137                                                                Bluetooth
**bludgeon²** *v* [T] to hit (someone) repeatedly with something
heavy: *They bludgeoned him to death.*
**bludgeon sbdy. into sthg.** *phr v* [T] to force (someone) to
do (something) by threats or repeated arguments: *They*
*bludgeoned him into submission/into letting them borrow the*
*car.*
**blue¹** /blu:/ *adj* **1** of the colour of the clear sky or of the deep
sea on a fine day: *She wore a dark **blue** dress.* | *He painted the
door **blue**.* | *an ambulance with its **blue** lights flashing* | *Your
hands are **blue with cold**.* → see Feature on page A6 **2** [F]
*infml* sad and without hope; DEPRESSED: *I'm feeling rather **blue**
today.* **3** *infml* **blue** jokes, stories etc are about sex → compare
RISQUÉ *Some of her jokes were a bit **blue**.* → see also BLUE
FILM **4** till one is **blue in the face** unsuccessful for ever: *You*
*can call that dog till you're **blue in the face** but he'll never*
*come.* →**-ness** *n* [U]
**blue²** *n* **1** [C;U] the colour that is blue: *dressed in blue* | *A
light **blue** would be a nice colour for the curtains.* | *The room
was painted in various shades of **blue**.* → see Feature on
page A6 **2** [C] BrE (usually cap.) (a title given to) a person
who has represented Oxford or Cambridge University in a
sport: *He's a rugger **Blue**.* **3** [C] AustrE *slang* a fight **4** AmE
(usually cap.) (a member of) the army in the US Civil War which
fought for the US to remain whole and against slavery (the
UNION army): *The **Blue** and the Gray* → see also GRAY **5** out
of the **blue** unexpectedly: *John arrived completely **out of the
blue**.* → see also BLACK AND BLUE, BLUES, NAVY BLUE, PRUS-
SIAN BLUE, ROYAL BLUE, SKY BLUE, TRUE-BLUE, bolt from the
blue (BOLT¹)
**Blue, Rabbi Li·o·nel** /'lʌrənəl/ (1930– ) a Jewish religious
leader in the UK, known for telling humorous stories on the
radio
**blue ,baby** *n* a baby whose skin is slightly blue when it is
born because there is something wrong with its heart
**Blue-beard** /'blu:bɪəd||-bərd/ an evil character in old Euro-
pean stories who got married many times, and each time
killed his wife
**blue-bell** /'blu:bel/ *n* a blue bell-shaped flower, especially the
wild HYACINTH
**blue-berry** /'blu:bərɪl-beri/ *n* (the blue-black fruit of) a low
bushy plant growing in N America → compare BILBERRY
**blue-bird** /'blu:bɜ:d||-bɜ:rd/ *n* a small blue singing bird of N
America
**Blue ,Birds** *n* [P] a former US organization for young girls
who would meet to play games, learn practical skills, and go
camping together. By the 1970s boys were allowed to join
too. When they were older, the children could join a related
organization called CAMP FIRE.
**blue-'black** *adj* very dark blue
**blue 'blood** *n* [U] the quality of being a nobleman or
noblewoman by birth: *Members of noble families are said to
have blue blood in their veins.* →**-blooded** *adj*
**blue book** *n* **1** an official report printed by the British
Government, usually the report of a committee → compare
GREEN PAPER, WHITE PAPER **2** a book of paper with a blue
cover which is used in American colleges for writing answers
to examination questions
**blue-bot·tle** /'blu:bɒtl||-bɑ:tl/ *n* a large blue fly; the meat
fly or BLOWFLY
**blue 'cheese** *n* [C;U] (a) cheese marked with blue lines of
decay
**blue 'chip** *n, adj* (an industrial share) that is expensive and in
which people have confidence: *We only deal with blue chip
companies.*
**blue-'collar** *adj* [A] of or concerning workers who do hard or
dirty work with their hands: *blue-collar workers* | *a blue-*
*collar union* → compare PINK-COLLAR, WHITE-COLLAR
**Blue 'Cross** an American medical insurance company
**Blue 'Danube, The** the title of an extremely popular WALTZ
(=a type of music for dancing to), written by Johann STRAUSS
in 1866
**blue-eyed 'boy** *n infml*, especially BrE, usually *derog* someone's
favourite (male) person: *Smith is the boss's blue-eyed boy at*
*the moment.*
**blue 'film also blue movie** *n* a film about sex; a porno-
graphic film (PORNOGRAPHY) → see also BLUE¹
