蓝色；蓝火信号

Blue \Blue\ (bl[=u]), a. [Compar. {Bluer} (bl[=u]"[~e]r);
superl. {Bluest}.] [OE. bla, blo, blew, blue, livid, black,
fr. Icel.bl[=a]r livid; akin to Dan. blaa blue, Sw. bl[*a],
D. blauw, OHG. bl[=a]o, G. blau; but influenced in form by F.
bleu, from OHG. bl[=a]o.]
1. Having the color of the clear sky, or a hue resembling it,
whether lighter or darker; as, the deep, blue sea; as blue
as a sapphire; blue violets. ``The blue firmament.''
--Milton.

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]us}); 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 {Blue mould}, the blue fungus ({Aspergillus
glaucus}) which grows on cheese. --Brande & C.

{Blue Monday},
(a) a Monday following a Sunday of dissipation, or itself
given to dissipation (as the Monday before Lent).
(b) a Monday considered as depressing because it is a
workday in contrast to the relaxation of the weekend.


{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.

{Blue water}, the open ocean.

{Big Blue}, the International Business Machines corporation.
[Wall Street slang.] PJC

{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.

For his religion . . .
'T was Presbyterian, true blue. --Hudibras.

Bengal \Ben*gal"\, prop. n.
1. A province in India, giving its name to various stuffs,
animals, etc.

2. A thin stuff, made of silk and hair, originally brought
from Bengal.

3. Striped gingham, originally brought from Bengal; Bengal
stripes.

{Bengal light}, a firework containing niter, sulphur, and
antimony, and producing a sustained and vivid colored
light, used in making signals and in pyrotechnics; --
called also {blue light}.

{Bengal stripes}, a kind of cotton cloth woven with colored
stripes. See {Bengal}, 3.

{Bengal tiger}. (Zo["o]l.). See {Tiger}.