Part 1220

<h1>Blubbery</h1> <Xpage=158>

<hw>Blub"ber*y</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <p><b>1.</b> <def>Swollen; protuberant.</def>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>Like blubber; gelatinous and quivering; <as>as, a <ex>blubbery</ex> mass</as>.</def>

<h1>Blucher</h1> <Xpage=158>

<hw>Blu"cher</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>A kind of half boot, named from the Prussian general <i>Bl\'81cher</i>.</def>

<i>Thackeray.</i>

<h1>Bludgeon</h1> <Xpage=158>

<hw>Bludg"eon</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[Cf. Ir. <ets>blocan</ets> a little block, Gael. <ets>plocan</ets> a mallet, W. <ets>plocyn</ets>, dim. of <ets>ploc</ets> block; or perh. connected with E. <ets>blow</ets> a stroke. Cf. <er>Block</er>, <er>Blow</er> a stroke.]</ety> <def>A short stick, with one end loaded, or thicker and heavier that the other, used as an offensive weapon.</def>

<h1>Blue</h1> <Xpage=158>

<hw>Blue</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <wordforms>[<tt>Compar.</tt> <er>Bluer</er> <tt>(?)</tt>; <tt>superl.</tt> <er>Bluest</er>.]</wordforms> <ety>[OE. <ets>bla</ets>, <ets>blo</ets>, <ets>blew</ets>, blue, Sw. <ets>bl<?/</ets>, D. <ets>blauw</ets>, OHG. <ets>bl<?/o</ets>, G. <ets>blau</ets>; but influenced in form by F. <ets>bleu</ets>, from OHG. <ets>bl\'beo</ets>.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>Having the color of the clear sky, or a hue resembling it, whether lighter or darker; <as>as, the deep, blue sea; as <ex>blue</ex> as a sapphire; <ex>blue</ex> violets.</as></def> "The <i>blue</i> firmament."

<i>Milton.</i>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>Pale, without redness or glare, -- said of a flame; hence, of the color of burning brimstone, betokening the presence of ghosts or devils; <as>as, the candle burns <ex>blue</ex>; the air was <ex>blue</ex> with oaths.</as></def>

<p><b>3.</b> <def>Low in spirits; melancholy; <as>as, to feel <ex>blue</ex></as>.</def>

<p><b>4.</b> <def>Suited to produce low spirits; gloomy in prospect; <as>as, thongs looked <ex>blue</ex></as>.</def> <mark>[Colloq.]</mark>

<p><b>5.</b> <def>Severe or over strict in morals; gloom; <as>as, <ex>blue</ex> and sour religionists</as>; suiting one who is over strict in morals; inculcating an impracticable, severe, or gloomy mortality; <as>as, <ex>blue</ex> laws</as>.</def>

<p><b>6.</b> <def>Literary; -- applied to women; -- an abbreviation of <i>bluestocking</i>.</def> <mark>[Colloq.]</mark>

<blockquote>The ladies were very <b>blue</b> and well informed. <i>Thackeray.</i></blockquote>

