blue

Less common meanings

9. 9
   adjectivecolloquial

   Feeling sad, low, or down in spirits.

   He always gets blue when the long winter nights set in.

   Losing the match left the whole team feeling blue.

   UsageUsually after feel, be or get: feeling blue.

   Similarsad, unhappy, depressed, miserable, down

   Oppositehappy, cheerful, upbeat

   Note

   Speakers soften it with small hedges, as in Guy Wetmore Carryl's The Transgression of Andrew Vane (1904): "I'm just the least bit blue." They also push it past itself, as in Michael Johnson's 1978 song "Bluer Than Blue," which pairs it with a matching doubling of sad.

10. 10
    wearing (color)noununcountable

    Clothing colored blue, especially a blue uniform such as that of the police or a navy (dressed in blue; the boys in blue).

    The bride asked all her bridesmaids to wear blue.

    At the funeral he chose to wear blue instead of black.

    UsageOften after in or wear, with no article: dressed in blue, wear blue.

    Note

    The color stands in for the clothes, and the usual construction is in: dressed in blue, the boys in blue. That phrase can describe any body of people wearing blue, such as the boys marching to the pipers. It covers blue uniforms too, and it leads straight on to the slang for police.

11. 11
    color (action)verbtransitive or intransitive

    To make something blue, or to become blue in color.

    Laundries once blued white linens to make them look brighter.

    Late in the evening, pipe smoke would blue the air of the dim little room.

    UsageThe -ing form is spelled blueing or bluing; both are in use.

    Note

    The verb works both ways. A verse in The Truth (Sydney, 1900) complains that the weather "blues your nose," while in D. H. Lawrence's Sea and Sardinia (1921) "the dawn is wanly blueing" on its own. Bluen means the same thing. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • A verse published in The Truth in Sydney in 1900 describes the weather as making a person's nose blue, using the words "blues your nose." en.wiktionary.org
    • D. H. Lawrence wrote Sea and Sardinia. gutenberg.org
    • Sea and Sardinia was first published in 1921. en.wikipedia.org
    • Sea and Sardinia contains the narration "The dawn is wanly blueing." gutenberg.org
12. 12
    police officernounslangcountable or uncountable

    A member of law enforcement, named for the traditional blue uniform.

    He dialed Kathy to be sure she was okay and see if the blues arrived. She was crying when she picked up the phone. “Kathy, honey, I'm here. It'll be okay. Are the police there?”

    2022, Jim Malloy, Die

    UsageMostly used in the plural, the blues.

    Similarcop, copper, officer

    Note

    Police slang that takes its name from the uniform. It is most often plural: in Jim Malloy's Die, Mother Goose, Die, a man calls to "see if the blues arrived," then asks outright whether the police are there. It belongs with the boys in blue. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • The police slang refers to blue uniforms, as does the related expression 'boys in blue'. en.wiktionary.org
    • Jim Malloy wrote Die, Mother Goose, Die. jimmalloy-author.com
    • A man telephones Kathy to check whether the police have arrived; 'see if the blues arrived' occurs in the narration, and he subsequently asks whether the police are there. en.wiktionary.org
    • 'The boys in blue' is a related slang expression for police officers. en.wiktionary.org
13. 13
    adult materialadjectivecolloquial

    Sexually explicit, obscene, or off-color, especially in humor or entertainment.

    His late-night act leaned heavily on blue material.

    The station bleeped half his routine because it was too blue for daytime radio.

    UsageCommon in blue jokes, blue material and a blue movie; the air was blue means heavy swearing.

    Similarsmutty, dirty, racy, bawdy, crude

    Oppositeclean, wholesome

    Note

    Smut and swearing both count. A comic's material can be too blue for prime time, and a blue movie is a pornographic one. "The air was blue with oaths" describes a room thick with profanity, with no sex involved. That idiom is the clearest sign that the word covers bad language as well as indecency. A related noun names the material itself. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

    • The quoted example is attested with the exact wording given; no speaker or author is attributed. en.wiktionary.org
14. 14
    dye (stuff)nouncountable or uncountable

    A dye or pigment used to give something a blue color.

    A pinch of blue was stirred into the glaze before firing.

    Indigo is still the blue used to dye most denim.

