2. Pale, without redness or glare, -- said of a flame; hence,
of the color of burning brimstone, betokening the presence
of ghosts or devils; as, the candle burns blue; the air
was blue with oaths.
3. Low in spirits; melancholy; as, to feel blue.
4. Suited to produce low spirits; gloomy in prospect; as,
thongs looked blue. [Colloq.]
5. 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.
6. Literary; -- applied to women; -- an abbreviation of
bluestocking. [Colloq.]
The ladies were very blue and well informed.
--Thackeray.
{Blue asbestus}. See {Crocidolite}.
{Blue black}, of, or having, a very dark blue color, almost
black.
{Blue blood}. See under {Blood}.
{Blue buck} (Zo["o]l.), a small South African antelope
({Cephalophus pygm[ae]us}); also applied to a larger
species ({[AE]goceras leucoph[ae]u}s); the blaubok.
{Blue cod} (Zo["o]l.), the buffalo cod.
{Blue crab} (Zo["o]l.), the common edible crab of the
Atlantic coast of the United States ({Callinectes
hastatus}).
{Blue curls} (Bot.), a common plant ({Trichostema
dichotomum}), resembling pennyroyal, and hence called also
{bastard pennyroyal}.
{Blue devils}, apparitions supposed to be seen by persons
suffering with {delirium tremens}; hence, very low
spirits. ``Can Gumbo shut the hall door upon blue devils,
or lay them all in a red sea of claret?'' --Thackeray.
{Blue gage}. See under {Gage}, a plum.
{Blue gum}, an Australian myrtaceous tree ({Eucalyptus
globulus}), 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 {Eucalyptus}.
{Blue jack}, {Blue stone}, blue vitriol; sulphate of copper.
{Blue jacket}, a man-of war's man; a sailor wearing a naval
uniform.
{Blue jaundice}. See under {Jaundice}.
{Blue laws}, 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. [U. S.]
{Blue light}, a composition which burns with a brilliant blue
flame; -- used in pyrotechnics and as a night signal at
sea, and in military operations.
{Blue mantle} (Her.), one of the four pursuivants of the
English college of arms; -- so called from the color of
his official robes.
{Blue mass}, a preparation of mercury from which is formed
the blue pill. --McElrath.
{Blue mold}, or mould, the blue fungus ({Aspergillus
glaucus}) which grows on cheese. --Brande & C.
{Blue Monday}, a Monday following a Sunday of dissipation, or
itself given to dissipation (as the Monday before Lent).
{Blue ointment} (Med.), mercurial ointment.
{Blue Peter} (British Marine), 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 blue repeater,
one of the British signal flags.
{Blue pill}. (Med.)
(a) A pill of prepared mercury, used as an aperient, etc.
(b) Blue mass.
{Blue ribbon}.
(a) The ribbon worn by members of the order of the Garter;
-- hence, a member of that order.
(b) Anything the attainment of which is an object of great
ambition; a distinction; a prize. ``These
[scholarships] were the --blue ribbon of the
college.'' --Farrar.
(c) The distinctive badge of certain temperance or total
abstinence organizations, as of the --Blue ribbon
Army.
{Blue ruin}, utter ruin; also, gin. [Eng. Slang] --Carlyle.
{Blue spar} (Min.), azure spar; lazulite. See {Lazulite}.
{Blue thrush} (Zo["o]l.), a European and Asiatic thrush
({Petrocossyphus cyaneas}).
{Blue verditer}. See {Verditer}.
{Blue vitriol} (Chem.), sulphate of copper, a violet blue
crystallized salt, used in electric batteries, calico
printing, etc.
{To look blue}, to look disheartened or dejected.
{True blue}, genuine and thorough; not modified, nor mixed;
not spurious; specifically, of uncompromising
Presbyterianism, blue being the color adopted by the
Covenanters.
2. A pedantic woman; a bluestocking. [Colloq.]
3. pl. [Short for blue devils.] Low spirits; a fit of
despondency; melancholy. [Colloq.]
{Mineral blue}. See under {Mineral}.
{Prussian blue}. See under {Prussian}.
Note: There are several varieties; as {shore cod}, from
shallow water; {bank cod}, from the distant banks; and
{rock cod}, which is found among ledges, and is often
dark brown or mottled with red. The {tomcod} is a
distinct species of small size. The {bastard}, {blue},
{buffalo}, or {cultus cod} of the Pacific coast belongs
to a distinct family. See {Buffalo cod}, under
{Buffalo}.
{Cod fishery}, the business of fishing for cod.
{Cod line}, an eighteen-thread line used in catching codfish.
--McElrath.