I. ˈblü adjective
( blu·er ; blu·est )
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French blef, blew, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German blāo 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
• blue·ly adverb
• blue·ness noun
•
- blue in the face
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
•
- out of the blue
III. verb
( blued ; blue·ing or blu·ing )
Date: 1606
transitive verb
: to make blue
intransitive verb
: to turn blue