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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

The singer re-emerged wearing a sparkly black-and-blue outfit complete with roller skates as he introduced will.i.am for their collaboration OMG - a song title which reflected the crowd's reaction.

From BBC • Feb. 11, 2024

Back at T-Mobile Park on Monday afternoon, Moore lifted up his shirt to reveal the oversized black-and-blue welt under his left shoulder blade on Monday afternoon.

From Seattle Times • May 22, 2023

Green-winged Inca jays, with yellow bellies and black-and-blue faces, fluttered and squawked in nearby branches, and a dazzling array of hummingbirds purred and thumped, jostling for space at assorted feeders.

From New York Times • Apr. 26, 2023

Revel’s black-and-blue mopeds have the acceleration of a motorcycle, the nimbleness of a bicycle, and, on New York streets where the speed limit is 25 mph, the legal top speed of a car.

From Slate • Aug. 29, 2019

After two hours, she had a black-and-blue thumb and a pile of coconut for lunch.

From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr

Related Words

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