'Blue devils' definitions:

Definition of 'blue devils'

From: WordNet
noun
A state of depression; "he had a bad case of the blues" [syn: blues, blue devils, megrims, vapors, vapours]

Definition of 'Blue devils'

From: GCIDE
  • Devil \Dev"il\, n. [AS. de['o]fol, de['o]ful; akin to G. ?eufel, Goth. diaba['u]lus; all fr. L. diabolus the devil, Gr. ? the devil, the slanderer, fr. ? to slander, calumniate, orig., to throw across; ? across + ? to throw, let fall, fall; cf. Skr. gal to fall. Cf. Diabolic.]
  • 1. The Evil One; Satan, represented as the tempter and spiritual of mankind. [1913 Webster]
  • [Jesus] being forty days tempted of the devil. --Luke iv. 2. [1913 Webster]
  • That old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. --Rev. xii. 9. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. An evil spirit; a demon. [1913 Webster]
  • A dumb man possessed with a devil. --Matt. ix. 32. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. A very wicked person; hence, any great evil. "That devil Glendower." "The devil drunkenness." --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? --John vi. 70. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. An expletive of surprise, vexation, or emphasis, or, ironically, of negation. [Low] [1913 Webster]
  • The devil a puritan that he is, . . . but a timepleaser. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • The things, we know, are neither rich nor rare, But wonder how the devil they got there. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. (Cookery) A dish, as a bone with the meat, broiled and excessively peppered; a grill with Cayenne pepper. [1913 Webster]
  • Men and women busy in baking, broiling, roasting oysters, and preparing devils on the gridiron. --Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. (Manuf.) A machine for tearing or cutting rags, cotton, etc. [1913 Webster]
  • Blue devils. See under Blue.
  • Cartesian devil. See under Cartesian.
  • Devil bird (Zool.), one of two or more South African drongo shrikes (Edolius retifer, and Edolius remifer), believed by the natives to be connected with sorcery.
  • Devil may care, reckless, defiant of authority; -- used adjectively. --Longfellow.
  • Devil's apron (Bot.), the large kelp ({Laminaria saccharina}, and Laminaria longicruris) of the Atlantic ocean, having a blackish, leathery expansion, shaped somewhat like an apron.
  • Devil's coachhorse. (Zool.) (a) The black rove beetle (Ocypus olens). [Eng.] (b) A large, predacious, hemipterous insect ({Prionotus cristatus}); the wheel bug. [U.S.]
  • Devil's darning-needle. (Zool.) See under Darn, v. t.
  • Devil's fingers, Devil's hand (Zool.), the common British starfish (Asterias rubens); -- also applied to a sponge with stout branches. [Prov. Eng., Irish & Scot.]
  • Devil's riding-horse (Zool.), the American mantis ({Mantis Carolina}).
  • The Devil's tattoo, a drumming with the fingers or feet. "Jack played the Devil's tattoo on the door with his boot heels." --F. Hardman (Blackw. Mag.).
  • Devil worship, worship of the power of evil; -- still practiced by barbarians who believe that the good and evil forces of nature are of equal power.
  • Printer's devil, the youngest apprentice in a printing office, who runs on errands, does dirty work (as washing the ink rollers and sweeping), etc. "Without fearing the printer's devil or the sheriff's officer." --Macaulay.
  • Tasmanian devil (Zool.), a very savage carnivorous marsupial of Tasmania (Dasyurus ursinus syn. {Diabolus ursinus}).
  • To play devil with, to molest extremely; to ruin. [Low] [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Blue devils'

