"black and blue" meaning in English

See black and blue in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

Etymology: From Middle English blak and blo, blac and bla (“very dark, bruised”), equivalent to black + and + blow (dialectal term for blue). Etymology templates: {{inh|en|enm|blak and blo}} Middle English blak and blo, {{m|enm|blac and bla|t=very dark, bruised}} blac and bla (“very dark, bruised”), {{affix|en|black|and|blow|qq3=dialectal term for blue}} black + and + blow (dialectal term for blue) Head templates: {{en-adj|-}} black and blue (not comparable)
  1. (colloquial, of a person) Having obvious bruises of the skin, typically from falling or being hit or punched. Tags: colloquial, not-comparable, of a person Translations (covered in bruises): 鼻青脸肿的 (Chinese Mandarin), 青一块紫一块的 (Chinese Mandarin), bont en blauw (Dutch), mustelmilla (Finnish), grün und blau (German), līvidus (Latin), gul och blå (Swedish), mosmor (Turkish)
    Sense id: en-black_and_blue-en-adj-zk6CTzZS Categories (other): English entries with language name categories using raw markup Disambiguation of English entries with language name categories using raw markup: 51 49
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: black-and-blue (english: before noun only) [attributive]

Verb

Forms: black and blues [present, singular, third-person], black and blueing [participle, present], black and bluing [participle, present], black and blued [participle, past], black and blued [past]
Etymology: From Middle English blak and blo, blac and bla (“very dark, bruised”), equivalent to black + and + blow (dialectal term for blue). Etymology templates: {{inh|en|enm|blak and blo}} Middle English blak and blo, {{m|enm|blac and bla|t=very dark, bruised}} blac and bla (“very dark, bruised”), {{affix|en|black|and|blow|qq3=dialectal term for blue}} black + and + blow (dialectal term for blue) Head templates: {{en-verb|black and blues|black and blueing|black and blued|pres_ptc2=black and bluing}} black and blue (third-person singular simple present black and blues, present participle black and blueing or black and bluing, simple past and past participle black and blued)
  1. (colloquial or slang) to bruise, to strike (a person in such a way as to discolour the skin without breaking it)
    Sense id: en-black_and_blue-en-verb-oObG3gmm Categories (other): English coordinated pairs, English entries with language name categories using raw markup, English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys Disambiguation of English coordinated pairs: 44 56 Disambiguation of English entries with language name categories using raw markup: 51 49 Disambiguation of English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys: 40 60
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: black-and-blue (english: before noun only) [attributive]

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for black and blue meaning in English (5.6kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "blak and blo"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English blak and blo",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "blac and bla",
        "t": "very dark, bruised"
      },
      "expansion": "blac and bla (“very dark, bruised”)",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "black",
        "3": "and",
        "4": "blow",
        "qq3": "dialectal term for blue"
      },
      "expansion": "black + and + blow (dialectal term for blue)",
      "name": "affix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English blak and blo, blac and bla (“very dark, bruised”), equivalent to black + and + blow (dialectal term for blue).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "black and blue (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "51 49",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "My arm is still black and blue from slipping on the ice yesterday."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1918, Norman Lindsay, The Magic Pudding, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 167",
          "text": "The whole benighted, blooming crew,\nThe Puddin'-thieves, the Usher too,\nAre being beaten black and blue\nWith bottles on the pate.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Having obvious bruises of the skin, typically from falling or being hit or punched."
      ],
      "id": "en-black_and_blue-en-adj-zk6CTzZS",
      "links": [
        [
          "bruise",
          "bruise"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(colloquial, of a person) Having obvious bruises of the skin, typically from falling or being hit or punched."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "colloquial",
        "not-comparable",
        "of a person"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "covered in bruises",
          "word": "鼻青脸肿的"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "covered in bruises",
          "word": "青一块紫一块的"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "covered in bruises",
          "word": "bont en blauw"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "covered in bruises",
          "word": "mustelmilla"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "covered in bruises",
          "word": "grün und blau"
        },
        {
          "code": "la",
          "lang": "Latin",
          "sense": "covered in bruises",
          "word": "līvidus"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "covered in bruises",
          "word": "gul och blå"
        },
        {
          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "covered in bruises",
          "word": "mosmor"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "english": "before noun only",
      "tags": [
        "attributive"
      ],
      "word": "black-and-blue"
    }
  ],
  "word": "black and blue"
}

