make blue; to dye of a blue color; to make blue by heating, as metals, etc.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Blue Blue (bl[=u]), n. 1. One of the seven colors into which the rays of light divide themselves, when refracted through a glass prism; the color of the clear sky, or a color resembling that, whether lighter or darker; a pigment having such color. Sometimes, poetically, the sky. 2. A pedantic woman; a bluestocking. [Colloq.] 3. pl. [Short for blue devils.] Low spirits; a fit of despondency; melancholy. [Colloq.] Berlin blue, Prussian blue. Mineral blue. See under Mineral. Prussian blue. See under Prussian.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cod Cod, n. [Cf. G. gadde, and (in Heligoland) gadden, L. gadus merlangus.] (Zo["o]l.) An important edible fish (Gadus morrhua), taken in immense numbers on the northern coasts of Europe and America. It is especially abundant and large on the Grand Bank of Newfoundland. It is salted and dried in large quantities. Note: There are several varieties; as shore cod, from shallow water; bank cod, from the distant banks; and rock cod, which is found among ledges, and is often dark brown or mottled with red. The tomcod is a distinct species of small size. The bastard, blue, buffalo, or cultus cod of the Pacific coast belongs to a distinct family. See Buffalo cod, under Buffalo. Cod fishery, the business of fishing for cod. Cod line, an eighteen-thread line used in catching codfish. --McElrath.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(bluer, bluest, blues) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. Something that is blue is the colour of the sky on a sunny day. There were swallows in the cloudless blue sky... She fixed her pale blue eyes on her father's. ...colourful blues and reds. COLOUR 2. The blues is a type of music which was developed by African American musicians in the southern United States. It is characterized by a slow tempo and a strong rhythm. N-PLURAL: the N 3. If you have got the blues, you feel sad and depressed. (INFORMAL) Interfering in-laws are the prime sources of the blues. N-PLURAL: the N 4. If you are feeling blue, you are feeling sad or depressed, often when there is no particular reason. (INFORMAL) There's no earthly reason for me to feel so blue. = down ADJ: v-link ADJ 5. Blue films, stories, or jokes are about sex. ...a secret stash of porn mags and blue movies. ADJ: ADJ n 6. If something happens out of the blue, it happens unexpectedly. One of them wrote to us out of the blue several years later. PHRASE 7. blue moon: see moon

Easton's Bible Dictionary

generally associated with purple (Ex. 25:4; 26:1, 31, 36, etc.). It is supposed to have been obtained from a shellfish of the Mediterranean, the Helix ianthina of Linnaeus. The robe of the high priest's ephod was to be all of this colour (Ex. 28:31), also the loops of the curtains (26:4) and the ribbon of the breastplate (28:28). Blue cloths were also made for various sacred purposes (Num. 4:6, 7, 9, 11, 12). (See COLOUR.)

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

bloo.

See COLORS.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. 1. Azure, cerulean, sapphirine, amethystine, sky-colored. 2. Livid, ghastly, pallid. 3. (Colloq.) Melancholy, dejected, dispirited, depressed, sad, glum, gloomy, mopish, downcast, desponding, downhearted, hypochondriac, hipped, chapfallen, low-spirited, cast down, in the dumps, with a long face, in the blues, down in the mouth. 4. (Colloq.) Dismal, depressing, doleful, gloomy, dispiriting, melancholy, disheartening. 5. Pedantic (said of women), on the blue-stocking order, sapient. II. n. Azure, sky-color, cerulean, amethystine, sapphirine.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

To look blue; to be confounded, terrified, or disappointed. Blue as a razor; perhaps, blue as azure.

Foolish Dictionary

The only color we can feel. INVISIBLE BLUE A policeman.

