See blue peter in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for blue peter meaning in English (6.8kB)
{
"etymology_text": "The 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.\nThe whist play, introduced by Lord Henry Bentinck, was named by him after the flag.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "blue peters",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "blue peter (plural blue peters)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Nautical",
"orig": "en:Nautical",
"parents": [
"Transport",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "37 45 18",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"parents": [
"Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "51 23 26",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Flags",
"orig": "en:Flags",
"parents": [
"Communication",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1851, W.H.G. Kingston, Peter the Whaler",
"text": "We lay out in the stream for another whole day, with the Blue Peter flying, to show that we were ready for sea, and to summon any passengers who might yet remain on shore.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1881, Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque",
"text": "If we clung as devotedly as some philosophers pretend we do to the abstract idea of life, or were half as frightened as they make out we are, for the subversive accident that ends it all, the trumpets might sound by the hour and no one would follow them into battle - the blue-peter might fly at the truck, but who would climb into a sea-going ship?",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A blue signal flag with a white rectangle in the centre, signifying \"P\". When flown alone, indicates that a ship is ready to sail, requiring all crew members and passengers to return on board."
],
"id": "en-blue_peter-en-noun-gtuaI5N9",
"links": [
[
"nautical",
"nautical"
],
[
"signal",
"signal"
],
[
"flag",
"flag"
],
[
"white",
"white"
],
[
"rectangle",
"rectangle"
],
[
"centre",
"centre"
],
[
"flown",
"flown"
],
[
"indicate",
"indicate"
],
[
"ship",
"ship"
],
[
"sail",
"sail"
],
[
"crew",
"crew"
],
[
"passengers",
"passengers"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(nautical) A blue signal flag with a white rectangle in the centre, signifying \"P\". When flown alone, indicates that a ship is ready to sail, requiring all crew members and passengers to return on board."
],
"topics": [
"nautical",
"transport"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "signal flag",
"word": "pavillon de partance"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Card games",
"orig": "en:Card games",
"parents": [
"Games",
"Recreation",
"Human activity",
"Human behaviour",
"Human",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "31 50 18",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "33 48 20",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"parents": [
"Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "37 45 18",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"parents": [
"Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "35 48 18",
"kind": "lifeform",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Rallids",
"orig": "en:Rallids",
"parents": [
"Gruiforms",
"Freshwater birds",
"Birds",
"Vertebrates",
"Chordates",
"Animals",
"Lifeforms",
"All topics",
"Life",
"Fundamental",
"Nature"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"glosses": [
"In whist, a play that calls for trumps by throwing away a higher card of a suit while holding a lower one."
],
"id": "en-blue_peter-en-noun-QT2Ncjvi",
"links": [
[
"card game",
"card game"
],
[
"whist",
"whist"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(card games, intransitive) In whist, a play that calls for trumps by throwing away a higher card of a suit while holding a lower one."
],
"tags": [
"intransitive"
],
"topics": [
"card-games",
"games"
]
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Lord Henry Bentinck"
],
"word": "blue peter"
}
{
"etymology_text": "The 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.\nThe whist play, introduced by Lord Henry Bentinck, was named by him after the flag.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "blue peters",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "blue petering",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "blue petered",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "blue petered",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "blue peter (third-person singular simple present blue peters, present participle blue petering, simple past and past participle blue petered)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Card games",
"orig": "en:Card games",
"parents": [
"Games",
"Recreation",
"Human activity",
"Human behaviour",
"Human",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "37 45 18",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"parents": [
"Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"glosses": [
"In whist, to play a blue peter."
],
"id": "en-blue_peter-en-verb-xWCiaYsd",
"links": [
[
"card game",
"card game"
],
[
"whist",
"whist"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(card games, intransitive) In whist, to play a blue peter."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "12 16 72",
"word": "Blue Peter"
}
],
"tags": [
"intransitive"
],
"topics": [
"card-games",
"games"
]
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Lord Henry Bentinck"
],
"word": "blue peter"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"English verbs",
"en:Flags",
"en:Rallids"
],
"etymology_text": "The 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.\nThe whist play, introduced by Lord Henry Bentinck, was named by him after the flag.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "blue peters",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "blue peter (plural blue peters)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned",
"en:Nautical"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1851, W.H.G. Kingston, Peter the Whaler",
"text": "We lay out in the stream for another whole day, with the Blue Peter flying, to show that we were ready for sea, and to summon any passengers who might yet remain on shore.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1881, Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque",
"text": "If we clung as devotedly as some philosophers pretend we do to the abstract idea of life, or were half as frightened as they make out we are, for the subversive accident that ends it all, the trumpets might sound by the hour and no one would follow them into battle - the blue-peter might fly at the truck, but who would climb into a sea-going ship?",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A blue signal flag with a white rectangle in the centre, signifying \"P\". When flown alone, indicates that a ship is ready to sail, requiring all crew members and passengers to return on board."
],
"links": [
[
"nautical",
"nautical"
],
[
"signal",
"signal"
],
[
"flag",
"flag"
],
[
"white",
"white"
],
[
"rectangle",
"rectangle"
],
[
"centre",
"centre"
],
[
"flown",
"flown"
],
[
"indicate",
"indicate"
],
[
"ship",
"ship"
],
[
"sail",
"sail"
],
[
"crew",
"crew"
],
[
"passengers",
"passengers"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(nautical) A blue signal flag with a white rectangle in the centre, signifying \"P\". When flown alone, indicates that a ship is ready to sail, requiring all crew members and passengers to return on board."
],
"topics": [
"nautical",
"transport"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English intransitive verbs",
"en:Card games"
],
"glosses": [
"In whist, a play that calls for trumps by throwing away a higher card of a suit while holding a lower one."
],
"links": [
[
"card game",
"card game"
],
[
"whist",
"whist"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(card games, intransitive) In whist, a play that calls for trumps by throwing away a higher card of a suit while holding a lower one."
],
"tags": [
"intransitive"
],
"topics": [
"card-games",
"games"
]
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "Blue Peter"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "signal flag",
"word": "pavillon de partance"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Lord Henry Bentinck"
],
"word": "blue peter"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"English verbs",
"en:Flags",
"en:Rallids"
],
"etymology_text": "The 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.\nThe whist play, introduced by Lord Henry Bentinck, was named by him after the flag.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "blue peters",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "blue petering",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "blue petered",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "blue petered",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "blue peter (third-person singular simple present blue peters, present participle blue petering, simple past and past participle blue petered)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English intransitive verbs",
"en:Card games"
],
"glosses": [
"In whist, to play a blue peter."
],
"links": [
[
"card game",
"card game"
],
[
"whist",
"whist"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(card games, intransitive) In whist, to play a blue peter."
],
"tags": [
"intransitive"
],
"topics": [
"card-games",
"games"
]
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "Blue Peter"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Lord Henry Bentinck"
],
"word": "blue peter"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). 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.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.