<cs><col>Blue asbestus</col>. <cd>See <er>Crocidolite</er>.</cd> -- <col>Blue black</col>, <cd>of, or having, a very dark blue color, almost black.</cd> -- <col>Blue blood</col>. <cd>See under <er>Blood</er>.</cd> -- <col>Blue buck</col> <fld>(Zo\'94l.)</fld>, <cd>a small South African antelope (<spn>Cephalophus pygm\'91us</spn>); also applied to a larger species <spn>(\'92goceras leucoph\'91us</spn>); the blaubok.</cd> -- <col>Blue cod</col> <fld>(Zo\'94l.)</fld>, <cd>the buffalo cod.</cd> -- <col>Blue crab</col> <fld>(Zo\'94l.)</fld>, <cd>the common edible crab of the Atlantic coast of the United States (<spn>Callinectes hastatus</spn>).</cd> -- <col>Blue curls</col> <fld>(Bot.)</fld>, <cd>a common plant (<spn>Trichostema dichotomum</spn>), resembling pennyroyal, and hence called also <altname>bastard pennyroyal</altname>.</cd> -- <col>Blue devils</col>, <cd>apparitions supposed to be seen by persons suffering with <i>delirium tremens<i>; hence, very low spirits.</cd> "Can Gumbo shut the hall door upon <i>blue devils<i>, or lay them all in a red sea of claret?" <i>Thackeray</i>. -- <col>Blue gage</col>. <cd>See under <er>Gage</er>, a plum.</cd> -- <col>Blue gum</col>, <cd>an Australian myrtaceous tree (<spn>Eucalyptus globulus</spn>), of the loftiest proportions, now cultivated in tropical and warm temperate regions for its timber, and as a protection against malaria. The essential oil is beginning to be used in medicine. The timber is very useful. See <er>Eucalyptus</er>.</cd> -- <mcol><col>Blue jack</col>, <col>Blue stone</col></mcol>, <cd>blue vitriol; sulphate of copper.</cd> -- <col>Blue jacket</col>, <cd>a man-of war's man; a sailor wearing a naval uniform.</cd> -- <col>Blue jaundice</col>. <cd>See under <er>Jaundice</er>.</cd> -- <col>Blue laws</col>, <cd>a name first used in the eighteenth century to describe certain supposititious laws of extreme rigor reported to have been enacted in New Haven; hence, any puritanical laws.</cd> <mark>[U. S.]</mark> -- <col>Blue light</col>, <cd>a composition which burns with a brilliant blue flame; -- used in pyrotechnics and as a night signal at sea, and in military operations.</cd> -- <col>Blue mantle</col> <fld>(Her.)</fld>, <cd>one of the four pursuivants of the English college of arms; -- so called from the color of his official robes.</cd> -- <col>Blue mass</col>, <cd>a preparation of mercury from which is formed the blue pill.</cd> <i>McElrath</i>. -- <col>Blue mold</col>, <cd>or mould, the blue fungus (<spn>Aspergillus glaucus</spn>) which grows on cheese. <i>Brande & C</i>.</cd> -- <col>Blue Monday</col>, <cd>a Monday following a Sunday of dissipation, or itself given to dissipation (as the Monday before Lent).</cd> -- <col>Blue ointment</col> <fld>(Med.)</fld>, <cd>mercurial ointment.</cd> -- <col>Blue Peter</col> <fld>(British Marine)</fld>, <cd>a blue flag with a white square in the center, used as a signal for sailing, to recall boats, etc. It is a corruption of <ets>blue repeater<ets>, one of the British signal flags.</cd> -- <col>Blue pill</col>. <fld>(Med.)</fld> <sd>(a)</sd> <cd>A pill of prepared mercury, used as an aperient, etc.</cd> <sd>(b)</sd> <cd>Blue mass.</cd> -- <col>Blue ribbon</col>. <sd>(a)</sd> <cd>The ribbon worn by members of the order of the Garter; -- hence, a member of that order.</cd> <sd>(b)</sd> <cd>Anything the attainment of which is an object of great ambition; a distinction; a prize.</cd> "These [scholarships] were the <i>blue ribbon</i> of the college." <i>Farrar</i>. <sd>(c)</sd> <cd>The distinctive badge of certain temperance or total abstinence organizations, as of the <i>Blue ribbon</i> Army.</cd> -- <col>Blue ruin</col>, <cd>utter ruin; also, gin.</cd> <mark>[Eng. Slang]</mark> <i>Carlyle</i>. -- <col>Blue spar</col> <fld>(Min.)</fld>, <cd>azure spar; lazulite. See <er>Lazulite</er>.</cd> -- <col>Blue thrush</col> <fld>(Zo\'94l.)</fld>, <cd>a European and Asiatic thrush (<spn>Petrocossyphus cyaneas</spn>).</cd> -- <col>Blue verditer</col>. <cd>See <er>Verditer</er>.</cd> -- <col>Blue vitriol</col> <fld>(Chem.)</fld>, <cd>sulphate of copper, a violet blue crystallized salt, used in electric batteries, calico printing, etc.</cd> -- <col>Blue water</col>, <cd>the open ocean.</cd> -- <col>To look blue</col>, <cd>to look disheartened or dejected.</cd> -- <col>True blue</col>, <cd>genuine and thorough; not modified, nor mixed; not spurious; specifically, of uncompromising Presbyterianism, blue being the color adopted by the Covenanters.</cd></cs>

<hr> <page="159"> Page 159<p>

<blockquote>For his religion . . . 'T was Presbyterian, <b>true blue</b>. <i>Hudibras.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Blue</h1> <Xpage=159>

<hw>Blue</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <p><b>1.</b> <def>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.</def>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>A pedantic woman; a bluestocking.</def> <mark>[Colloq.]</mark>

<p><b>3.</b> <tt>pl.</tt> <ety>[Short for <ets>blue devils</ets>.]</ety> <def>Low spirits; a fit of despondency; melancholy.</def> <mark>[Colloq.]</mark>

<cs><col>Berlin blue</col>, <cd>Prussian blue.</cd> -- <col>Mineral blue</col>. <cd>See under <er>Mineral</er>.</cd> -- <col>Prussian blue</col>. <cd>See under <er>Prussian</er>.</cd></cs>

<h1>Blue</h1> <Xpage=159>

<hw>Blue</hw>, <tt>v. t.</tt> <wordforms>[<tt>imp. & p. p.</tt> <er>Blued</er> <tt>(#)</tt>; <tt>p. pr. & vb. n.</tt> <er>Bluing</er>.]</wordforms> <def>To make blue; to dye of a blue color; to make blue by heating, as metals, etc.</def>

<h1>Blueback</h1> <Xpage=159>