blue
blue — adjective
1. showing the shade seen in a bright sky or open sea.
showing the shade seen in a bright sky or open sea.
Aiko bought a blue scarf at the night market in Taipei.
blue + clothing noun for colour
The lake looked blue under the bright morning sun.
After the wash, one white sock turned blue by mistake.
turn blue after a change
We painted the kitchen door blue before Grandmother arrived.
Small blue flowers grew beside the school fence in spring.
- blue sky
- blue scarf
- blue sea
- paint something blue
- turn blue
Grammar Patterns
blue + noun
be/look/turn blue
Usage Note
Use this sense for the colour of clothes, eyes, paint, water, and other visible things. Distinguish from sense 2, which is about mood, not colour.
Common Mistakes
2. feeling unhappy and low, or showing that feeling.
feeling unhappy and low, or showing that feeling.
After the funeral, Yusuf looked blue during the train ride home.
look blue for visible sadness
Rainy Sundays always make Mira a little blue by evening.
make + person + blue
Even the band's bright songs sounded blue after the breakup.
Theo felt blue when his sister moved to another city.
feel blue
- feel blue
- look blue
- sound blue
- a little blue
Grammar Patterns
feel blue
look blue
make + person + blue
Usage Note
Usually used after verbs such as feel, look, or seem. Distinguish from sense 1, where blue describes actual colour.
Common Mistakes
3. describing jokes, films, or talk about sex that many people find rude.
describing jokes, films, or talk about sex that many people find rude.
The comic was fired after telling blue jokes at dinner.
collocation: blue jokes
My aunt walked out when the film turned too blue.
Parents complained when the host filled breakfast radio with blue humour.
The teacher warned us that the play had blue language.
collocation: blue language
- blue joke
- blue film
- blue humour
- blue language
- clean
free from sexual or rude content
- family-friendly
suitable for children and general audiences
Grammar Patterns
blue joke
blue film
blue language
Usage Note
Most often appears before nouns such as joke, film, humour, or language. This use can sound old-fashioned in modern English.
Common Mistakes
4. cooked only briefly, so the center stays dark red and barely warm.
cooked only briefly, so the center stays dark red and barely warm.
Rohan sent the steak back because it was still blue inside.
steak cooked blue
The chef serves lamb blue only if guests ask clearly.
At that steakhouse, you can order your rib-eye blue or rare.
Priya never orders meat blue because she likes it well done.
order meat blue in a restaurant
- blue steak
- blue beef
- order it blue
- serve it blue
- well-done
cooked through with little or no red inside
Grammar Patterns
be cooked blue
order steak blue
Usage Note
Used mainly in restaurant or cooking contexts, especially with steak or other red meat. It describes meat that is even less cooked than rare.
Common Mistakes
stuck between two choices when both of them will cause trouble.
With no job and no savings, Omar felt between the devil and the deep blue sea.
to hit someone so badly that their body is covered with dark bruises.
Two robbers beat the guard black and blue before taking the cash.
a very obvious difference separating two people, ideas, or groups.
The mayor tried to put clear blue water between her plan and the old policy.
to keep trying or repeating something for a long time without success.
You can warn Leo till you are blue in the face, but he will still speed.
once in a blue moon
idiomalmost never; only on very unusual occasions.
We eat out once in a blue moon since the twins were born.
scream blue murder
idiomto shout loudly and for a long time in anger, fear, or protest.
The tenants screamed blue murder when the landlord raised the rent again.
Covered with dark marks on the skin from being hit hard.
After the fight, Tom's arms were black and blue.
Did the bully leave you black and blue yesterday?
blue — noun
1. the colour seen in a clear sky or in clean sea water.
the colour seen in a clear sky or in clean sea water.
Her room is painted in a soft blue from floor to ceiling.
in + blue for colour choice
Bao chose dark blue for the team shirts this year.
The painter mixed blue with white to match the old wall.
blue with another colour
Several blues filled the sunset photo over Kenting Beach.
plural blues for different shades
- dark blue
- light blue
- shade of blue
- in blue
Grammar Patterns
light/dark/pale blue
a blue
in blue
Usage Note
Use blue as an uncountable noun for the colour in general, and as a countable noun when talking about different shades.
