I. ˈbləsh verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
Etymology: Middle English blusshen, blisshen, from Old English blyscan to redden, from blȳsa flame, torch; akin to Middle Low German blūs torch, Old Norse blys light, flame, Old High German bluhhen to burn brightly
intransitive verb
1. : to become red in the face especially from shame, modesty, or confusion : flush , color
Clara looked at her aunt and blushed — Sherwood Anderson
blushing more scarlet than ever, slunk off … deeply humiliated — Samuel Butler †1902
2. : to feel shame : be embarrassed
the grossly injurious suspicions which she must ever blush to have entertained — Jane Austen
no man ought ever to be called upon to blush for his wife — W.M.Thackeray
3.
a. : to become red : have red or rosy color
the skies yet blushing with departing light — Alexander Pope
b. : to have a fresh color : bloom
full many a flower is born to blush unseen — Thomas Gray
4. : to assume a cloudy appearance — used of varnish or laquer films; compare bloom III 2b
transitive verb
1. : to make red : redden
a shielded scutcheon blushed with blood of queens and kings — John Keats
2. archaic : to make known by blushing
II. noun
( -es )
Etymology: Middle English, probably from blusshen, v.
1. : appearance, view, or consideration — used especially in the phrase at first blush
at first blush the answer seems simple enough — Margaret Mead
2. : a reddening of the face especially from shame, modesty, or confusion : flush
a blush revealed his embarrassment
3.
a. : a red or reddish color
light's last blushes tinged the distant hills — George Lyttelton
b. : a rosy glow : bloom
are meant to amuse while the blush is on them — Charlton Laird
4.
a. : a light brown that is stronger and slightly redder and darker than alesan, lighter and slightly redder than French beige, and redder and lighter than cork — called also Josephine, rose blush
b. : an undesirable whitish or milky appearance of films (as of varnish or lacquer), resins, or plastics — compare bloom II 3f