| / English Dictionary |
BLUE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Irregular inflected forms: bluer , bluest
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Any of numerous small butterflies of the family Lycaenidae
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("blue" is a kind of...):
lycaenid; lycaenid butterfly (any of various butterflies of the family Lycaenidae)
Holonyms ("blue" is a member of...):
genus Lycaena; Lycaena (type genus of the Lycaenidae; small slender butterflies with upper surface of wings usually metallic blue or green or copper)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The sodium salt of amobarbital that is used as a barbiturate; used as a sedative and a hypnotic
Synonyms:
amobarbital sodium; Amytal; blue; blue angel; blue devil
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("blue" is a kind of...):
amobarbital (a barbiturate with sedative and hypnotic effects; used to relieve insomnia and as an anticonvulsant)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Blue clothing
Example:
she was wearing blue
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("blue" is a kind of...):
article of clothing; clothing; habiliment; vesture; wear; wearable (a covering designed to be worn on a person's body)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Blue color or pigment; resembling the color of the clear sky in the daytime
Example:
he had eyes of bright blue
Synonyms:
blue; blueness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("blue" is a kind of...):
chromatic color; chromatic colour; spectral color; spectral colour (a color that has hue)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "blue"):
azure; cerulean; lazuline; sapphire; sky-blue (a light shade of blue)
powder blue (a pale blue color with grey in it)
steel blue (a greyish blue color)
Prussian blue (a dark greenish-blue color)
dark blue; navy; navy blue (a dark shade of blue)
aqua; aquamarine; cobalt blue; greenish blue; peacock blue; turquoise (a shade of blue tinged with green)
purplish blue; royal blue (a shade of blue tinged with purple)
ultramarine (a vivid blue to purple-blue color)
Derivation:
blue (turn blue)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Any organization or party whose uniforms or badges are blue
Example:
the Union army was a vast blue
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("blue" is a kind of...):
organisation; organization (a group of people who work together)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "blue"):
Union Army (the northern army during the American Civil War)
Sense 6
Meaning:
The sky as viewed during daylight
Example:
he shot an arrow into the blue
Synonyms:
blue; blue air; blue sky; wild blue yonder
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)
Hypernyms ("blue" is a kind of...):
sky (the atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Used to whiten laundry or hair or give it a bluish tinge
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("blue" is a kind of...):
dye; dyestuff (a usually soluble substance for staining or coloring e.g. fabrics or hair)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Causing dejection
Example:
grim rainy weather
Synonyms:
blue; dark; dingy; disconsolate; dismal; drab; drear; dreary; gloomy; grim; sorry
Classified under:
Similar:
cheerless; depressing; uncheerful (causing sad feelings of gloom and inadequacy)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Of the color intermediate between green and violet; having a color similar to that of a clear unclouded sky
Example:
blue haze of tobacco smoke
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Similar:
chromatic (being or having or characterized by hue)
Derivation:
blueness (blue color or pigment; resembling the color of the clear sky in the daytime)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Characterized by profanity or cursing
Example:
profane words
Synonyms:
blasphemous; blue; profane
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
dirty ((of behavior or especially language) characterized by obscenity or indecency)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Filled with melancholy and despondency
Example:
feeling discouraged and downhearted
Synonyms:
blue; depressed; dispirited; down; down in the mouth; downcast; downhearted; gloomy; grim; low; low-spirited
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
dejected (affected or marked by low spirits)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Morally rigorous and strict
Example:
blue laws
Synonyms:
blue; puritanic; puritanical
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
nonindulgent; strict (characterized by strictness, severity, or restraint)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Belonging to or characteristic of the nobility or aristocracy
Example:
patrician tastes
Synonyms:
aristocratic; aristocratical; blue; blue-blooded; gentle; patrician
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
noble (of or belonging to or constituting the hereditary aristocracy especially as derived from feudal times)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Used to signify the Union forces in the American Civil War (who wore blue uniforms)
Example:
a ragged blue line
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
northern (in or characteristic of a region of the United States north of (approximately) the Mason-Dixon line)
Sense 8
Meaning:
Suggestive of sexual impropriety
Example:
spicy gossip
Synonyms:
blue; gamey; gamy; juicy; naughty; racy; risque; spicy
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
sexy (marked by or tending to arouse sexual desire or interest)
III. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they blue ... he / she / it blues
Past simple: blued
Past participle: blued
-ing form: blueing /bluing
Sense 1
Meaning:
Turn blue
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "blue" is one way to...):
color; colour; discolor; discolour (change color, often in an undesired manner)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s
Derivation:
blue (blue color or pigment; resembling the color of the clear sky in the daytime)
bluing (a process that makes something blue (or bluish))
Context examples:
He was clad in a blue uniform, and I remember noting how trim and quiet he was.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
A microscopy staining method that utilizes alcian blue, a cationic, water soluble copper-containing phthalocyanine dye to determine the presence of acid mucopolysaccharides and glycosaminoglycans.
(Alcian Blue Staining Method, NCI Thesaurus)
Big, dark blue eyes are set widely apart, and are quick and tender or stern with the man's moods.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
A microscopy staining method that utilizes periodic acid, an oxoacid of iodine, Schiff reagent, the reaction product of fuchsine and sodium bisulfite, and Alcian blue, a water soluble copper phthalocyanine dye.
(Alcian Blue and Periodic Acid Schiff Staining Method, NCI Thesaurus)
The coat comes in blue merle, red (liver) merle, solid black and solid red (liver) all with or without white markings and/or tan (copper) points.
(Australian Shepherd, NCI Thesaurus)
The blue speckled is with or without black, blue or tan markings on the head with tan points.
(Australian Cattle Dog, NCI Thesaurus)
Nothing more is needed than that you should light your pipe at the blue light, and I will appear before you at once.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
His eyes blue, his hair yellow, he has a little mustache which is yellow. His name is John Jones.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
Persistent, symmetric, and painless blue discoloration of the extremities.
(Acrocyanosis, NCI Thesaurus)
Cells are methylene blue positive on whole mounts, cells have basophilic cytoplasm on H and E stain, and may have Beta-catenin staining in the nucleus.
(Aberrant Crypt Foci of the Mouse Intestinal Tract, NCI Thesaurus/MMHCC)
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