1 N‑COUNT A blowout is a large meal, often a celebration with family or friends, at which people may eat too much. [INFORMAL ] □ Once in a while we had a major blowout.
2 N‑COUNT If you have a blowout while you are driving a car, one of the tyres suddenly bursts. □ A lorry travelling south had a blow-out and crashed.
3 N‑COUNT A blowout in an amount or a price is a sudden increase in it. [AUSTRALIAN , JOURNALISM ] □ [+ in ] …a blowout in surgery costs.
blow|torch /bloʊ tɔː r tʃ/ (blowtorches ) N‑COUNT A blowtorch is the same as a blowlamp .
blo w-up (blow-ups ) also blowup
1 N‑COUNT A blow-up is a photograph or picture that has been made bigger. [INFORMAL ] □ …blow-ups of photographs she found on the internet.
2 N‑COUNT A blow-up is a sudden fierce argument. [INFORMAL ] □ He and Cohen appeared headed for a major blowup.
blub /blʌ b/ (blubs , blubbing , blubbed ) VERB If someone blubs , they cry because they are unhappy or frightened. [BRIT , INFORMAL ] □ [V ] Don't blub.
blub|ber /blʌ bə r / (blubbers , blubbering , blubbered )
1 N‑UNCOUNT Blubber is the fat of whales, seals, and similar sea animals. □ The baby whale develops a thick layer of blubber to protect it from the cold sea.
2 VERB If someone blubbers , they cry noisily and in an unattractive way. [INFORMAL ] □ [V ] She started to blubber like a child.
bludg|eon /blʌ dʒ ə n/ (bludgeons , bludgeoning , bludgeoned )
1 VERB To bludgeon someone means to hit them several times with a heavy object. □ [V n] He broke into the old man's house and bludgeoned him with a hammer. □ [V -ed + to ] A wealthy businessman has been found bludgeoned to death.
2 VERB If someone bludgeons you into doing something, they make you do it by behaving aggressively. □ [V n + into ] Their approach simply bludgeons you into submission.
blue ◆◆◆ /bluː / (bluer , bluest , blues )
1 COLOUR Something that is blue is the colour of the sky on a sunny day. □ There were swallows in the cloudless blue sky. □ She fixed her pale blue eyes on her father's. □ …colourful blues and reds.
2 N‑PLURAL The blues is a type of music which was developed by African American musicians in the southern United States. It is characterized by a slow tempo and a strong rhythm.
3 N‑PLURAL If you have got the blues , you feel sad and depressed. [INFORMAL ] □ Interfering in-laws are the prime sources of the blues.
4 ADJ [v-link ADJ ] If you are feeling blue , you are feeling sad or depressed, often when there is no particular reason. [INFORMAL ] □ There's no earthly reason for me to feel so blue.
5 ADJ [ADJ n] Blue films, stories, or jokes are about sex. □ …a secret stash of porn mags and blue movies.
6 PHRASE If something happens out of the blue , it happens unexpectedly. □ One of them wrote to us out of the blue several years later.
7 blue moon → see moon
blue ^baby (blue babies ) N‑COUNT A blue baby is a baby whose skin is slightly blue because it has been born with something wrong with its heart.
blue|bell /bluː bel/ (bluebells ) N‑COUNT Bluebells are plants that have blue bell-shaped flowers on thin upright stems. Bluebells flower in the spring.
blue|berry /bluː bəri, [AM ] -beri/ (blueberries ) N‑COUNT A blueberry is a small dark blue fruit that is found in North America. Blueberries are usually cooked before they are eaten.
blue -bla ck COLOUR Something that is blue-black is bluish black in colour. □ …blue-black feathers.
blue -bloo ded ADJ A blue-blooded person is from a royal or noble family. □ …blue-blooded aristocrats.
blue book (blue books ) also Blue Book N‑COUNT A blue book is an official government report or register of statistics. [BRIT ]
blue|bottle /bluː bɒt ə l/ (bluebottles ) N‑COUNT A bluebottle is a large fly with a shiny dark-blue body.
blue chi p (blue chips ) N‑COUNT [oft N n] Blue chip stocks and shares are an investment which are considered fairly safe to invest in while also being profitable. [BUSINESS ] □ Blue chip issues were sharply higher by the end of the day.
blue -co llar ADJ [ADJ n] Blue-collar workers work in industry, doing physical work, rather than in offices.
blue -eyed bo y (blue-eyed boys ) N‑COUNT [oft poss N ] Someone's blue-eyed boy is a young man who they like better than anyone else and who therefore receives better treatment than other people. [BRIT , DISAPPROVAL ] □ He was the media's blue-eyed boy. in AM, use fair-haired boy
blue|grass /bluː grɑːs, -græs/ N‑UNCOUNT Bluegrass is a style of fast folk music that began in the Southern United States.
blue|ish /bluː I ʃ/ → see bluish
blue jeans N‑PLURAL [oft a pair of N ] Blue jeans are the same as jeans . □ …faded blue jeans.
blue|print /bluː pr I nt/ (blueprints )
1 N‑COUNT A blueprint for something is a plan or set of proposals that shows how it is expected to work. □ [+ for ] The country's president will offer delegates his blueprint for the country's future. □ [+ of ] …the blueprint of a new plan of economic reform.