| / English Dictionary |
BLUES
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A type of folksong that originated among Black Americans at the beginning of the 20th century; has a melancholy sound from repeated use of blue notes
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("blues" is a kind of...):
African-American music; black music (music created by African-American musicians; early forms were songs that had a melodic line and a strong rhythmic beat with repeated choruses)
folk ballad; folk song; folksong (a song that is traditionally sung by the common people of a region and forms part of their culture)
Meronyms (parts of "blues"):
blue note (a flattened third or seventh)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "blues"):
boogie; boogie-woogie (an instrumental version of the blues (especially for piano))
Sense 2
Meaning:
A state of depression
Example:
he had a bad case of the blues
Synonyms:
blue devils; blues; megrims; vapors; vapours
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("blues" is a kind of...):
depression (a mental state characterized by a pessimistic sense of inadequacy and a despondent lack of activity)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
Present simple (third person singular) of the verb blue
Context examples:
I was experimenting with the algorithm and I had major scales and simple minor scales, but when I first played the available segment of just one of the instruments, it sounded like that could be a very nice blues or jazzy sound to it, he said.
(Does Our Galaxy Sound Like Funky Blues Music?, George Putic/VOA)
At any rate, the blues were gone, and the blue devils had not put in an appearance.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
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