- [countable, uncountable] the colour of a clear sky or the sea on a clear day
- bright/dark/light/pale/deep blue
- The room was decorated in vibrant blues and yellows.
- She was dressed in blue.
- the deep blue of the night sky
- The walls are a light shade of blue.
Homophones blew | blueblew bluesee also navy blueTopics Colours and Shapesa1/bluː//bluː/- blew verb (past tense of blow)
- The wind blew the door shut.
- blue adjective
- Both candidates wore blue jeans.
- blue noun
- They chose an intense blue for the walls.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- aqua
- azure
- baby
- …
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- [countable] (British English) a person who has played a particular sport for Oxford or Cambridge University; a title given to them
- He’s an Oxford rugby blue.
- She won a blue for rowing.
- [countable] (Australian English, New Zealand English, informal) a mistake
- [countable] (Australian English, New Zealand English, informal) a name for a person with red hair
- [countable] (Australian English, New Zealand English, informal) a fight
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French bleu, ultimately of Germanic origin and related to Old English blǣwen ‘blue’ and Old Norse blár ‘dark blue’.
Idioms
See blue in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee blue in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englisha bolt from the blue
- an event or a piece of news which is sudden and unexpected; a complete surprise
- Her dismissal came as a bolt from the blue.
the boys in blue
- (informal) the policeTopics Law and justicec2
out of the blue
- unexpectedly; without warning
- The decision came out of the blue.
Check pronunciation:
blue