15. 15
    adjective

    Of an animal, having a coat of fur in a slaty gray shade.

    The kitten's blue coat shimmered in the afternoon light.

    The breeder had two blue kittens left, both with soft, slate-gray fur.

    Note

    Fanciers use this color name for dogs and cats, and it puzzles outsiders: the coat it describes is slaty gray. A breeder's "blue kitten" is a gray kitten to everyone else. The same word also works as a noun for the animal itself.

16. 16
    far distancenouncountable or uncountable

    (the blue, literary) The sky or the open sea, or a vast faraway space (vanished into the blue).

    An eagle circled and then disappeared into the blue.

    Beyond the harbor wall, the ferry left the green shallows behind and pushed out into the open blue.

    UsageTakes the: into the blue; out of the blue means without warning.

    Similarsky

    Note

    The figurative sky gives us out of the blue. A request for leave that "came out of the blue" arrived without warning, as if from an empty sky. The literal use lives on in into the blue, where a balloon or a bird rises out of sight. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • 'Out of the blue' derives from the image of something arriving unexpectedly from a clear sky. en.wiktionary.org
17. 17
    very rareadjective

    Of meat, cooked very briefly so that it stays extra rare, nearly raw, and cool at the center.

    She ordered her steak blue, seared outside and raw within.

    A blue steak spends only seconds on each side of the grill.

    Oppositewell-done

    Note

    A steakhouse word, used of both the meat and the order: one asks for a steak blue. It sits beyond rare on the scale of doneness, seared and still cold within. Diners have a joking synonym for it, "mooing." The meat can look bluish purple within. The word measures how little it has been cooked. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • Blue steak is less cooked than rare steak, with a seared exterior and a cold center. webstaurantstore.com
    • The interior can have a bluish-purple appearance; saying it is not blue at all is too categorical. isbe.net
18. 18
    Conservative membernounUKcountable or uncountable

    In British politics, a member or supporter of the Conservative Party, whose traditional color is blue.

    A true blue from the shires, he was horrified when his son joined the Labour Party.

    The blues held most of the rural constituencies across the county.

    UsageCommon in a true blue, a loyal supporter of the party.

    SimilarTory, Conservative

    Note

    In Britain a person can be blue as well as a seat or a vote. This is the noun counterpart of the adjective.

19. 19
    a gray petnouncountable or uncountable

    A dog or cat whose coat is a slaty gray shade.

    The breeder's prized blue took best in show.

    At the cat show, her favorite was a quiet blue with bright copper eyes.

    Note

    Breeders turn the coat-color name into a noun for the animal itself and group it with the "dilutes." Joe Stahlkuppe's American Pit Bull Terrier Handbook (2000) speaks of "blues and other dilutes" and their weaker coats. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Joe Stahlkuppe wrote American Pit Bull Terrier Handbook, first published in 2000. openlibrary.org
    • The book uses the exact phrase "blues and other dilutes" and describes their coats as weaker. en.wiktionary.org
20. 20
    adult materialnounslanguncountable

    Risqué or sexually explicit material, such as films, jokes, or pictures.

    UsageUsually a bit of blue or some blue.

    Similarsmut, porn, filth

    Note

    Here the adjective for smutty material becomes a mass noun, and its favorite frame is "a bit of blue." S. Purcell's Popular Shakespeare (2009) has a performer promising "a bit of blue for the Dads." In Charlie Flowers's Kill Order, the line is "Bit of blue for the lads." Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • S. Purcell is the author of Popular Shakespeare, published in 2009. warwick.ac.uk
    • Purcell's book describes a performer promising the exact words "a bit of blue for the Dads." en.wiktionary.org
    • Charlie Flowers's Kill Order contains the exact line "Bit of blue for the lads," spoken by Fuzz. en.wiktionary.org
21. 21
    snooker ballnouncountable or uncountable

    In snooker, one of the colored balls, worth five points when potted.

    She lined up the blue from an awkward angle near the cushion.

    Potting the blue extended his break to forty-one.

    UsageUsually the blue: pot the blue, miss the blue.

    Note

    Snooker names its balls by color, and the blue is worth five points. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Snooker balls are identified by color. wcbs.sport
    • The blue ball is worth five points. wcbs.sport
22. 22
    butterflynouncountable or uncountable

    Any of the small butterflies of the subfamily Polyommatinae, most of which have blue on their wings.

    A blue fluttered across the meadow and settled on a thistle.

    Several blues gathered at the damp patch beside the stream.

    Note

    This is a classifier's name rather than a description of color. The blues are the subfamily Polyommatinae, a smaller group within the larger family Lycaenidae. Because membership follows the classification, a butterfly can be a blue without looking blue. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Blues is the name of a taxonomic group. en.wikipedia.org
    • The blues constitute the subfamily Polyommatinae within the family Lycaenidae. en.wikipedia.org
    • A butterfly belonging to the blues need not look blue. yorkshirebutterflies.org.uk
23. 23
    sports honornouncountable or uncountable

    An honor awarded by a university for sporting achievement, such as representing the university in competition, especially at Oxford and Cambridge.

    She earned her blue for rowing in her final year.

    Winning a blue at Cambridge was the proudest moment of his student days.

    UsageYou win or earn a blue for a sport, such as rowing.

    Note

    Oxford and Cambridge are where this honor began, and other institutions took it up. The award comes in grades, a full blue or a half blue. Someone who holds one is also called a blue. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The sporting honour originated at Oxford and Cambridge and was subsequently adopted by other institutions. susf.com.au
    • The award has full blue and half blue grades. sport.ox.ac.uk
24. 24
    fightnouncolloquialAustraliacountable or uncountable

    A heated argument or a physical brawl between people.

    The two brothers had a massive blue over the inheritance.

    A blue broke out at the pub after the final whistle.

    UsageYou have a blue with someone, often over or about something.

    Similarfight, row, brawl, barney, scrap

    Note

    Australians use it for a row or a fight, and it has nothing to do with the sad sense. In Tim Winton's The Turning (2004), Fay "had a blue with Dad" over whether to drive or walk. It covers shouting matches and scuffles alike, and as a verb, to blue means to fight or argue. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Tim Winton wrote The Turning, first published in 2004. en.wikipedia.org
    • Fay says she had a blue with Dad because he wanted to drive and she wanted to walk. en.wiktionary.org
25. 25
    nounslang

    In baseball, an umpire, named for the traditional dark-blue uniform; sometimes taken as insulting when used by players disputing a call.
26. 26
    adjective

    Of a flame, burning with a pale, dim light rather than a bright red or yellow one.
27. 27
    adjective

    In particle physics, carrying the blue color charge, one of three charge states of quarks.
28. 28
    adjectivearchaic

    Puritanical and joyless in matters of morality.
29. 29
    adjectivearchaic

    Learned and bookish, especially of a woman with intellectual interests.

    Some of the ladies were very blue and well informed, reading Mrs. Somerville and frequenting the Royal Institution; others were severe and Evangelical, and held by Exeter Hall.

    1847, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair
30. 30
    adjectivedated

    Intoxicated from alcohol.

    My wine I drank and oft got blue / On brandy, gin and whisky too— / Until my reputation gay, / Along with care, was cast away —

    1847, Jacob Carter, My Drunken Life
31. 31
    noun

    Someone who has won a university sporting honor, especially by representing Oxford or Cambridge.
32. 32
    noun

    A woman with strong intellectual or literary interests, especially in the 18th century.
33. 33
    noun

    Short name for the bluefish, a predatory fish of warm coastal seas.
34. 34
    noun

    A deep-blue liquid added to the wash to stop white fabrics turning yellow.
35. 35
    noun

    Any of various methods of coating metal, especially steel, with a thin layer that guards against rust.
36. 36
    nounBritish

    A kind of firecracker, mainly in British use.
37. 37
    noun

    In particle physics, one of the three color charges a quark can carry, the others being red and green.
38. 38
    verb

    To coat steel with a thin oxide film, using heat or chemicals, so that it rusts less easily.
39. 39
    verb

    To make white laundry look brighter by rinsing it with a blue dye.
40. 40
    verbslangAustralia

    To quarrel or get into a fight.
41. 41
    verbdated

    To squander money freely.

    They was willing to blue the lot and have nothing left when they got home except debts on the never-never.

    1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page