What is "blue blood"

Blue \Blue\ (bl[=u]), a. [Compar. Bluer (bl[=u]"[~e]r); superl. Bluest.] [OE. bla, blo, blew, blue, livid, black, fr. Icel.bl[=a]r livid; akin to Dan. blaa blue, Sw. bl[*a], D. blauw, OHG. bl[=a]o, G. blau; but influenced in form by F. bleu, from OHG. bl[=a]o.]

1. Having the color of the clear sky, or a hue resembling it, whether lighter or darker; as, the deep, blue sea; as blue as a sapphire; blue violets. ``The blue firmament.''
   --Milton.

2. Pale, without redness or glare, -- said of a flame; hence, of the color of burning brimstone, betokening the presence of ghosts or devils; as, the candle burns blue; the air was blue with oaths.

3. Low in spirits; melancholy; as, to feel blue.

4. Suited to produce low spirits; gloomy in prospect; as, thongs looked blue. [Colloq.]

5. Severe or over strict in morals; gloom; as, blue and sour religionists; suiting one who is over strict in morals; inculcating an impracticable, severe, or gloomy mortality; as, blue laws.

6. Literary; -- applied to women; -- an abbreviation of bluestocking. [Colloq.] The ladies were very blue and well informed. --Thackeray. Blue asbestus. See Crocidolite. Blue black, of, or having, a very dark blue color, almost black. Blue blood. See under Blood. Blue buck (Zo["o]l.), a small South African antelope ( Cephalophus pygm[ae]us); also applied to a larger species ( [AE]goceras leucoph[ae]us); the blaubok. Blue cod (Zo["o]l.), the buffalo cod. Blue crab (Zo["o]l.), the common edible crab of the Atlantic coast of the United States ( Callinectes hastatus). Blue curls (Bot.), a common plant ( Trichostema dichotomum), resembling pennyroyal, and hence called also bastard pennyroyal. Blue devils, apparitions supposed to be seen by persons suffering with delirium tremens; hence, very low spirits. ``Can Gumbo shut the hall door upon blue devils, or lay them all in a red sea of claret?'' --Thackeray. Blue gage. See under Gage, a plum. Blue gum, an Australian myrtaceous tree ( Eucalyptus globulus), of the loftiest proportions, now cultivated in tropical and warm temperate regions for its timber, and as a protection against malaria. The essential oil is beginning to be used in medicine. The timber is very useful. See Eucalyptus. Blue jack, Blue stone, blue vitriol; sulphate of copper. Blue jacket, a man-of war's man; a sailor wearing a naval uniform. Blue jaundice. See under Jaundice. Blue laws, a name first used in the eighteenth century to describe certain supposititious laws of extreme rigor reported to have been enacted in New Haven; hence, any puritanical laws. [U. S.] Blue light, a composition which burns with a brilliant blue flame; -- used in pyrotechnics and as a night signal at sea, and in military operations. Blue mantle (Her.), one of the four pursuivants of the English college of arms; -- so called from the color of his official robes. Blue mass, a preparation of mercury from which is formed the blue pill. --McElrath. Blue mold or Blue mould, the blue fungus ( Aspergillus glaucus) which grows on cheese. --Brande & C. Blue Monday,

   1. a Monday following a Sunday of dissipation, or itself given to dissipation (as the Monday before Lent).

   2. a Monday considered as depressing because it is a workday in contrast to the relaxation of the weekend. Blue ointment (Med.), mercurial ointment. Blue Peter (British Marine), a blue flag with a white square in the center, used as a signal for sailing, to recall boats, etc. It is a corruption of blue repeater, one of the British signal flags. Blue pill. (Med.)

      1. A pill of prepared mercury, used as an aperient, etc.

      2. Blue mass. Blue ribbon.

         1. The ribbon worn by members of the order of the Garter; -- hence, a member of that order.

         2. Anything the attainment of which is an object of great ambition; a distinction; a prize. ``These [scholarships] were the
            --blue ribbon of the college.''
            --Farrar.

   3. The distinctive badge of certain temperance or total abstinence organizations, as of the
      --Blue ribbon Army.

      Blue ruin, utter ruin; also, gin. [Eng. Slang]
      --Carlyle.

      Blue spar (Min.), azure spar; lazulite. See Lazulite.

      Blue thrush (Zo["o]l.), a European and Asiatic thrush ( Petrocossyphus cyaneas).

