blueˈcoat noun

1. A serving-man, alms-man, or other wearing a blue coat (archaic)
2. A pupil of Christ's Hospital or other Bluecoat school, whose uniform is a blue coat

blueˈ-collar adjective

Relating to manual work or workers

blue devil noun

1. An evil demon
2. (in pl) the apparitions seen in delirium tremens, hence deep despondency

blue duck noun

A species of duck (Hymenolaimus malacorhynchus) found in the mountains of New Zealand

blue ear disease noun (veterinary medicine)

A viral disease of pigs, affecting their respiratory and reproductive systems

Blue Ensign noun

A blue flag with the Union Jack in one corner, until 1864 the flag of the Blue squadron, now flown by the Naval Reserve and certain yachts and merchant vessels

blueˈ-eye noun

The Australian blue-faced honeyeater, a bird with blue eye-patches

blue-eyed boy noun (informal)

A favourite who can do no wrong

blue-eyed grass noun

A mainly N American iridaceous plant with blue flowers (genus Sisyrinchium)

blue-eyed soul noun

Soul music (written and) performed by white musicians

blue film or blue movie noun (informal)

A pornographic film

blueˈfin noun

A large variety of tuna

blueˈfish noun

A large voracious fish (Pomatomus saltatrix) of the family Serranidae, on the US Atlantic coast

blue flag noun

One awarded to beaches meeting European Union standards of cleanness

blue fox noun

1. The arctic fox
2. Its fur

blue funk noun (slang)

A state of great terror

blueˈgill noun

An American freshwater sunfish

blueˈgown noun

One of a former class of licensed beggars in Scotland, a King's Bedesman

blueˈgrass noun

1. A slightly glaucous permanent grass (Poa pratensis, etc) of Europe and N America, esp Kentucky
2. A simple style of country music, originating in Kentucky and popular in the southern USA

blueˈ-green or blueˈ-grey adjective

Between blue and green or grey

blue-green algae noun

The Cyanophyta

blue ground noun

A greyish-blue decomposed agglomerate in which diamonds are found

blue gum noun

Any of several species of Eucalyptus (esp E. globulus)

blue hare noun

The mountain hare

blue heeler noun (Aust)

A heeler (qv under heel¹) with a dark speckled coat

blueˈjacket noun (informal)

A seaman in the navy

blue jay noun

A N American jay (Cyanocitta cristata)

blue john noun

Ornamental fluorspar

blue laws plural noun (US hist)

Puritanical 18c laws in Connecticut

blue line noun

(in ice hockey) a line marked off between the centre line and a goal line

Blue Mantle noun

One of the pursuivants of the English College of Arms

blue mould noun

A fungus that turns bread, cheese, etc blue

blue movie see blue film above.

blue murder noun (informal)

Used in phrases describing a terrible din or commotion

blueˈnose noun (N American)

1. A straitlaced or puritanical person (informal)
2. (with cap) a nickname for a Nova Scotian

blue note noun

A flattened note, usu third or seventh, characteristic of the blues

blue'-on-blue' adjective (military)

Involving accidental firing on one's allies

blue pencil noun

A pencil of the colour traditionally used for correcting, emending, etc

blue-penˈcil transitive verb

To correct, edit or censor

Blue Peter noun

1. A blue flag with a white rectangle, hoisted when a ship is about to sail
2. A call for trumps in whist

blue pointer noun

A large voracious shark found off the coast of Australia, the mako shark

blueˈprint noun

1. A photographic print, white on blue, on paper sensitized with ferric salts produced from a photographic negative or a drawing on transparent paper (also called cyanotype, ferroprussiate print)
2. A detailed plan of work to be done, or a guide or model provided by agreed principles or rules or by conclusions from earlier experiment

transitive verb

To produce a blueprint of

blue ribbon or blue riband noun

1. The ribbon of the Order of the Garter
2. Any very high distinction or prize (also adjective, with hyphen)
3. The badge of the teetotal Blue Ribbon Army, founded in America in 1878

blue rinse noun (hairdressing)

A bluish colouring for white or grey hair

blue-rinseˈ or blue-rinsedˈ adjective

Applied, usu disparagingly, to the supposed type of well-groomed, usu middle-class, older women (blue rinsers)

blueˈ-rot noun

A blue discoloration in coniferous wood, caused by a fungus of the genus Ceratostomella

blue ruin noun (slang)

Gin

blue screen noun

(in film, television, etc) a blue-coloured background against which material may be shot for superimposition elsewhere

blueˈ-screen adjective

blue shark noun

A shark with a dark blue back (Prionace glauca)

blue sheep noun

The bharal

blue-sky or -skies adjective

1. (of research, etc) having no immediate practical application
2. (of stocks, securities) financially unsound or fraudulent

blue-sky laws plural noun (US)

Laws to prevent fraud in the sale of stocks (against capitalizing of the blue-skies stocks)

blues'man noun

A blues musician

blue-sky thinking noun

Creative thought that is not constrained by current thinking or practical considerations

blueˈstocking noun

An intellectual woman

blueˈstone noun

1. A blue-grey sandstone
2. Blue vitriol

blue streak noun

Something as rapidly moving and dramatic as lightning, esp applied to speech (often as talk a blue streak)

blueˈthroat or blueˈbreast noun

A songbird of Europe and Asia, the male of which has a blue throat

blue tit noun

A small bird (Cyanistes caeruleus or Parus caeruleus) with blue wings and tail and a blue-topped head

blue'tongue noun

A viral disease of sheep and cattle transmitted by mosquitoes

blue'-tongue noun (Aust)

1. A rouseabout
2. A lizard of the genus Tiliqua

Blueˈtooth® noun

A short-range radio technology that simplifies communication between computers, cellular phones, etc (after Harald Bluetooth, a 10c Danish king said to have preferred talking to fighting)

blue vitriol noun

Hydrated copper sulphate

blue water noun

Open sea

blue water gas see under water

blueˈweed noun

Viper's bugloss (also blue thistle)

blue whale noun

A large baleen whale (Balaenoptera musculus) the largest living animal

blue whiting noun

A fish of the cod family, found in northern seas

blueˈwing noun

An American teal

burn blue

(of candles) to burn with a blue flame (eg as an omen of death or signifying the presence of the Devil)

full blues (naval sl)

Full formal naval uniform

into the blue

Into the unknown

once in a blue moon

Very rarely (from the rare occasions when the moon appears to be blue because of dust particles in the atmosphere)

out of the blue

1. From the cloudless sky
2. Entirely unexpectedly

shout, scream or cry blue murder

To shout loudly in pain, alarm or rage

the Blues

The Royal Horse Guards

(the) blues

1. Depression (informal)
2. (usu construed as sing) a slow sad song, orig an African-American folk song, characteristically with three four-bar lines and blue notes, or any similar composition (sometimes neither slow nor sad)

true blue

A person unswervingly faithful, esp to a political party represented by the colour blue, orig used of Covenanters (see blue (n) above; trueˈ-blue adjective)

washing-blue see blue (n) above.