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blue
2 dictionary results for: bluest
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

blue

   [bloo]
noun, adjective, blu⋅er, blu⋅est, verb, blued, blu⋅ing or blue⋅ing.
–noun
1. the pure color of a clear sky; the primary color between green and violet in the visible spectrum, an effect of light with a wavelength between 450 and 500 nm.
2. bluing.
3. something having a blue color: Place the blue next to the red.
4. a person who wears blue or is a member of a group characterized by some blue symbol: Tomorrow the blues will play the browns.
5. (often initial capital letter) a member of the Union army in the American Civil War or the army itself. Compare gray (def. 13).
6. bluestocking.
7. blue ribbon (def. 1).
8. any of several blue-winged butterflies of the family Lycaenidae.
9. Printing. blueline.
10. the blue,
a. the sky.
b. the sea.
c. the remote distance: They've vanished into the blue somewhere.
–adjective
11. of the color of blue: a blue tie.
12. (initial capital letter) of or pertaining to the Union army in the American Civil War.
13. (of the skin) discolored by cold, contusion, fear, or vascular collapse.
14. depressed in spirits; dejected; melancholy: She felt blue about not being chosen for the team.
15. holding or offering little hope; dismal; bleak: a blue outlook.
16. characterized by or stemming from rigid morals or religion: statutes that were blue and unrealistic.
17. marked by blasphemy: The air was blue with oaths.
18. (of an animal's pelage) grayish-blue.
19. indecent; somewhat obscene; risqué: a blue joke or film.
–verb (used with object)
20. to make blue; dye a blue color.
21. to tinge with bluing: Don't blue your clothes till the second rinse.
–verb (used without object)
22. to become or turn blue.
—Idioms
23. blue in the face, exhausted and speechless, as from excessive anger, physical strain, etc.: I reminded him about it till I was blue in the face.
24. out of the blue, suddenly and unexpectedly: The inheritance came out of the blue as a stroke of good fortune.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME blewe < AF blew, bl(i)u, bl(i)ef blue, livid, discolored, OF blo, blau (F bleu) < Gmc *blǣwaz; cf. OE blǣwen, contr. of blǣhǣwen deep blue, perse (see blae, hue ), OFris blāw, MD blā(u), OHG blāo (G blau), ON blār
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
blue     (blōō)  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. The hue of that portion of the visible spectrum lying between green and indigo, evoked in the human observer by radiant energy with wavelengths of approximately 420 to 490 nanometers; any of a group of colors that may vary in lightness and saturation, whose hue is that of a clear daytime sky; one of the additive or light primaries; one of the psychological primary hues.
    1. A pigment or dye imparting this hue.
    2. Bluing.
    3. An object having this hue.
    4. Dress or clothing of this hue: The ushers wore blue.
    5. A person who wears a blue uniform.
    6. blues A dress blue uniform, especially that of the U.S. Army.
    7. A member of the Union Army in the Civil War.
    8. The Union Army.
    9. The sky.
    10. The sea.
    1. An object having this hue.
    2. Dress or clothing of this hue: The ushers wore blue.
    3. A person who wears a blue uniform.
    4. blues A dress blue uniform, especially that of the U.S. Army.
    5. A member of the Union Army in the Civil War.
    6. The Union Army.
    7. The sky.
    8. The sea.
    1. A person who wears a blue uniform.
    2. blues A dress blue uniform, especially that of the U.S. Army.
    3. A member of the Union Army in the Civil War.
    4. The Union Army.
    5. The sky.
    6. The sea.
  5. often Blue
    1. A member of the Union Army in the Civil War.
    2. The Union Army.
    3. The sky.
    4. The sea.
  6. A bluefish.
  7. A small blue butterfly of the family Lycaenidae.
    1. The sky.
    2. The sea.
adj.   blu·er, blu·est
  1. Of the color blue.
  2. Bluish or having parts that are blue or bluish, as the blue spruce and the blue whale.
  3. Having a gray or purplish color, as from cold or contusion.
  4. Wearing blue.
    1. Gloomy; depressed. See Synonyms at depressed.
    2. Dismal; dreary: a blue day.
  6. Puritanical; strict.
  7. Aristocratic; patrician.
  8. Indecent; risqué: a blue joke; a blue movie.
tr. & intr.v.   blued, blu·ing, blues
To make or become blue.

[Middle English blue, bleu, from Old French bleu, of Germanic origin; see bhel-1 in Indo-European roots.]
blue'ly adv., blue'ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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