black and blue
8
2.1
- idiom
- /blæk ənd blu/
- Informal
:
morado y azul
- Makeup tries hard to hide Sid's handiwork—a swollen black and blue right cheek.
- beaten black and blue
- black and blue marks
- bruised black and blue
from my neck down to my ankles like black and blue. So next morning
- from my neck down to my ankles like black and blue. So next morning
- He's out with a new book, Beaten black and blue, being a black cop in an America under siege.
- And he was taught he was found black and blue and everyone thought he meant being black and blue, but I think they meant he was just cold.
Examples
-
His face was a mass of blood and black and blue.
Fiction book (1996) -
How come you always have black and blue marks on you?
-
That body was black and blue...
-
His eye is black and blue, his lip cut.
Fiction book (2002) -
My leg'll be black and blue tomorrow.
-
My shins would be black and blue by morning.
Fiction book (2000) -
My nose was black and blue, and it felt like I'd been punched in the face.
Blog text (4) -
Biting back tears, the young boy sat down on the curb and inspected his bruised fingers, already turning black and blue.
Fiction book (2002) -
After falling down the stairs, his leg was black and blue from the bruises.
-
The boxer left the ring with a black and blue cheek after the intense fight.
Synonyms
2
3.2
Skin that has dark marks after a bruise
Antonyms
How Bruised
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase literally combines two color adjectives to describe an overall discolored appearance, so a learner who knows 'black' and 'blue' can infer that something is darkly bruised or stained. However, the conventionalized association specifically with bodily bruises from being hit is partly idiomatic and relies on usage knowledge rather than strict compositional rules, so it is not fully transparent.
Etymology
The phrase black and blue comes from how bruises look after someone is hit, when the skin often shows dark patches of black and blue. That's why it now means 'having bruises' or 'looking hurt'.