black and blue
To bruise, to strikeTo bruise, to strike (a person in such a way as to discolour the skin without breaking it).
» Should I buy a black car or a blue car?
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 senses(colloquial, slang)To bruise, to strike (a person in such a way as to discolour the skin without breaking it).
Examples
18 sentencesShould I buy a black car or a blue car?
Tom beat Mary black and blue.
ruТом избил Машу до синяков. — Karok
deTom hat Mary grün und blau geschlagen. — al_ex_an_der
Tom was beaten black and blue.
deTom wurde grün und blau geschlagen. — wolfgangth
Tom's face was all black and blue.
ruЛицо Тома было всё в синяках. — sharptoothed
Fill out the application form with a black or blue ballpoint pen.
Origin
From Middle English blak and blo, blac and bla (“very dark, bruised”), equivalent to blackFrom Middle English blak and blo, blac and bla (“very dark, bruised”), equivalent to black + and + blow (dialectal term for blue). By surface analysis, black + and + blue.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
black and blues, black and blueing, black and blued, black and blued| Base form | black and blue · to black and blue |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | black and blues |
| Present participle | black and blueing |
| Past simple | black and blued |
| Past participle | black and blued |
regular
Lessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, irregular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.