black and blue
English
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black and blue
Where it comes from
From 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.
adjective black-and-blue
- Of a person, having obvious bruises of the skin, typically from falling or being hit or punched. My arm is still black and blue from slipping on the ice yesterday.
verb black and blues · black and blueing · black and bluing · black and blued · black-and-blue
- To bruise, to strike (a person in such a way as to discolour the skin without breaking it). ... 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[…]
Translations
Every language
adj covered in bruises
| 中文 | 鼻青臉腫的 /鼻青脸肿的 bíqīngliǎnzhǒng de, 青一塊紫一塊 /青一块紫一块 qīngyīkuài zǐyīkuài |
|---|---|
| Português | pisado, roxo, com nódoas negras |
| Deutsch | grün und blau |
Talk about this word "black and blue." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/black%20and%20blue. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. black and blue. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/black%20and%20blue "black and blue." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/black%20and%20blue.Cite this
@misc{black_and_blue_2026,
title = {black and blue},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/black%20and%20blue},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
