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• black-and-blue
  black-and-blue

  adjective

  discolored, as by bruising; exhibiting ecchymosis.
• black and blue
  black and blue

  Badly bruised, as in That fall down the stairs left me black and blue all over. Even though multicolored bruises rarely include the color black, this term has been so used since about 1300.

black-and-blue

American  

[blak-uhn-bloo] / ˈblæk ənˈblu /

adjective

1. discolored, as by bruising; exhibiting ecchymosis.

   a black-and-blue mark on my knee.

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black-and-blue British  

adjective

1. (of the skin) discoloured, as from a bruise

2. feeling pain or soreness, as from a beating

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black and blue Idioms  

1. Badly bruised, as in That fall down the stairs left me black and blue all over. Even though multicolored bruises rarely include the color black, this term has been so used since about 1300.

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Etymology

Origin of black-and-blue

Middle English word dating back to 1300–50

Example Sentences

Black and blue marks on the floor spaced people six feet apart.

From Washington Post • Jun. 1, 2020

Black and blue jig and 10-inch worm are also good.

From Washington Times • Mar. 11, 2020

"Black and blue," says Meyerhoff, a retired Baltimore real estate developer, "is what happens to horse owners."

From Time Magazine Archive

Black and blue paper, drawing pins and torches soon ran short.

From Time Magazine Archive

Little girls, without any idea of the meaning, employ the following formula of asseveration:— Certain, true, Black and blue.

From Current Superstitions Collected from the Oral Tradition of English Speaking Folk by Bergen, Fanny D. (Fanny Dickerson)

Related Words

• ache
• bruise
• discomfort
• outrage
• pain
• suffering