Webster's Unabridged Dictionary - Letter B - Page 58

Blue (superl.) Severe or over strict in morals; gloom; as, blue and sour religionists; suiting one who is over strict in morals; inculcating an impracticable, severe, or gloomy mortality; as, blue laws.

Blue (superl.) Literary; -- applied to women; -- an abbreviation of bluestocking.

Blue (n.) One of the seven colors into which the rays of light divide themselves, when refracted through a glass prism; the color of the clear sky, or a color resembling that, whether lighter or darker; a pigment having such color. Sometimes, poetically, the sky.

Blue (n.) A pedantic woman; a bluestocking.

Blue (pl.) Low spirits; a fit of despondency; melancholy.

Blued (imp. & p. p.) of Blue

Bluing (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Blue

Blue (v. t.) To make blue; to dye of a blue color; to make blue by heating, as metals, etc.

Blueback (n.) A trout (Salmo oquassa) inhabiting some of the lakes of Maine.

Blueback (n.) A salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) of the Columbia River and northward.

Blueback (n.) An American river herring (Clupea aestivalis), closely allied to the alewife.

Bluebeard (n.) The hero of a mediaeval French nursery legend, who, leaving home, enjoined his young wife not to open a certain room in his castle. She entered it, and found the murdered bodies of his former wives. -- Also used adjectively of a subject which it is forbidden to investigate.

Bluebell (n.) A plant of the genus Campanula, especially the Campanula rotundifolia, which bears blue bell-shaped flowers; the harebell.

Bluebell (n.) A plant of the genus Scilla (Scilla nutans).

Blueberry (n.) The berry of several species of Vaccinium, an ericaceous genus, differing from the American huckleberries in containing numerous minute seeds instead of ten nutlets. The commonest species are V. Pennsylvanicum and V. vacillans. V. corymbosum is the tall blueberry.

Bluebill (n.) A duck of the genus Fuligula. Two American species (F. marila and F. affinis) are common. See Scaup duck.

Bluebird (n.) A small song bird (Sialia sialis), very common in the United States, and, in the north, one of the earliest to arrive in spring. The male is blue, with the breast reddish. It is related to the European robin.

Blue bonnet (n.) Alt. of Blue-bonnet

Blue-bonnet (n.) A broad, flat Scottish cap of blue woolen, or one wearing such cap; a Scotchman.

Blue-bonnet (n.) A plant. Same as Bluebottle.

Blue-bonnet (n.) The European blue titmouse (Parus coeruleus); the bluecap.

Blue book () A parliamentary publication, so called from its blue paper covers.

Blue book () The United States official "Biennial Register."

Bluebottle (n.) A plant (Centaurea cyanus) which grows in grain fields. It receives its name from its blue bottle-shaped flowers.

Bluebottle (n.) A large and troublesome species of blowfly (Musca vomitoria). Its body is steel blue.

Bluebreast (n.) A small European bird; the blue-throated warbler.

Bluecap (n.) The bluepoll.

Bluecap (n.) The blue bonnet or blue titmouse.

Bluecap (n.) A Scot; a Scotchman; -- so named from wearing a blue bonnet.

Bluecoat (n.) One dressed in blue, as a soldier, a sailor, a beadle, etc.

Blue-eye (n.) The blue-cheeked honeysucker of Australia.

Blue-eyed (a.) Having blue eyes.

Blue-eyed grass () a grasslike plant (Sisyrinchium anceps), with small flowers of a delicate blue color.

Bluefin (n.) A species of whitefish (Coregonus nigripinnis) found in Lake Michigan.

Bluefish (n.) A large voracious fish (Pomatomus saitatrix), of the family Carangidae, valued as a food fish, and widely distributed on the American coast. On the New Jersey and Rhode Island coast it is called the horse mackerel, in Virginia saltwater tailor, or skipjack.

Bluefish (n.) A West Indian fish (Platyglossus radiatus), of the family Labridae.

Bluegown (n.) One of a class of paupers or pensioners, or licensed beggars, in Scotland, to whim annually on the king's birthday were distributed certain alms, including a blue gown; a beadsman.

Blue grass () A species of grass (Poa compressa) with bluish green stems, valuable in thin gravelly soils; wire grass.

Blue jay () The common jay of the United States (Cyanocitta, or Cyanura, cristata). The predominant color is bright blue.

Blue-john (n.) A name given to fluor spar in Derbyshire, where it is used for ornamental purposes.

Bluely (adv.) With a blue color.