**blue-fish** /'blu:fɪʃ/ *n pl.* bluefish a sea fish with a bluish
colour which is caught for sport and food off the coast of N
America
**blue-grass** /'blu:grɑ:s||-græs/ *n* [U] **1** a kind of lively music
from the southern US, played on instruments with strings
such as the GUITAR, VIOLIN and BANJO and usually without an
AMPLIFIER to make it louder: *a bluegrass band/concert* **2** a
type of grass found in N America, especially in Kentucky,
which is known as 'the Bluegrass State'
**'blue gum** *n* an Australian tree of the EUCALYPTUS family
**'blue jay** *n* a common N American bird with a blue back and
a growth of big blue feathers on its head
**'blue jeans** *n* [P] AmE for JEANS
**'blue law** *n* AmE *infml* a law to control sexual morals, the
drinking of alcohol, working on Sundays etc
**blue 'moon** *n* once in a **blue moon** *infml* not very often: *We*
*only clean the car once in a blue moon.*
**blue 'movie** *n* AmE for BLUE FILM
**blue 'murder** *n* scream/shout **blue murder** *infml* to com-
plain very loudly: *When the doctor stuck the needle into her*
*arm, the child screamed blue murder.*
**Blue 'Nile, the** one of the two rivers that form the River
Nile. It starts in Ethiopia in East Africa, and flows north to
Khartoum in the Sudan, where it joins the White Nile.
**blue-'pencil** *v* [T] *infml old-fash* to cross out anything offensive
from (a piece of writing); CENSOR: *to blue-pencil (the dirty*
*words in) a play*
**blue 'peter** *n* [(the+)S] (sometimes cap.) a blue flag with a white
square in the middle, flown on a ship to show it is ready to
leave port
**Blue Peter** a children's programme that has been on British
television since the late 1950s. It is known for encouraging
children to collect money or things for people who are poor
or sick, and for showing them how to do and make useful
things. The well-known phrase 'Here's one I made earlier'
comes from the part of the programme which shows chil-
dren how to make toys and presents out of old boxes, old
newspapers etc
**blue-print** /'blu:prɪnt/ *n* a photographic copy of a plan for
making a machine or building a house or other structure:
*the blueprints of a new engine* | (fig.) *The report is a blueprint*
*for the reform of the nation's tax system.*
**blue 'ribbon** *n* AmE a small blue piece of cloth given as first
prize to the winner of a competition →**-ribbon** *adj*: *a*
*blue-ribbon recipe* (=a prize-winning or very good recipe)
**Blue Ridge 'Mountains, the also the ,Blue 'Ridge**
the part of the APPALACHIANS (=a group of mountains in the
eastern US) that goes from southern Pennsylvania to north-
ern Georgia. When people in the US talk about the Appala-
chians, they usually mean just the part that is the Blue Ridge
Mountains.
**blue 'rinse** *n* a slight blue colouring of the hair, thought
typical of old CONSERVATIVE ladies →**-rinsed** *adj*: *the*
*blue-rinsed hordes who form the backbone of Tory support*
**blues** /blu:z/ *n* **1** [U; the+sing./pl. v] (a song in) a slow sad style
of music originally from the southern US: *The blues was/*
*were first performed by the black people of New Orleans.* | *a*
*well-known blues singer* | *Play us a blues.* → see also RHYTHM
AND BLUES **2** [the] *infml* the state of being sad; a feeling of
deep unhappiness: *a sudden attack of the blues*
**Blues and 'Royals, the** *n* [P] a REGIMENT (=large group of
soldiers) in the British army which is part of the Household
Cavalry → see also LIFE GUARDS, THE
**'Blues ,Brothers, The** a humorous US film with Dan
AYKROYD and John Belushi, about two musicians who wear
SUITS, hats, and SUNGLASSES
**'blue-sky** *adj* blue-sky plans, tests etc do not have a definite
practical purpose but are intended to test new ideas: *a piece*
*of blue-sky research*
**blue-stock-ing** /'blu:stɒkɪŋ||stɑ:-/ *n derog old-fash* a
woman who is thought to be too highly educated
**blue-sy** /'blu:zi/ *adj* bluesy music is slow and sad, like BLUES
**Blue-tooth** /'blu:tu:θ/ *trademark* a system that allows you to
connect computer equipment, such as a KEYBOARD or a
PRINTER, to a computer near it by using radio instead of wires.