blue

Alternative forms

• blew, blewe (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• enPR: blo͞o, IPA: /bluː/
• (Wales) IPA: /blɪʊ̯/
• (General American) IPA: /blu/
• (obsolete) enPR: blyo͞o, IPA: /bljuː/
• Homophone: blew

Adjective

blue (comparative bluer or more blue, superlative bluest or most blue)

1. Having blue as its color.
   • the deep blue sea
2. (informal) Depressed, melancholic, sad.
3. (health care) Having a bluish or purplish shade of the skin due to a lack of oxygen to the normally deep red blood cells.
   • The divers got them out of the car just in time – they were starting to turn blue.
4. Pale, without redness or glare; said of a flame.
   • The candle burns blue.
5. (politics) Supportive of, run by (a member of), pertaining to, or dominated by a political party represented by the colour blue.
   1. (US politics) Supportive of, run by (a member of), pertaining to, or dominated by the Democratic Party.
      • I live in a blue constituency.  Congress turned blue in the mid-term elections.
   2. (Australian politics) Supportive of or related to the Liberal Party.
      • Illawarra turns blue in Liberal washout
   3. (UK politics) Supportive of or related to the Conservative Party.
6. (astronomy) Of the higher-frequency region of the part of the electromagnetic spectrum which is relevant in the specific observation.
7. (of steak) Extra rare; left very raw and cold.
8. (of a dog or cat) Having a coat of fur of a slaty gray shade.
9. (archaic) Severe or overly strict in morals; gloomy.
   • blue and sour religionists;  blue laws
10. (archaic, of women) literary; bluestockinged.
11. (particle physics) Having a color charge of blue.
12. (informal) Risqué; obscene; profane; pornographic.
    • His material is too blue for prime-time
    • The air was blue with oaths.
    • a blue movie
13. (slang, dated) Drunk.

Noun

blue (countable and uncountable, plural blues)

1. (countable and uncountable) The colour of the clear sky or the deep sea, between green and purple in the visible spectrum, and one of the primary additive colours for transmitted light; the colour obtained by subtracting red and green from white light using magenta and cyan filters; or any colour resembling this.
   • blue:  
   • other blue:  
2. Anything coloured blue, especially to distinguish it from similar objects differing only in color.
   • I don't like red Smarties. Have you got a blue?
3. A blue dye or pigment.
4. (uncountable) Blue clothing.
   • The boys in blue marched to the pipers.
   1. (in the plural) A blue uniform. See blues.
   2. A member of a sports team that wears blue colours; (in the plural) a nickname for the team as a whole. See also blues.
      • Come on, you blues!
   3. (baseball, slang) An umpire, in reference to the typical dark blue color of the umpire's uniform. Sometimes perceived by umpires as derogatory when used by players or coaches while disputing a call.
      • He was safe! Terrible call, blue!
   4. Sporting colours awarded by a university or other institution for sporting achievement, such as representing one's university, especially and originally at Oxford and Cambridge Universities in England. See also full blue, half blue.
      • He excelled at rowing and received a blue in the sport at Oxford.
   5. A person who has received such sporting colours.
      • He was a blue in rugby at Cambridge.
   6. (slang) A member of law enforcement.
   7. (now historical) A bluestocking.
5. The sky, literally or figuratively.
   • The balloon floated up into the blue.
   • His request for leave came out of the blue.
6. The ocean; deep waters.
7. The far distance; a remote or distant place.
8. A dog or cat with a slaty gray coat.
9. (snooker) One of the colour balls used in snooker, with a value of five points.
10. (entomology) Any of the butterflies of the subfamily Polyommatinae in the family Lycaenidae, most of which have blue on their wings.
11. A bluefish.
12. (Australia, colloquial) An argument or brawl.
13. A liquid with an intense blue colour, added to a laundry wash to prevent yellowing of white clothes.
14. Any of several processes to protect metal against rust.
15. (Britain) A type of firecracker.
16. (particle physics) One of the three color charges for quarks.
17. (UK) A member or supporter of the Conservative Party.
    • He is a true blue.

Verb

blue (third-person singular simple present blues, present participle blueing or bluing, simple past and past participle blued)

1. (ergative) To make or become blue; to turn blue.
2. (transitive, metallurgy) To treat the surface of steel so that it is passivated chemically and becomes more resistant to rust.
3. (transitive, laundry) To brighten by treating with blue (laundry aid).
4. (intransitive, Australia, slang) To fight, brawl, or argue.

Derived terms

Verb

blue (third-person singular simple present blues, present participle blueing or bluing, simple past and past participle blued)

1. (transitive, slang, dated) To spend (money) extravagantly; to blow.

Anagrams

• Buel, lube

Adverb

blue

1. bluely
   blue: