blues

Pluralblues

1. 1
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A style of African-American music built on simple repeating chord patterns and a set of sad-sounding notes.

   Like a sad story set to a slow, repeating tune.

   She fell in love with the blues after hearing an old record at her uncle's house.

   Delta blues grew up along the Mississippi River.

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2. 2
   nouncolloquialcountable or uncountable

   A down, gloomy mood that hangs over you for a while.

   Like a gray cloud that sits over your day and won't move.

   She's had the blues ever since her best friend moved away.

   A long, gray winter can give anyone the blues.

   Similarsadness, depression, unhappiness, misery, sorrow

   Oppositehappiness, joy

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3. 3
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A single song or piece written in the blues style.

   The band closed the night with a slow blues in B-flat.

   He wrote a twelve-bar blues for his late father.

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4. 4
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A uniform made mostly of blue cloth, especially a fancy dress one.

   The officer wore his dress blues to the ceremony.

   Recruits pressed their blues before the parade.

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5. 5
   nouncolloquialcountable or uncountableplural

   The hard times and struggles a person has lived through.

   Like a backpack full of memories from every hard road you've walked.

   Every line on his face told the story of his blues.

   She sang about her blues: the jobs lost and the homes left behind.

   Similarmisery, sorrow, grief, sadness, distress

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6. 6
   nouncolloquialcountable or uncountableplural

   A low, sad feeling that comes from a certain thing, like a job or a time of year.

   Like the flat feeling after a party ends and everyone goes home.

   Sunday night always brings on the blues before the work week starts.

   New parents often get the blues from too little sleep.

   Similarsadness, depression, unhappiness, misery, distress

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7. 7
   nounslangcountable or uncountable

   Blue pills sold illegally on the street, made to look like prescription pain medicine.

   He got caught buying blues behind the gas station.

   The dealer was selling blues that looked just like real painkillers.

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8. 8
   noun

   Plural of blue. Use this when talking about more than one shade of blue.

   The painter laid out three blues on her palette.

   Deep blues and soft greens filled the whole canvas.

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9. 9
   verb

   The form of blue used in the present with he, she, it, or a singular noun such as the dog or water.

   The metalworker blues the steel to protect it from rust.

   She blues the fabric in a deep tub of dye.

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