blue streak
Americannoun
-
something moving very fast.
They traveled like a blue streak through Italy.
-
continuous, rapid, or interminable speech.
to talk a blue streak.
Etymology
Origin of blue streak
An Americanism dating back to 1820–30
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.
No wonder I talked a blue streak about money with Elvira — about the hourly billing rate I charged, the new clients I landed, the prospects I was pitching and my projected annual revenues.
From Salon • Mar. 11, 2025
That means swearing a blue streak, the way he does, or trying to out-do someone or impress them.
From BBC • Mar. 9, 2022
Dottie was 4 now and could talk a blue streak.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 1, 2021
“My customers come here and talk a blue streak, but they leave with beautiful hair,” a local hairdresser says to Selma.
From New York Times • Aug. 27, 2021
I had no idea how old it was, I never did, with babies—for all I knew it could talk a blue streak and had twenty teeth behind its pursed, pink lips.
From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