Blueness (n.) The quality of being blue; a blue color.

Bluenose (n.) A nickname for a Nova Scotian.

Bluepoll (n.) A kind of salmon (Salmo Cambricus) found in Wales.

Blueprint () See under Print.

Bluestocking (n.) A literary lady; a female pedant.

Bluestocking (n.) The American avocet (Recurvirostra Americana).

Bluestockingism (n.) The character or manner of a bluestocking; female pedantry.

Bluestone (n.) Blue vitriol.

Bluestone (n.) A grayish blue building stone, as that commonly used in the eastern United States.

Bluethroat (n.) A singing bird of northern Europe and Asia (Cyanecula Suecica), related to the nightingales; -- called also blue-throated robin and blue-throated warbler.

Bluets (a.) A name given to several different species of plants having blue flowers, as the Houstonia coerulea, the Centaurea cyanus or bluebottle, and the Vaccinium angustifolium.

Blue-veined (a.) Having blue veins or blue streaks.

Bluewing (n.) The blue-winged teal. See Teal.

Bluey (a.) Bluish.

Bluff (a.) Having a broad, flattened front; as, the bluff bows of a ship.

Bluff (a.) Rising steeply with a flat or rounded front.

Bluff (a.) Surly; churlish; gruff; rough.

Bluff (a.) Abrupt; roughly frank; unceremonious; blunt; brusque; as, a bluff answer; a bluff manner of talking; a bluff sea captain.

Bluff (n.) A high, steep bank, as by a river or the sea, or beside a ravine or plain; a cliff with a broad face.

Bluff (n.) An act of bluffing; an expression of self-confidence for the purpose of intimidation; braggadocio; as, that is only bluff, or a bluff.

Bluff (n.) A game at cards; poker.

Bluffed (imp. & p. p.) of Bluff

Bluffing (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Bluff

Bluff (v. t.) To deter (an opponent) from taking the risk of betting on his hand of cards, as the bluffer does by betting heavily on his own hand although it may be of less value.

Bluff (v. t.) To frighten or deter from accomplishing a purpose by making a show of confidence in one's strength or resources; as, he bluffed me off.

Bluff (v. i.) To act as in the game of bluff.

Bluff-bowed (a.) Built with the stem nearly straight up and down.

Bluffer (n.) One who bluffs.

Bluff-headed (a.) Built with the stem nearly straight up and down.

Bluffness (n.) The quality or state of being bluff.

Bluffy (a.) Having bluffs, or bold, steep banks.

Bluffy (a.) Inclined to bo bluff; brusque.

Bluing (n.) The act of rendering blue; as, the bluing of steel.

Bluing (n.) Something to give a bluish tint, as indigo, or preparations used by washerwomen.

Bluish (a.) Somewhat blue; as, bluish veins.

Blundered (imp. & p. p.) of Blunder

Blundering (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Blunder

Blunder (v. i.) To make a gross error or mistake; as, to blunder in writing or preparing a medical prescription.

Blunder (v. i.) To move in an awkward, clumsy manner; to flounder and stumble.

Blunder (v. t.) To cause to blunder.

Blunder (v. t.) To do or treat in a blundering manner; to confuse.

Blunder (n.) Confusion; disturbance.

Blunder (n.) A gross error or mistake, resulting from carelessness, stupidity, or culpable ignorance.

Blunderbuss (n.) A short gun or firearm, with a large bore, capable of holding a number of balls, and intended to do execution without exact aim.

Blunderbuss (n.) A stupid, blundering fellow.

Blunderer (n.) One who is apt to blunder.

Blunderhead (n.) A stupid, blundering fellow.

Blundering (a.) Characterized by blunders.

Blunderingly (adv.) In a blundering manner.

Blunge (v. t.) To amalgamate and blend; to beat up or mix in water, as clay.

Blunger (n.) A wooden blade with a cross handle, used for mi/ing the clay in potteries; a plunger.

Blunging (n.) The process of mixing clay in potteries with a blunger.

Blunt (a.) Having a thick edge or point, as an instrument; dull; not sharp.

Blunt (a.) Dull in understanding; slow of discernment; stupid; -- opposed to acute.

Blunt (a.) Abrupt in address; plain; unceremonious; wanting the forms of civility; rough in manners or speech.

Blunt (a.) Hard to impress or penetrate.

Blunted (imp. & p. p.) of Blunt

Blunting (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Blunt

Blunt (v. t.) To dull the edge or point of, by making it thicker; to make blunt.

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