Moby Thesaurus

Alice blue, Amytal, Amytal pill, Brunswick blue, Caelus, Capri blue, Chinese blue, Copenhagen blue, Demerol, Dolophine, Dresden blue, Fescennine, French blue, Gobelin blue, H, Luminal, Luminal pill, M, Mickey Finn, Nembutal, Nembutal pill, Persian blue, Pompeian blue, Prussian blue, Rabelaisian, Saxe blue, Seconal, Seconal pill, Tuinal, Tuinal pill, Wedgwood blue, X, absolute, air, alcohol, amobarbital sodium, analgesic, aniline blue, anodyne, aquamarine, atrabiliar, atrabilious, azo blue, azulene, azure, azure-blue, azure-colored, azurean, azured, azureness, azureous, azurite blue, baby blue, bad, barb, barbiturate, barbiturate pill, bawdy, benzoazurine, beryl, beryl-blue, berylline, bice, black, black stuff, bleu celeste, blue angel, blue devil, blue heaven, blue sky, blue turquoise, blue velvet, blueness, blueprint, bluish, bluishness, brine, briny, broad, cadaverous, cadet blue, caelum, calamine blue, calmative, canopy, canopy of heaven, cerulean, ceruleous, cerulescent, chloral hydrate, ciba blue, coarse, cobalt, codeine, codeine cough syrup, cold-type proof, color proof, complete, computer proof, cope, cornflower, corpselike, crestfallen, cyan, cyanean, cyanine blue, cyanosis, dark-blue, deadly, deathlike, deathly, deathly pale, deep, deep-blue, dejected, delft blue, depressant, depressed, depressor, despondent, dirty, disconsolate, dismal, dispirited, dolly, down, downcast, downer, downhearted, downright, drink, eerie, empyrean, erotic, ether, filthy, firmament, foul, foul-mouthed, foul-spoken, foul-tongued, foundry proof, fulsome, funky, galley, galley proof, garter blue, ghastly, ghostlike, ghostly, glaucous blue, gloomy, glum, goofball, grisly, gruesome, haggard, hard stuff, heaven, heavens, heroin, hop, horse, hyacinth, hyaline, hypnotic, improper, impure, indecent, indelicate, indigo, indigo white, infernal, isamine blue, ithyphallic, jouvence blue, junk, knockout drops, lapis lazuli blue, laudanum, lavender blue, lewd, lift, lifts, light-blue, lightish-blue, liquor, livid, lividity, lividness, lotus, low, low-spirited, lurid, macabre, madder blue, main, marine blue, melancholic, melancholy, meperidine, methadone, methylene azure, methylene blue, morose, morphia, morphine, mortuary, narcotic, nasty, navy, navy blue, new blue, obscene, off color, off-color, offensive, old blue, opiate, opium, out-and-out, pacifier, page proof, pain killer, pale, paregoric, pavonian, pavonine, peacock blue, peacock-blue, pen yan, pensive, perfect, phenobarbital, phenobarbital sodium, plate proof, pompadour green, pornographic, positive, powder blue, press proof, progressive proof, proof, proof sheet, pull, purple, purple heart, quietener, racy, rainbow, raunchy, red, regular, repro proof, revise, ribald, risque, sad, salacious, salty, sapphire, sapphirine, scag, scurrile, scurrilous, sea, sea blue, secobarbital sodium, sedative, sexy, shady, shit, sky, sky blue, sky-blue, sky-colored, sky-dyed, sleep-inducer, sleeper, sleeping draught, sleeping pill, slip, smack, smalt, smoke blue, smoking-room, smutty, sodium thiopental, somnifacient, soother, soothing syrup, soporific, spicy, starry heaven, steel blue, stone proof, suggestive, sultry, tar, the blue, the blue serene, titillating, tranquilizer, trial impression, tristful, trypan blue, turps, turquoise, ultramarine, uncanny, unchaste, unclean, unearthly, unhappy, unprintable, unrepeatable, vandyke, vault, vault of heaven, vile, vulgar, wan, weird, welkin, white stuff, wicked, wistful, woad, woebegone, yellow, yellow jacket, zaffer