blue

blue¹ W2S1 [blu:] adj

[Date: 1200-1300; : Old French; Origin: blou]

1.) having the colour of the sky or the sea on a fine day

→↑navy, navy blue ↑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

= ↑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 BrE someone who is blue with cold looks extremely cold

6.) go blue

BrE if someone goes blue, their skin becomes blue because they are cold or cannot breathe properly

7.) talk a blue streak

AmE informal to talk very quickly without stopping

>blueness n [U]

→↑black and blue,once in a blue moon at ↑once¹ (15), scream blue murder at ↑scream¹ (1)

blue ²

blue² n

1.) [U and C]

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[U] also the blues

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 ↑bolt¹ (3)

5.) Blue

BrE 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 ↑boy¹ (9)