Common Mistakes
2. the sporting honour, or the student who receives it, at Oxford or Cambridge.
the sporting honour, or the student who receives it, at Oxford or Cambridge.
Leila became a Blue after rowing for Cambridge against Oxford.
become a Blue in university sport
Only two swimmers won their Blues last spring.
win a Blue / Blues
The college hall displays every Blue from the 1960s team.
His father was a rugby Blue at Oxford in 1988.
- a Blue
- Cambridge Blue
- Oxford Blue
- win a Blue
- varsity athlete
broader; not limited to Oxford or Cambridge and does not mean the title itself
- sporting honour
fits the award meaning, but not the person meaning
Grammar Patterns
be a Blue
become a Blue
win a Blue
Usage Note
Usually written with a capital B and used in British university sport. It can refer either to the title itself or to the athlete who has earned it.
3. a quarrel or angry disagreement with someone.
a quarrel or angry disagreement with someone.
Nadia had a blue with her brother over the rent money.
have a blue with + person
The neighbors are having another blue about the parking space.
After one blue at lunch, the two chefs stopped speaking.
We heard a loud blue in the flat upstairs.
a blue as a countable event
- have a blue
- have a blue with someone
- another blue
- agreement
the opposite state of being on the same side
Grammar Patterns
have a blue with + person
Usage Note
Normally appears in the pattern have a blue with someone. It is informal British English and much less common than argument or row.
Common Mistakes
blue — verb
1. to give something a blue colour by dyeing, painting, or another process.
to give something a blue colour by dyeing, painting, or another process.
The workers blued the cloth in a tank behind the shop.
blue + object = make blue
Sun and salt have blued the old sign by the beach.
The artist blued the paper lightly before drawing the hills.
Grandfather blued the fence to match the garden gate.
blue something to match another object
- blue the cloth
- blue the paper
- blue the fence
- bleach
remove or lighten colour instead of adding it
Grammar Patterns
blue + object
blue + object + with + dye/paint
Usage Note
The object is usually cloth, paper, metal, wood, or another surface that is being coloured. This verb is much less common than paint something blue or dye something blue.
2. to become blue in colour, often from cold, bruising, or too little air.
to become blue in colour, often from cold, bruising, or too little air.
Ravi's fingers blued quickly in the snow without gloves.
blue from cold
The baby's lips blued during the long coughing fit.
By dawn, skin around the bruise had blued noticeably.
blue around + body area
Without fresh air, the miner's face began to blue.
begin to blue from lack of air
- lips blue
- fingers blue
- blue around the bruise
- begin to blue
- pink up
regain healthy colour after cold or illness
Grammar Patterns
blue from cold
begin to blue
blue around + body part
Usage Note
Usually used about lips, skin, fingers, or other body parts. It often suggests cold weather, bruising, or a breathing problem.
Word family
- bluishadjectiveB2
- bluenessnounC2
Synonym discussion
Sense: adjective/1
For the basic colour sense, blue is the broad everyday word. It can cover many shades, from very pale to very dark. Navy means a deep, dark blue and is common for clothes, school uniforms, and formal design. Sky-blue points to a light, fresh shade like a clear daytime sky. Turquoise is brighter and more greenish, often used for jewellery, beach water, or paint colours. Teal is also blue-green, but darker and less bright than turquoise. If you say a navy suit, people expect something dark and serious. If you say a sky-blue shirt, they expect something light and soft.
Common collocations
Nouns
- blue sky
- blue eyes
- blue dress
- blue paint
Adverbs
- deep blue
- dark blue
- bright blue
Phrases
- feel blue
- turn blue
- blue joke
Prepositions
- blue with cold
- blue from bruising
Etymology
English blue came into Middle English from Old French bleu. That French word goes back to an older Germanic source, so the modern English word is part of a long family of Germanic colour words that later passed through French before settling into English.