common colours

brown

I. brown¹ S2 W2 /braʊn/ BrE AmE adjective
[Language: Old English; Origin: brun]
1. having the colour of earth, wood, or coffee:
dark brown hair
2. having skin that has been turned brown by the sun:
He’d been on vacation and looked very brown.
He was as brown as a berry after two weeks in the sun.
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ types of brown
▪ light/pale brown a light brown jacket
▪ dark/deep brown dark brown eyes
▪ warm brown a warm brown shade
▪ rich brown a rich brown colour
▪ reddish brown The earth was reddish brown.
▪ golden brown Cook until the cheese is golden brown.
▪ rusty brown (=an orange-brown colour) It was autumn and the leaves were already rusty brown.
▪ muddy brown the muddy brown water of the river
▪ chestnut brown (=a red-brown colour) a beautiful chestnut brown horse
▪ chocolate brown He was wearing a chocolate brown pullover.
II. brown² BrE AmE noun [uncountable and countable]
the colour of earth, wood, or coffee:
This particular model is available in brown, white, or grey.
the browns and greens of the landscape

II. purple² BrE AmE adjective
1. having a dark colour that is a mixture of red and blue
2. purple with rage/purple in the face etc with a face that is dark red, caused by anger:
His face turned purple with rage.
3. purple patch a time when you are very successful – used especially in news reports:
Steve’s purple patch continued with a second victory on Tuesday.
4. purple prose/passage writing that uses difficult or unusual words – used in order to show disapproval

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)

green

I. green¹ S1 W2 /ɡriːn/ BrE AmE adjective
[Word Family: noun: ↑green, ↑greenery, greens, the greening; adjective: ↑green, ↑greenish; verb: ↑green]
[Language: Old English; Origin: grene]
1. COLOUR having the colour of grass or leaves:
beautiful green eyes
Raw coffee beans are green in colour.
dark/light/pale/bright green
a dark green dress ⇨ ↑bottle green, ↑lime green, ↑pea green, ⇨ olive green at ↑olive(3)
2. GRASSY covered with grass, trees, bushes etc:
green fields
3. FRUIT/PLANT not yet ready to be eaten, or very young:
The bananas are still green.
tiny green shoots of new grass
4. ENVIRONMENT
a) (also Green) [only before noun] connected with the environment or its protection:
green issues such as the greenhouse effect and global warming
He was an early champion of green politics.
b) harming the environment as little as possible:
We need to develop greener cleaning products.
The industry has promised to go green (=change so that it harms the environment less).
5. WITHOUT EXPERIENCE informal young and lacking experience SYN naive:
I was pretty green then; I had a lot of things to learn.
6. ILL informal looking pale and unhealthy because you are ill:
George looked a bit green the next morning.
look green about/around the gills (=look pale and ill)
7. green with envy wishing very much that you had something that someone else has
8. the green-eyed monster literary ↑jealousy – often used humorously
9. have green fingers British English, have a green thumb American English to be good at making plants grow
10. the green stuff American English informal money
—greenness noun [uncountable]
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ environmentally friendly not harmful to the environment: Cycling is very environmentally friendly. | environmentally friendly holidays | Is there such a thing as an environmentally friendly car?
▪ eco-friendly [usually before noun] not harmful to the environment – used especially about products: We always try to use eco-friendly cleaning products. | eco-friendly coffins made from newspapers
▪ green [usually before noun] not harmful to the environment – used especially in the following phrases: green products | green technology | green energy | It was voted the greenest building in Britain.
▪ clean [usually before noun] clean fuels or forms of energy do not release any harmful substances into the atmosphere: We need cleaner fuels for cars and other road vehicles. | clean energy sources such as solar panels and wind turbines
▪ renewable renewable energy comes from sources that can be easily replaced naturally, so that there is always more available: The building is heated using renewable energy from the sun. | The government needs to invest more in renewable energy sources. | Wind power is renewable and produces no greenhouse gases during operation.
▪ sustainable using the earth’s resources, without causing damage to the environment – used especially about farming, ways of living, and development: The flowers are produced to high environmental standards using sustainable farming methods. | Many people want to lead more sustainable lifestyles and to conserve the planet’s resources. | sustainable use of the world’s resources
▪ carbon-neutral balancing the amount of carbon gases that you put into the earth’s atmosphere with other activities that will effectively reduce the amount of carbon gases, for example by planting trees: a carbon-neutral company | Stirling is aiming to become the UK’s first carbon neutral city. | All new homes will be carbon-neutral.
▪ low-carbon [usually before noun] producing only a small amount of carbon: Research is being done into the development of low-carbon electricity. | We will need to have a low-carbon economy.
▪ low-energy [usually before noun] low-energy buildings and lightbulbs use very little energy: Position is a key factor in the design of a low-energy house.

yellow

I. yel‧low¹ S2 W3 /ˈjeləʊ $ -loʊ/ BrE AmE adjective
[Language: Old English; Origin: geolu]
1. having the colour of butter or the middle part of an egg:
yellow flowers ⇨ ↑chrome yellow, ⇨ lemon yellow at ↑lemon², ⇨ primrose yellow at ↑primrose(2)
2. not polite an offensive way of describing the skin colour of people from parts of Asia
3. (also yellow-bellied) informal not brave SYN cowardly

2. [uncountable] a colour that is between red and yellow:
a bright shade of orange
—orange adjective:
an orange shirt

red

I. red¹ S1 W1 /red/ BrE AmE adjective (comparative redder, superlative reddest)
[Language: Old English; Origin: read]
1. COLOUR having the colour of blood:
We painted the door bright red.
a red balloon ⇨ ↑blood-red, ⇨ cherry red at ↑cherry(3), ⇨ ↑scarlet
2. HAIR hair that is red has an orange-brown colour
3. FACE if you go red, your face becomes a bright pink colour, especially because you are embarrassed or angry
go/turn red
Every time you mention his name, she goes bright red.
4. WINE red wine is a red or purple colour ⇨ white
5. like a red rag to a bull British English (also like waving a red flag in front of a bull American English) very likely to make someone angry or upset:
Just mentioning his ex-wife’s name was like a red rag to a bull.
6. roll out the red carpet/give somebody the red carpet treatment to give special treatment to an important visitor
7. not one red cent American English informal used to emphasize that you mean no money at all:
I wouldn’t give him one red cent for that car.
8. POLITICS informal ↑communist or extremely ↑left-wing political views – used to show disapproval
—redness noun [uncountable]
⇨ paint the town red at ↑paint²(5)