mod. bruised, physically or emotionally. : I'm still black and blue from my divorce.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition. Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Idioms & Phrases
black and blue
Badly bruised, as in That fall down the stairs left me black and blue all over. Even though multicolored bruises rarely include the color black, this term has been so used since about 1300.
