Blue

Pronunciation

• enPR: bloÍžo, IPA: /bluː/
• Rhymes: -uː
• Homophones: blew

Alternative forms

• blew obsolete
• blewe obsolete

Origin

From Middle English blewe, partially from Old English *blǣw ("blue"; found in derivative blǣwen ("bluish")); and partially from Anglo-Norman blew, blef ("blue"), from Medieval Latin blāvus, blāvius ("blue"), from Old Frankish *blāw, *blāo ("blue"); both from Proto-Germanic *blēwaz ("blue, dark blue"), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlēw- ("yellow, blond, grey"). Cognate with English dialectal blow ("blue"), Scots blue, blew ("blue"), North Frisian bla, blö ("blue"), Saterland Frisian blau ("blue"), Dutch blauw ("blue"), German blau ("blue"), Swedish blå ("blue"), Icelandic blár ("blue"), Latin flāvus ("yellow"), Middle Irish blá ("yellow"), Lithuanian blãvas ("blue"). Doublet of blae.

Full definition of blue

Adjective

1. Of the colour blue.the deep blue sea
2. (informal) Depressed, melancholic, sad.
3. Pale, without redness or glare; said of a flame.The candle burns blue.
4. (entertainment, informal) Pornographic or profane.The air was blue with oaths.a blue movie
5. (politics) Supportive of, run by (a member of), pertaining to, or dominated by a political party represented by the colour blue.
1. (politics, in particular, in the US) Supportive of, run by (a member of), pertaining to, or dominated by the Democratic Party. after 2000I live in a blue constituency.Congress turned blue in the mid-term elections.
2. (AU, politics) Supportive of or related to the Liberal Party.Illawarra turns blue in Liberal washout
6. (astronomy) Of the higher-frequency region of the part of the electromagnetic spectrum which is relevant in the specific observation.
7. (of steak) Extra rare; left very raw and cold.
8. (of a dog or cat) Possessing a coat of fur that is a shade of gray.
9. (archaic) Severe or overly strict in morals; gloomy.blue and sour religionistsblue laws
10. (archaic, of women) literary; bluestockinged.
• Thackeray:The ladies were very blue and well informed.

Antonyms

• (having blue as its colour) nonblue, unblue

Noun

1. The colour of the clear sky or the deep sea, between green and violet in the visible spectrum, and one of the primary additive colours for transmitted light; the colour obtained by subtracting red and green from white light using magenta and cyan filters; or any colour resembling this.
2. A blue dye or pigment.
3. Any of several processes to protect metal against rust.
4. Blue clothingThe boys in blue marched to the pipers.
5. (in the plural) A blue uniform. See blues.
6. (slang) A member of law enforcement
7. The sky, literally or figuratively.The ball came out of the blue and cracked his windshield.''His request for leave came out of the blue.
8. The ocean; deep waters.
9. Anything blue, especially to distinguish it from similar objects differing only in color.
10. (snooker) One of the colour balls used in snooker, with a value of 5 points.
11. Any of the blue-winged butterflies of the subfamily in the family Lycaenidae.
12. A bluefish.
13. (Australia, colloquial) An argument.
• 2008, Cheryl Jorgensen, The Taint, page 135,If they had a blue between themselves, they kept it there, it never flowed out onto the streets to innocent people — like a lot of things that have been happenin′ on the streets today.
• 2009, John Gilfoyle, Remember Cannon Hill, page 102,On another occasion, there was a blue between Henry Daniels and Merv Wilson down at the pig sale. I don′t know what it was about, it only lasted a minute or so, but they shook hands when it was over and that was the end of it.
• 2011, Julietta Jameson, Me, Myself and Lord Byron, unnumbered page,I was a bit disappointed. Was that it? No abuse like Lord Byron had endured? Not that I was wishing that upon myself. It was just that a blue between my parents, albeit a raging, foul, bile-spitting hate fest, was not exactly Charles Dickens.
14. A liquid with an intense blue colour, added to a laundry wash to prevent yellowing of white clothes.
15. (British) A type of firecracker.
16. (archaic) A pedantic woman; a bluestocking.

Verb

1. (ergative) To make or become blue.
2. (transitive) (metallurgy) To treat the surface of steel so that it is passivated chemically and becomes more resistant to rust.
3. (transitive, slang) To spend (money) extravagantly; to blow.
• 1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York 2007, p. 311:They was willing to blue the lot and have nothing left when they got home except debts on the never-never.

Derived terms

Anagrams

• lube