blue in the face
Slang Dictionary

blue definition


  1. mod.
    depressed; melancholy. : That music always makes me blue.
  2. mod.
    obscene; vulgar; dirty. : Those blue jokes don't go over very well around here.
  3. n.
    the sky; the heavens. : The idea came to me right out of the blue.
  4. mod.
    alcohol intoxicated. : You might say I'm blue. Others might note that I am stoned.
  5. n.
    an amphetamine tablet or capsule, especially a blue one. (Drugs.) : How are blues different from reds and yellows?
  6. n.
    a police officer; the police. : The blues will be here in a minute.
  7. n.
    a 10-mg tablet of Valium. (Drugs.) : In treatment they kept giving me blues to calm me down. Now I can't live without them.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Slang Dictionary

blue in the face definition


  1. mod.
    pale from exhaustion or exertion. : I laughed until I was blue in the face.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

blue in the face

Exhausted from anger, strain, or other great effort. For example, You can argue until you're blue in the face, but I refuse to go. This expression alludes to the bluish skin color resulting from lack of oxygen, which presumably might result from talking until one was breathless. See also under talk one's arm off.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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