From: GCIDE
  • Blue \Blue\ (bl[=u]), a. [Compar. Bluer (bl[=u]"[~e]r); superl. Bluest.] [OE. bla, blo, blew, blue, livid, black, fr. Icel.bl[=a]r livid; akin to Dan. blaa blue, Sw. bl[*a], D. blauw, OHG. bl[=a]o, G. blau; but influenced in form by F. bleu, from OHG. bl[=a]o.]
  • 1. Having the color of the clear sky, or a hue resembling it, whether lighter or darker; as, the deep, blue sea; as blue as a sapphire; blue violets. "The blue firmament." --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Pale, without redness or glare, -- said of a flame; hence, of the color of burning brimstone, betokening the presence of ghosts or devils; as, the candle burns blue; the air was blue with oaths. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Low in spirits; melancholy; as, to feel blue. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. Suited to produce low spirits; gloomy in prospect; as, thongs looked blue. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]
  • 5. Severe or over strict in morals; gloom; as, blue and sour religionists; suiting one who is over strict in morals; inculcating an impracticable, severe, or gloomy mortality; as, blue laws. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. Literary; -- applied to women; -- an abbreviation of bluestocking. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]
  • The ladies were very blue and well informed. --Thackeray. [1913 Webster]
  • Blue asbestus. See Crocidolite.
  • Blue black, of, or having, a very dark blue color, almost black.
  • Blue blood. See under Blood.
  • Blue buck (Zool.), a small South African antelope (Cephalophus pygm[ae]us); also applied to a larger species ([AE]goceras leucoph[ae]us); the blaubok.
  • Blue cod (Zool.), the buffalo cod.
  • Blue crab (Zool.), the common edible crab of the Atlantic coast of the United States (Callinectes hastatus).
  • Blue curls (Bot.), a common plant ({Trichostema dichotomum}), resembling pennyroyal, and hence called also bastard pennyroyal.
  • Blue devils, apparitions supposed to be seen by persons suffering with delirium tremens; hence, very low spirits. "Can Gumbo shut the hall door upon blue devils, or lay them all in a red sea of claret?" --Thackeray.
  • Blue gage. See under Gage, a plum.
  • Blue gum, an Australian myrtaceous tree ({Eucalyptus globulus}), of the loftiest proportions, now cultivated in tropical and warm temperate regions for its timber, and as a protection against malaria. The essential oil is beginning to be used in medicine. The timber is very useful. See Eucalyptus.
  • Blue jack, Blue stone, blue vitriol; sulphate of copper.
  • Blue jacket, a man-of war's man; a sailor wearing a naval uniform.
  • Blue jaundice. See under Jaundice.
  • Blue laws, a name first used in the eighteenth century to describe certain supposititious laws of extreme rigor reported to have been enacted in New Haven; hence, any puritanical laws. [U. S.]
  • Blue light, a composition which burns with a brilliant blue flame; -- used in pyrotechnics and as a night signal at sea, and in military operations.
  • Blue mantle (Her.), one of the four pursuivants of the English college of arms; -- so called from the color of his official robes.
  • Blue mass, a preparation of mercury from which is formed the blue pill. --McElrath.
  • Blue mold or Blue mould, the blue fungus ({Aspergillus glaucus}) which grows on cheese. --Brande & C.
  • Blue Monday, (a) a Monday following a Sunday of dissipation, or itself given to dissipation (as the Monday before Lent). (b) a Monday considered as depressing because it is a workday in contrast to the relaxation of the weekend.
  • Blue ointment (Med.), mercurial ointment.
  • Blue Peter (British Marine), a blue flag with a white square in the center, used as a signal for sailing, to recall boats, etc. It is a corruption of blue repeater, one of the British signal flags.
  • Blue pill. (Med.) (a) A pill of prepared mercury, used as an aperient, etc. (b) Blue mass.
  • Blue ribbon. (a) The ribbon worn by members of the order of the Garter; -- hence, a member of that order. (b) Anything the attainment of which is an object of great ambition; a distinction; a prize. "These [scholarships] were the --blue ribbon of the college." --Farrar. (c) The distinctive badge of certain temperance or total abstinence organizations, as of the --Blue ribbon Army.
  • Blue ruin, utter ruin; also, gin. [Eng. Slang] --Carlyle.
  • Blue spar (Min.), azure spar; lazulite. See Lazulite.
  • Blue thrush (Zool.), a European and Asiatic thrush (Petrocossyphus cyaneas).
  • Blue verditer. See Verditer.
  • Blue vitriol (Chem.), sulphate of copper, a violet blue crystallized salt, used in electric batteries, calico printing, etc.
  • Blue water, the open ocean.
  • Big Blue, the International Business Machines corporation. [Wall Street slang.] PJC
  • To look blue, to look disheartened or dejected.
  • True blue, genuine and thorough; not modified, nor mixed; not spurious; specifically, of uncompromising Presbyterianism, blue being the color adopted by the Covenanters. [1913 Webster]
  • For his religion . . . 'T was Presbyterian, true blue. --Hudibras. [1913 Webster]

Synonyms of 'blue devils'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'Blue devils'