The Collaborative International Dictionary
black and blue \black and blue\, black-and-blue \black-and-blue\adj. discolored by or as if by bruising; -- of skin. livid bruises
Syn: livid.
Wiktionary
a. Badly bruised, with discolourations beneath the skin due to coagulation of blood
WordNet
adj. discolored by coagulation of blood beneath the skin; "beaten black and blue"; "livid bruises" [syn: livid]
Usage examples of "black-and-blue".
Watson was crusted with blood-black sand and blind, with bullet-smashed teeth, nose and lower lip half shot away, black-and-blue face and neck and arms and dead-white farmer's body turning a bad gray-purple around the bullet holes and buckshot rashes, and sand fleas hopping all over the whole mess.
Their hair, divided into a great number of small tresses, fell over their shoulders, and by means of black-and-blue incisions they had tattooed their cheeks from the temples to the mouth.