Top Definitions
Quiz
Examples

bluing

or blue·ing

[ bloo-ing ]

/ ˈblu ɪŋ /

Save This Word!

noun Chemistry.

a substance, as indigo, used to whiten clothes or give them a bluish tinge.

QUIZ

GOOSES. GEESES. I WANT THIS QUIZ ON PLURAL NOUNS!

Test how much you really know about regular and irregular plural nouns with this quiz.

Question 1 of 9

Which of the following nouns has an irregular plural form?

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of bluing

First recorded in 1660–70; blue + -ing¹

Words nearby bluing

blue-winged teal, bluewood, blue wood aster, bluey, bluff, bluing, bluish, Blum, Blumberg, Blumberg's sign, Blume

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use bluing in a sentence

Two or three squeezes of a bluing ball, or a teaspoonful of liquid bluing is often a sufficient quantity for a tub of water.
The Library of Work and Play: Housekeeping|Elizabeth Hale Gilman
The bluing, consists in heating the piece till its copper or brass colour changes to blue.
A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines|Andrew Ure
Bluing is used to neutralize the slightly yellowish tint of the fabric, when it cannot be completely bleached.
Foods and Household Management|Helen Kinne
The colour reminds one of his boyhood when he interviewed the bluing water in the family wash-tub.
Days in the Open|Lathan A. Crandall

Dan was formerly a peddler of various kinds of flavoring extracts, ink and bluing.
Company G|A. R. (Albert Rowe) Barlow