{
  "etymology_templates": [
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "blak and blo"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English blak and blo",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "blac and bla",
        "t": "very dark, bruised"
      },
      "expansion": "blac and bla (“very dark, bruised”)",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "black",
        "3": "and",
        "4": "blow",
        "qq3": "dialectal term for blue"
      },
      "expansion": "black + and + blow (dialectal term for blue)",
      "name": "affix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English blak and blo, blac and bla (“very dark, bruised”), equivalent to black + and + blow (dialectal term for blue).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "black and blues",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "black and blueing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "black and bluing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "black and blued",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "black and blued",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "black and blues",
        "2": "black and blueing",
        "3": "black and blued",
        "pres_ptc2": "black and bluing"
      },
      "expansion": "black and blue (third-person singular simple present black and blues, present participle black and blueing or black and bluing, simple past and past participle black and blued)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "44 56",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English coordinated pairs",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1991, John Vernon, Peter Doyle: A Novel, Random House (NY)",
          "text": "... he black-and-blued her eyes he cooked a big meal to make it up to her. He went out and stole a neighbor's hog or caught some rice birds ... This was a country of rice plantations, but Twig and Peggy lived upriver, where rice[…]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1995, Ol' Dirty Bastard (lyrics and music), “Protect Ya Neck II the Zoo”, in Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version",
          "text": "Come on through I black and blue your whole crew\nThen I get Rudy with the Hong Kong Phoo'",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to bruise, to strike (a person in such a way as to discolour the skin without breaking it)"
      ],
      "id": "en-black_and_blue-en-verb-oObG3gmm",
      "links": [
        [
          "bruise",
          "bruise"
        ],
        [
          "strike",
          "strike"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "colloquial or slang",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(colloquial or slang) to bruise, to strike (a person in such a way as to discolour the skin without breaking it)"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "english": "before noun only",
      "tags": [
        "attributive"
      ],
      "word": "black-and-blue"
    }
  ],
  "word": "black and blue"
}
{
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    "English compound terms",
    "English coordinated pairs",
    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
    "English uncomparable adjectives",
    "English verbs"
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  "etymology_templates": [
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        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "blak and blo"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English blak and blo",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "blac and bla",
        "t": "very dark, bruised"
      },
      "expansion": "blac and bla (“very dark, bruised”)",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "black",
        "3": "and",
        "4": "blow",
        "qq3": "dialectal term for blue"
      },
      "expansion": "black + and + blow (dialectal term for blue)",
      "name": "affix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English blak and blo, blac and bla (“very dark, bruised”), equivalent to black + and + blow (dialectal term for blue).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "black and blue (not comparable)",
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English colloquialisms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "My arm is still black and blue from slipping on the ice yesterday."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1918, Norman Lindsay, The Magic Pudding, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 167",
          "text": "The whole benighted, blooming crew,\nThe Puddin'-thieves, the Usher too,\nAre being beaten black and blue\nWith bottles on the pate.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Having obvious bruises of the skin, typically from falling or being hit or punched."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "bruise",
          "bruise"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(colloquial, of a person) Having obvious bruises of the skin, typically from falling or being hit or punched."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "colloquial",
        "not-comparable",
        "of a person"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "english": "before noun only",
      "tags": [
        "attributive"
      ],
      "word": "black-and-blue"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "covered in bruises",
      "word": "鼻青脸肿的"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "covered in bruises",
      "word": "青一块紫一块的"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "covered in bruises",
      "word": "bont en blauw"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "covered in bruises",
      "word": "mustelmilla"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "covered in bruises",
      "word": "grün und blau"
    },
    {
      "code": "la",
      "lang": "Latin",
      "sense": "covered in bruises",
      "word": "līvidus"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "covered in bruises",
      "word": "gul och blå"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "covered in bruises",
      "word": "mosmor"
    }
  ],
  "word": "black and blue"
}

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    "English compound terms",
    "English coordinated pairs",
    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
    "English uncomparable adjectives",
    "English verbs"
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  "etymology_templates": [
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        "3": "blak and blo"
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      "expansion": "Middle English blak and blo",
      "name": "inh"
    },
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        "1": "enm",
        "2": "blac and bla",
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      "name": "m"
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
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        "3": "and",
        "4": "blow",
        "qq3": "dialectal term for blue"
      },
      "expansion": "black + and + blow (dialectal term for blue)",
      "name": "affix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English blak and blo, blac and bla (“very dark, bruised”), equivalent to black + and + blow (dialectal term for blue).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "black and blues",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "black and blueing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "black and bluing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "black and blued",
      "tags": [
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        "past"
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    },
    {
      "form": "black and blued",
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        "past"
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        "1": "black and blues",
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      "name": "en-verb"
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
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          "ref": "1991, John Vernon, Peter Doyle: A Novel, Random House (NY)",
          "text": "... he black-and-blued her eyes he cooked a big meal to make it up to her. He went out and stole a neighbor's hog or caught some rice birds ... This was a country of rice plantations, but Twig and Peggy lived upriver, where rice[…]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1995, Ol' Dirty Bastard (lyrics and music), “Protect Ya Neck II the Zoo”, in Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version",
          "text": "Come on through I black and blue your whole crew\nThen I get Rudy with the Hong Kong Phoo'",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to bruise, to strike (a person in such a way as to discolour the skin without breaking it)"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "bruise",
          "bruise"
        ],
        [
          "strike",
          "strike"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "colloquial or slang",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(colloquial or slang) to bruise, to strike (a person in such a way as to discolour the skin without breaking it)"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "english": "before noun only",
      "tags": [
        "attributive"
      ],
      "word": "black-and-blue"
    }
  ],
  "word": "black and blue"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-17 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-01 using wiktextract (0b52755 and 5cb0836). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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