blue devils

American  

plural noun

1. low spirits; depression.

2. delirium tremens.

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blue devils British  

plural noun

1. a fit of depression or melancholy

2. an attack of delirium tremens

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Etymology

Origin of blue devils

First recorded in 1780–90

Example Sentences

The “blue devils” then gather at the town’s crossroads, spitting fake blood, to terrify the children of their neighbors, or of visitors from the island’s nearby capital of Port of Spain.

From The New Yorker

“I’m well, but you sound like you’ve got a bit of the blue devils!”

From Time

The blue devils were drawn up in formation in the middle of a big meadow cupped within hills.

From Project Gutenberg

Archibald, duke of Argyle, was haunted by blue phantoms—the origin of our epithet for melancholy, "blue devils."

From Project Gutenberg

When an old woman talks of witches, ghosts, or blue devils, we naturally make an allowance for bad education, or the imbicility of intellect, occasioned by age.

From Project Gutenberg