blue-greyn.adj.
/ˌbluːˈɡreɪ/, U.S. /ˌbluˈɡreɪ/ (in sense A. 2)Brit. /ˈbluːɡreɪ/, U.S. /ˈbluˌɡreɪ/ A. n.
1. A grey colour tinged with blue.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > grey or greyness > [noun] > bluish grey
blue-grey1478
slate-grey1794
slate-colour1799
slate1813
gunmetal1905
battleship grey1916
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > breeds of ox > [noun] > shorthorn breeds > cross-breeds
blue-grey1478
Santa Gertrudisc1946
Luing1970
1478 in T. Thomson Acts Lords Auditors (1839) 67/1 A kirtill of blew gray.
1680 G. Mackenzie Sci. Herauldry i. v. 23 The Furr of a Beast, called Varus, whose Back is a blew-gray, its Bellie being white.
1793 J. Farington Diary 19 Aug. (1978) I. 38 The Major Commandant of the Town dressed in light Blue Grey.
1814 Ann. Philos. 4 298 An attempt to delineate the colours in natu[r]al history... Yellow-grey, lividus; white-grey, canus; blue-grey, cinereus; [etc.].
1851 ‘Artist’ Theory of Effect 21 The gentlest contrast of green greys, are yellow greys, and blue greys.
1949 Life 28 Mar. 9 (advt.) High-fashion steel and electric blues, blue and rose prints, blue-greys.
2004 J. Smith & L. Darbyshire How to Garden 65 Blue-greys. Some of the most attractive conifers have blue-green or blue-grey foliage.
2. A variety of beef cattle of a blue roan colour, usually produced by crossing a white shorthorn bull with a black Galloway cow, and popular in northern Britain.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > breeds of ox > [noun] > miscellaneous types of
black cattle1610
horned cattle1725
Suffolk1831
blue-grey1876
criollo1888
Simmental1906
Sahiwal1916
Belgian Blue1917
morucho1932
1876 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 12 535 The beautiful crosses which are seen in Scotland and the North of England—the blue-greys and blue-roans, which are so highly appreciated by the grazier.
1901 Queensland Agric. Jrnl. 8 156 In the cattle section there were sixteen blue-greys, well fed and of heavy weights.
1960 Times 25 Jan. 19/1 The original Galloways were put to a Shorthorn bull. This gave us a Bluegrey cow.
2008 L. Cole in T. Amend et al. Protected Landscapes & Agrobiodiversity Values 124/2 Breeds best suited to grazing regimes that help restore biodiversity: the Beef Shorthorn and Blue-Grey (which are traditional to the area).
B. adj.
Of a bluish-grey colour.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > grey or greyness > [adjective] > bluish grey
glawke1412
perse-blue1414
waterisha1425
blunket1488
bluish-grey1578
blue-grey1590
water1592
slate-grey1794
slate-coloured1801
griseous1819
neutral1821
slaty1822
schistous1858
slatish1860
powder-blue-grey1952
1590 Edinb. Test. XXII. f. 197v, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Blew Tua dosone of blew gray bonnettis.
1733 V. La Chapelle Mod. Cook III. 76 (header) Another Polish way of dressing Pike with a Blue-Grey Sauce.
1799 W. Biglow Education 3 In blue-grey coat, with buttons on the cuffs.
1835 Trans. Geol. Soc. London 4 188 A blue-grey marly mass, almost like the lowest beds of the chalk.
1859 ‘G. Eliot’ Adam Bede I. i. vi. 133 The keen glance of her blue-grey eye.
1911 C. E. W. Bean ‘Dreadnought’ of Darling i. 8 The long blue-grey galvanised-iron wool-shed.
2010 M. Nolan Bobby Blanchard iv. 33 Elaine lit a cigarette, and Bobby watched the haze of blue-gray smoke slowly rise.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.adj.1478