blues
noun
[ bluːz ]
• melancholic music of black American folk origin, typically in a twelve-bar sequence. It developed in the rural southern US towards the end of the 19th century, finding a wider audience in the 1940s, as black people migrated to the cities. This urban blues gave rise to rhythm and blues and rock and roll.
• "blues has always had a strong following in Australia"
• feelings of melancholy, sadness, or depression.
• "she's got the blues"
Similar:
depression,
sadness,
unhappiness,
melancholy,
misery,
sorrow,
gloominess,
gloom,
dejection,
downheartedness,
despondency,
dispiritedness,
low spirits,
heavy-heartedness,
glumness,
moroseness,
dismalness,
despair,
the doldrums,
the dumps,
Origin:
mid 18th century (in blues (sense 2)): elliptically from blue devils ‘depression or delirium tremens’.
blue
noun
• blue colour or pigment.
• "she was dressed in blue"
• a small butterfly, the male of which is predominantly blue while the female is typically brown.
• a person who has represented Cambridge University (a Cambridge blue ) or Oxford University (an Oxford blue ) at a particular sport in a match between the two universities.
• "a flyweight boxing blue"
• an argument or fight.
• "did you have a blue or what?"
• a mistake.
• "his tactical blue in saying the opposition wasn't ready to govern"
• a nickname for a red-headed person.
• "only an Aussie could make a red-headed man ‘Blue.’"
• a supporter of the Conservative Party.
blue
verb
• make or become blue.
• "the light dims, bluing the retina"
• wash (white clothes) with bluing.
• "they blued the shirts and starched the uniforms"
Origin:
Middle English: from Old French bleu, ultimately of Germanic origin and related to Old English blǣwen ‘blue’ and Old Norse blár ‘dark blue’ (see also blaeberry).
blue
verb
• squander or recklessly spend (money).
Origin:
mid 19th century: perhaps a variant of blow1.
