blue peter
In whist, to play a blue peterIn whist, to play a blue peter.
Meaning
1 sensesIn whist, to play a blue peter.
Origin
The flag, serving as a signal of recall for departure, was used by the British Navy from 1The flag, serving as a signal of recall for departure, was used by the British Navy from 1777, and the name “blue peter” had become common by the end of the 18th century. An all-blue flag had earlier seen use for the same purpose by the Dutch East India Company. While “blue” obviously refers to the dominant colour of the flag, the origin of the second part of the term, “peter”, is unknown. Often said to be a corruption of “blue repeater”, there is actually no signal flag that goes by that designation. The use of the flag to spell the letter “P” dates from 1857 and so cannot have played a role in the origin of the term.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
blue peters, blue petering, blue petered, blue petered| Base form | blue peter · to blue peter |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | blue peters |
| Present participle | blue petering |
| Past simple | blue petered |
| Past participle | blue petered |
irregular · Lesson
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.