–noun

1.	the pure color of a clear sky; the primary color between green and violet in the visible spectrum, an effect of light with a wavelength between 450 and 500 nm.

2.

bluing.

3.	something having a blue color: Place the blue next to the red.

4.	a person who wears blue or is a member of a group characterized by some blue symbol: Tomorrow the blues will play the browns.

5.	(often initial capital letter) a member of the Union army in the American Civil War or the army itself. Compare gray (def. 13).

6.	bluestocking.

7.	blue ribbon (def. 1).

8.	any of several blue-winged butterflies of the family Lycaenidae.

9.	Printing. blueline.

10.	the blue, a. the sky. b. the sea. c. the remote distance: They've vanished into the blue somewhere.

–adjective

11.	of the color of blue: a blue tie.

12.	(initial capital letter) of or pertaining to the Union army in the American Civil War.

13.	(of the skin) discolored by cold, contusion, fear, or vascular collapse.

14.	depressed in spirits; dejected; melancholy: She felt blue about not being chosen for the team.

15.	holding or offering little hope; dismal; bleak: a blue outlook.

16.	characterized by or stemming from rigid morals or religion: statutes that were blue and unrealistic.

17.	marked by blasphemy: The air was blue with oaths.

18.	(of an animal's pelage) grayish-blue.

19.	indecent; somewhat obscene; risqué: a blue joke or film.

–verb (used with object)

20.	to make blue; dye a blue color.

21.	to tinge with bluing: Don't blue your clothes till the second rinse.

–verb (used without object)

22.	to become or turn blue.

—Idioms

23.	blue in the face, exhausted and speechless, as from excessive anger, physical strain, etc.: I reminded him about it till I was blue in the face.

24.	out of the blue, suddenly and unexpectedly: The inheritance came out of the blue as a stroke of good fortune.

–noun

1.	a pure or nearly pure, extremely hard form of carbon, naturally crystallized in the isometric system.

2.	a piece of this stone.

3.	a transparent, flawless or almost flawless piece of this stone, esp. when cut and polished, valued as a precious gem.

4.	a ring or other piece of jewelry containing such a precious stone, esp. an engagement ring.

5.	a piece of this stone used in a drill or cutting tool.

6.	a tool provided with such an uncut stone, used for cutting glass.

7.	crystallized carbon, or a piece of it, artificially produced.

8.	an equilateral quadrilateral, esp. as placed with its diagonals vertical and horizontal; a lozenge or rhombus.

9.	any rhombus-shaped figure or object oriented with its diagonals vertical and horizontal.

89

10.	a red rhombus-shaped figure on a playing card.

11.	a card of the suit bearing such figures.