I. blue 1 S1 W2 /bluː/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: blou ]
1 . having the colour of the sky or the sea on a fine day ⇨ navy , navy blue :
the blue waters of the lake
dark/light/pale/bright blue
a dark blue raincoat
2 . [not before noun] informal sad and without hope SYN depressed :
I’ve been feeling kind of blue.
3 . informal blue jokes, stories etc are about sex, in a way that might offend some people ⇨ ↑ blue movie
4 . argue/talk etc till you’re blue in the face informal to argue, talk etc about something a lot, but without achieving what you want:
You can tell them till you’re blue in the face, but they’ll still do what they want.
5 . blue with cold especially British English someone who is blue with cold looks extremely cold
6 . go blue British English if someone goes blue, their skin becomes blue because they are cold or cannot breathe properly
7 . talk a blue streak American English informal to talk very quickly without stopping
—blueness noun [uncountable]
⇨ ↑ black and blue , ⇨ once in a blue moon at ↑ once 1 (15), ⇨ scream blue murder at ↑ scream 1 (1)
II. blue 2 BrE AmE noun
1 . [uncountable and countable] the colour of the sky or the sea on a fine day:
She nearly always dresses in blue.
the rich greens and blues of the tapestry
2 . blues ( also the blues ) [uncountable] a slow sad style of music that came from the southern US:
a blues singer
⇨ ↑ rhythm and blues
3 . the blues [plural] informal feelings of sadness:
A lot of women get the blues after the baby is born.
4 . out of the blue informal if something happens out of the blue, it is very unexpected ⇨ a bolt from/out of the blue at ↑ bolt 1 (3)
5 . Blue [countable] British English someone who has represented Oxford or Cambridge University at a sport, or the title given to such a person
6 . the blue literary the sea or the sky ⇨ boys in blue at ↑ boy 1 (9)