American English

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

green

/gri:n/
(greens, greener, greenest)

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.

1.
Green is the colour of grass or leaves.
...shiny red and green apples...
Yellow and green together make a pale green.
COLOUR

2.
A place that is green is covered with grass, plants, and trees and not with houses or factories.
Cairo has only thirteen square centimetres of green space for each inhabitant.
ADJ
• green‧ness
...the lush greenness of the river valleys.
N-UNCOUNT

3.
Green issues and political movements relate to or are concerned with the protection of the environment.
The power of the Green movement in Germany has made that country a leader in the drive to recycle more waste materials.
ADJ: ADJ n

4.
If you say that someone or something is green, you mean they harm the environment as little as possible.
...trying to persuade governments to adopt greener policies...
ADJ
• green‧ness
A Swiss company offers to help environmental investors by sending teams round factories to ascertain their greenness.
N-UNCOUNT

5.
Greens are members of green political movements.
The Greens see themselves as a radical alternative to the two major British political parties.
N-COUNT: usu pl

6.
A green is a smooth, flat area of grass around a hole on a golf course.
...the 18th green.
N-COUNT

7.
A green is an area of land covered with grass, especially in a town or in the middle of a village.
...the village green.
N-COUNT

8.
Green is used in the names of places that contain or used to contain an area of grass.
...Bethnal Green.
N-IN-NAMES: n N

9.
You can refer to the cooked leaves of vegetables such as spinach or cabbage as greens.
N-PLURAL

10.
If you say that someone is green, you mean that they have had very little experience of life or a particular job.
He was a young lad, very green, very immature.
ADJ

11.
If you say that someone is green with envy, you mean that they are very envious indeed.
PHRASE: v-link PHR

12.
If someone has green fingers, they are very good at gardening and their plants grow well. (BRIT; in AM, use a green thumb)
You don’t need green fingers to fill your home with lush leaves.
PHRASE
 

yellow

/jeloʊ/
(yellows, yellowing, yellowed)

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.

1.
Something that is yellow is the colour of lemons, butter, or the middle part of an egg.
The walls have been painted bright yellow...
COLOUR

2.
If something yellows, it becomes yellow in colour, often because it is old.
The flesh of his cheeks seemed to have yellowed...
She sat scanning the yellowing pages.
VERB: V, V-ing

orange

/ɒrɪndʒ, AM ɔ:r-/
(oranges)

Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.

1.
Something that is orange is of a colour between red and yellow.
...men in bright orange uniforms.
COLOUR

2.
An orange is a round juicy fruit with a thick, orange coloured skin.
...orange trees.
...fresh orange juice.
N-VAR: oft N n

3.
Orange is a drink that is made from or tastes of oranges.
...vodka and orange.
N-UNCOUNT

grey

/greɪ/
(greyer, greyest)

Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.

Note: in AM, use 'gray'

1.
Grey is the colour of ashes or of clouds on a rainy day.
...a grey suit.
COLOUR

2.
You use grey to describe the colour of people’s hair when it changes from its original colour, usually as they get old.
...my grey hair...
Eddie was going grey.
ADJ

3.
If the weather is grey, there are many clouds in the sky and the light is dull.
It was a grey, wet April Sunday.
ADJ
• grey‧ness
...winter’s greyness.
N-UNCOUNT

4.
If you describe a situation as grey, you mean that it is dull, unpleasant, or difficult.
Brazilians look gloomily forward to a New Year that even the president admits will be grey and cheerless.
= bleak
ADJ
• grey‧ness
In this new world of greyness there is an attempt to remove all risks.
N-UNCOUNT

5.
If you describe someone or something as grey, you think that they are boring and unattractive, and very similar to other things or other people.
...little grey men in suits.
ADJ [disapproval]
• grey‧ness
Journalists are frustrated by his apparent greyness.
N-UNCOUNT: with supp

6.
Journalists sometimes use grey to describe things concerning old people.
There was further evidence of grey consumer power last week, when Ford revealed a car designed with elderly people in mind.
ADJ

black

/blæk/
(blacker, blackest, blacks, blacking, blacked)

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.

1.
Something that is black is of the darkest colour that there is, the colour of the sky at night when there is no light at all.
She was wearing a black coat with a white collar...
He had thick black hair...
I wear a lot of black...
He was dressed all in black.
COLOUR

2.
A black person belongs to a race of people with dark skins, especially a race from Africa.
He worked for the rights of black people...
...the traditions of the black community.
ADJ

3.
Black people are sometimes referred to as blacks. This use could cause offence.
There are about thirty-one million blacks in the US.
N-COUNT: usu pl

4.
Black coffee or tea has no milk or cream added to it.
A cup of black tea or black coffee contains no calories...
I drink coffee black.
ADJ: ADJ n, v n ADJ

5.
If you describe a situation as black, you are emphasizing that it is very bad indeed.
It was, he said later, one of the blackest days of his political career...
The future for the industry looks even blacker.
ADJ [emphasis]

