water bluen.adj.
/ˌwɔːtə ˈbluː/, U.S. /ˌwɔdər ˈblu/, /ˌwɑdər ˈblu/ A. n.
1. A pale shade of blue.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > blue or blueness > [noun] > other blues
blue-green1659
water blue1723
king's blue1778
garter-blue1792
smalt-blue1794
pencil blue1815
stone-bluea1855
azuline1864
night-blue1868
canard1872
Labrador blue1873
electric1882
chasseur-blue1900
cornflower1907
petrol blue1913
larkspur1927
petrol1927
flow-blue1961
1723 J. Dart Westmonasterium I. ii. iii. 61 In the Window South of this..is a Painting of one of our Kings, but the Colours being of a Water-blue, no particular Face can be assign'd.
1783 Morning Post 25 Jan. The ribbon worn by the Sovereign, &c. to be a water-blue.
1885 Truth 14 May 779/2 Pale water-blue goes beautifully..with these shades of beige.
1895 Table Talk Aug. 267/1 The invitation should be upon an isinglass card, the lettering in a delicate water-blue.
1933 Washington Post 30 Apr. 8/4 The debutante prefers a delicate water blue, or an apple blossom pink.
2002 M. Collins Resurrectionists viii. 89 Her eyes still gleamed a pale water blue.
2. Any of various dyes (in later use chiefly aniline dyes) imparting a blue colour.
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the world > matter > colour > colouring > colouring matter > [noun] > dye > types of dyes
pallOE
sanders1329
raddlea1350
nutgallc1450
bark1565
logwood1581
sanders-wood1615
catechu1682
cate1698
cachou1708
valonia1722
India wood1742
cutch1759
alizari1769
standard1808
iron buff1836
colorine1838
acid dye1840
garancin1843
French tub1846
suranji1848
morindin1849
water blue1851
union dye1852
indigo-carmine1855
hernant1858
pigment colour1862
rosaniline1862
rose aniline1862
bezetta1863
bottom1863
acid colour1873
paraphenylenediamine1873
indigo-extract1874
tin-pulp1874
phthalein1875
sightening1875
chrome1876
rose bengal1878
azo-colours1879
azine1887
basic dye1892
chromotrope1893
garance1896
ice colour1896
xylochrome1898
cross-dye1901
indanthrene1901
Lithol1903
vat dye1903
thioindigo1906
para red1907
vat colour1912
vat dyestuff1914
indanthrone1920
ionamine1922
Soledon1924
Solochrome1924
Solacet1938
indigoid1939
thioindigoid1943
fluorol1956
Procion1956
1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. IV. 1142/2 Duura (Van) & Versteeven, Rotterdam... Prussian blue. Mineral blue... Water blue.
1872 Eng. Mechanic 6 Dec. 295/1 I have seen a good fruit blue coloured by using Chinese paste blue and water blue (an aniline colour) in the proportion of 1lb. of the former to 1oz. of the latter.
1952 K. Venkataraman Chem. Synthetic Dyes II. xxiii. 723 Sulphonic acids of phenylated Rosanilines, which are old dyes (Nicholson Blue, Soluble Blue, Water Blue, Alkali Blue; CI 703–707) continue to be extensively used.
1996 P. Cudlín et al. in K. G. Mukerji Concepts Mycorrhizal Res. 308 Cotton blue belongs to the class of blue aniline dyes which are certified by the color index C.I. 42755 or 42780 (other examples being aniline blue and water blue).
B. adj.
Designating a pale shade of blue; of or having this colour.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > blue or blueness > [adjective] > other blues
mourning1709
Prussian blue1753
water blue1851
beryl-blue1881
Wedgwood1900
scale-blue1906
Nattier blue1912
whale-blue1946
1851 Madison (Indiana) Daily Tribune 27 May (advt.) The label..is printed on fine paper, of a delicate water-blue color, with bronze colored ink.
1893 Stone Sept. 356 The variety [of marble] from the Ravaccione quarries is faintly water-blue.
1908 H. Farjeon in Pall Mall Mag. Apr. 452 When the Spring is a water-blue morning, And the sky is a water-blue bowl.
2003 D. Wood Alphabet Light & Dark 33 A young man with shallow water-blue eyes and a blue smudge of pool-cue chalk on his cheek.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2015; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.adj.1723