blue
the blue waters of the lake
having the colour of the sky or the sea on a fine day
the blue waters of the lake
Oxford Essential Dictionary
blue
adjective (bluer, bluest)
having the colour of a clear sky when the sun shines:
He wore a blue shirt.
dark blue curtains
Her eyes are bright blue.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
blue
I. blue1 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 ↑once1(15), ⇨ scream blue murder at ↑scream1(1)
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
blue
blue [blue blues blued bluing blueing bluer bluest] adjective, noun [bluː] [bluː]
adjective (bluer, blu·est)
1. having the colour of a clear sky or the sea/ocean on a clear day
• piercing blue eyes
• a blue shirt
2. (of a person or part of the body) looking slightly blue in colour because the person is cold or cannot breathe easily
• Her hands were blue with cold.
3. (informal) sad
Syn: depressed
• He'd been feeling blue all week.
4. films/movies, jokes or stories that are blue are about sex
• a blue movie
5. (politics) (of an area in the US) having more people who vote for the Democratic candidate than the Republican one
• blue states/counties
Opp: red
see also true-blue
more at (beat sb) black and blue at black adj., between the devil and the deep blue sea at devil, once in a blue moon at once adv., scream blue murder at scream v.
Word Origin:
Middle English: from Old French bleu, ultimately of Germanic origin and related to Old English blǣwen ‘blue’ and Old Norse blár ‘dark blue’.
Example Bank:
• a navy blue jumper
• her vivid blue eyes
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition
blue / bluː / adjective (COLOUR)
A1 of the colour of the sky without clouds on a bright day, or a darker or lighter type of this:
a faded blue shirt
pale blue eyes
Her hands were blue with cold (= slightly blue because of the cold) .
blueness / ˈbluː.nəs / noun [ U ]
blue / bluː / adjective (SEXUAL)
showing or mentioning sexual activity in a way that offends many people:
a blue joke
a blue movie/film
His humour is a bit too blue for my tastes.
blue / bluː / adjective [ after verb ] informal (SAD)
C2 feeling or showing sadness:
He's been a bit blue since he failed his exams.
→ See also have the blues
blueness / ˈbluː.nəs / noun [ U ]
blue / bluː / adjective (MEAT)
( also ˌ extra- ˈ rare ) (of meat) cooked so that it is still very red
© Cambridge University Press 2013
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary
blue
/blu:/
(bluer, bluest, blues)
Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
1.
Something that is blue is the colour of the sky on a sunny day.
There were swallows in the cloudless blue sky...
She fixed her pale blue eyes on her father’s.
...colourful blues and reds.
COLOUR
2.
The blues is a type of music which was developed by African American musicians in the southern United States. It is characterized by a slow tempo and a strong rhythm.
N-PLURAL: the N
3.
If you have got the blues, you feel sad and depressed. (INFORMAL)
Interfering in-laws are the prime sources of the blues.
N-PLURAL: the N
4.
If you are feeling blue, you are feeling sad or depressed, often when there is no particular reason. (INFORMAL)
There’s no earthly reason for me to feel so blue.
= down
ADJ: v-link ADJ
5.
Blue films, stories, or jokes are about sex.
...a secret stash of porn mags and blue movies.
ADJ: ADJ n
6.
If something happens out of the blue, it happens unexpectedly.
One of them wrote to us out of the blue several years later.
PHRASE
Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary
1blue /ˈbluː/ adj blu·er; blu·est
1 : having the color of the clear sky
• a blue house/car/shirt/pen
• his bright blue eyes
• the deep blue ocean
- see also baby blue, black-and-blue, cobalt blue, navy blue, royal blue, sky blue, true-blue
2 : sad or unhappy
• Are you feeling blue?
- see also blues
blue in the face
✦If you do something until you are blue in the face, you do it for a very long time without having any success or making any difference.
• I talked to him until I was blue in the face, but he wouldn't listen to me.
blue with cold or blue from the cold chiefly Brit of a person or body part : blue from being exposed to cold for too long
• Her hands and feet are blue with cold.
• He was shivering and blue from the cold.
go blue Brit : to turn blue from being cold or not breathing
• The baby stopped breathing and went blue.
talk a blue streak US : to talk rapidly and without stopping
• Sheesh! Your friend really talks a blue streak!
- blue·ness noun [noncount]
• the blueness of the ocean
