blue

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)