6.
If someone is in a black mood, they feel very miserable and depressed.
Her mood was blacker than ever.
ADJ

7.
Black humour involves jokes about sad or difficult situations.
‘So you can all go over there and get shot,’ he said, with the sort of black humour common among British troops here...
It’s a black comedy of racial prejudice, mistaken identity and thwarted expectations.
ADJ: usu ADJ n

8.
People who believe in black magic believe that it is possible to communicate with evil spirits.
He was also alleged to have conducted black magic ceremonies...
The King was unjustly accused of practising the black arts.
ADJ: ADJ n

9.
If you say that someone is black and blue, you mean that they are badly bruised.
Whenever she refused, he’d beat her black and blue...
Bud’s nose was still black and blue.
PHRASE: usu PHR after v, v-link PHR

10.
If a person or an organization is in the black, they do not owe anyone any money.
Until his finances are in the black I don’t want to get married.
≠ in the red
PHRASE: v-link PHR, PHR after v

11.
If someone gives you a black look, they look at you in a way that shows that they are very angry about something.
Passing my stall, she cast black looks at the amount of stuff still unsold.
PHRASE: N inflects, usu PHR after v

red

/red/
(reds, redder, reddest)

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.

1.
Something that is red is the colour of blood or fire.
...a bunch of red roses...
COLOUR

2.
If you say that someone’s face is red, you mean that it is redder than its normal colour, because they are embarrassed, angry, or out of breath.
With a bright red face I was forced to admit that I had no real idea...
ADJ

3.
You describe someone’s hair as red when it is between red and brown in colour.
...a girl with red hair...
ADJ

4.
You can refer to red wine as red.
The spicy flavours in these dishes call for reds rather than whites.
N-MASS

5.
If you refer to someone as a red or a Red, you disapprove of the fact that they are a communist, a socialist, or have left-wing ideas. (INFORMAL)
N-COUNT [disapproval]

6.
If a person or company is in the red or if their bank account is in the red, they have spent more money than they have in their account and therefore they owe money to the bank.
The theatre is £500,000 in the red...
PHRASE: v-link PHR

7.
If you see red, you suddenly become very angry.
I didn’t mean to break his nose. I just saw red.
PHRASE: V inflects

white

/(h)waɪt/
(whiter, whitest, whites)

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.

1.
Something that is white is the colour of snow or milk.
He had nice square white teeth...
He was dressed in white from head to toe.
COLOUR
• white‧ness
Her scarlet lipstick emphasized the whiteness of her teeth.
N-UNCOUNT

2.
A white person has a pale skin and belongs to a race which is of European origin.
He was white, with brown shoulder-length hair and a moustache.
ADJ
•
Whites are white people.
It’s a school that’s brought blacks and whites and Hispanics together.
N-COUNT: usu pl

3.
If someone goes white, the skin on their face becomes very pale, for example because of fear, shock, anger, or illness.
Richard had gone very white, but he stood his ground...
His face was white with fury.
ADJ: usu v-link ADJ
•
If someone looks white as a sheet or as white as a sheet, they look very frightened, shocked, or ill.
He appeared in the doorway, white as a sheet, eyes wide with horror.
PHRASE: v-link PHR

4.
White wine is pale yellow in colour.
Gregory poured another glass of white wine and went back to his bedroom.
ADJ
•
You can refer to white wine as white.
I bought a bottle of Californian white.
N-MASS

5.
White coffee has had milk or cream added to it. (BRIT)
Wayne has a large white coffee in front of him.
ADJ

6.
White blood cells are the cells in your blood which your body uses to fight infection.
ADJ: ADJ n

7.
The white of an egg is the transparent liquid that surrounds the yellow part called the yolk.
N-VAR

8.
The white of someone’s eye is the white part that surrounds the coloured part called the iris.
N-COUNT: usu N of n

pants

/pænts/

1.
Pants are a piece of underwear which have two holes to put your legs through and elastic around the top to hold them up round your waist or hips. (BRIT; in AM, usually use underpants)
I put on my bra and pants.
= knickers
N-PLURAL: also a pair of N

2.
Pants are a piece of clothing that covers the lower part of your body and each leg. (AM; in BRIT, use trousers)
He wore brown corduroy pants and a white cotton shirt.
N-PLURAL: also a pair of N

3.
If you say that something is pants, you mean that it is very poor in quality. (BRIT INFORMAL)
The place is pants, yet so popular.
N-UNCOUNT

4.
If someone bores, charms, or scares the pants off you, for example, they bore, charm, or scare you a lot. (INFORMAL)
You’ll bore the pants off your grandchildren...
PHRASE: v PHR [emphasis]

5.
If you fly by the seat of your pants or do something by the seat of your pants, you use your instincts to tell you what to do in a new or difficult situation rather than following a plan or relying on equipment.
PHRASE: V inflects

6.
to wear the pants: see wear
 

pant

/pænt/
(pants, panting, panted)

If you pant, you breathe quickly and loudly with your mouth open, because you have been doing something energetic.
She climbed rapidly until she was panting with the effort.

VERB: V
 

blouse

/blaʊz, AM blaʊs/
(blouses)

A blouse is a kind of shirt worn by a girl or woman.

N-COUNT