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blue murder

British

noun

informal a great outcry, noise; horrible din (esp in such phrases as cry, howl, scream, etc, blue murder )

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Idiocies abound: Characters scream blue murder, apparently unheard by family members in the same house; a creature that feeds on darkness is battled by burning dozens of miniature candles instead of, say, shining a flashlight.

From New York Times • Jun. 1, 2023

Mr Dinwiddie said: "We felt such relief. He has got away with blue murder since. No-one tells him off anymore."

From BBC • May 13, 2020

If I'd known then that it was only ever going to be a moment in time, I'd have screamed blue murder.

From BBC • Apr. 11, 2016

Britain’s strategy is to howl blue murder and then declare a sort of half-war.

From The Guardian • Oct. 9, 2014

He'll be seeing ghosts all night, and calling out blue murder; but nobody can hear him, and there he must stop with them.

From Mildred Arkell, Volume II (of 3) A Novel by Wood, Mrs. Henry

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023