      Blue verditer. See Verditer.

      Blue vitriol (Chem.), sulphate of copper, a violet blue crystallized salt, used in electric batteries, calico printing, etc.

      Blue water, the open ocean.

      Big Blue, the International Business Machines corporation. [Wall Street slang.] PJC

      To look blue, to look disheartened or dejected.

      True blue, genuine and thorough; not modified, nor mixed; not spurious; specifically, of uncompromising Presbyterianism, blue being the color adopted by the Covenanters.

      For his religion . . . 'T was Presbyterian, true blue.
      --Hudibras.

Blue blood \Blue blood\ (bl[=u]"bl[u^]d`), n.

1. a member of the nobility or aristocracy, or a person of high social status.

2. the quality of status that qualifies one as a blue blood; -- used metaphorically, as ``They have blue blood in their veins.''. -- Blue"-blood`ed, adj.

Blood \Blood\ (bl[u^]d), n. [OE. blod, blood, AS. bl[=o]d; akin to D. bloed, OHG. bluot, G. blut, Goth. bl[=o][thorn], Icel. bl[=o][eth], Sw. & Dan. blod; prob. fr. the same root as E. blow to bloom. See Blow to bloom.]

1. The fluid which circulates in the principal vascular system of animals, carrying nourishment to all parts of the body, and bringing away waste products to be excreted. See under Arterial.

   Note: The blood consists of a liquid, the plasma, containing minute particles, the blood corpuscles. In the invertebrate animals it is usually nearly colorless, and contains only one kind of corpuscles; but in all vertebrates, except Amphioxus, it contains some colorless corpuscles, with many more which are red and give the blood its uniformly red color. See Corpuscle, Plasma.

2. Relationship by descent from a common ancestor; consanguinity; kinship.

   To share the blood of Saxon royalty.
   --Sir W. Scott.

   A friend of our own blood.
   --Waller.

   Half blood (Law), relationship through only one parent.

   Whole blood, relationship through both father and mother. In American Law, blood includes both half blood, and whole blood.
   --Bouvier.
   --Peters.

3. Descent; lineage; especially, honorable birth; the highest royal lineage.

   Give us a prince of blood, a son of Priam.
   --Shak.

   I am a gentleman of blood and breeding.
   --Shak.

4. (Stock Breeding) Descent from parents of recognized breed; excellence or purity of breed.

   Note: In stock breeding half blood is descent showing one half only of pure breed. Blue blood, full blood, or warm blood, is the same as blood.

5. The fleshy nature of man.

   Nor gives it satisfaction to our blood.
   --Shak.

6. The shedding of blood; the taking of life, murder; manslaughter; destruction.

   So wills the fierce, avenging sprite, Till blood for blood atones.
   --Hood.

7. A bloodthirsty or murderous disposition. [R.]

   He was a thing of blood, whose every motion Was timed with dying cries.
   --Shak.

8. Temper of mind; disposition; state of the passions; -- as if the blood were the seat of emotions.

   When you perceive his blood inclined to mirth.
   --Shak.

   Note: Often, in this sense, accompanied with bad, cold, warm, or other qualifying word. Thus, to commit an act in cold blood, is to do it deliberately, and without sudden passion; to do it in bad blood, is to do it in anger. Warm blood denotes a temper inflamed or irritated. To warm or heat the blood is to excite the passions. Qualified by up, excited feeling or passion is signified; as, my blood was up.

9. A man of fire or spirit; a fiery spark; a gay, showy man; a rake.

   Seest thou not . . . how giddily 'a turns about all the hot bloods between fourteen and five and thirty?
   --Shak.

   It was the morning costume of a dandy or blood.
   --Thackeray.

10. The juice of anything, especially if red.

    He washed . . . his clothes in the blood of grapes.
    --Gen. xiix.

11. Note: Blood is often used as an adjective, and as the first part of self-explaining compound words; as, blood-bespotted, blood-bought, blood-curdling, blood-dyed, blood-red, blood-spilling, blood-stained, blood-warm, blood-won. Blood baptism (Eccl. Hist.), the martyrdom of those who had not been baptized. They were considered as baptized in blood, and this was regarded as a full substitute for literal baptism. Blood blister, a blister or bleb containing blood or bloody serum, usually caused by an injury. Blood brother, brother by blood or birth. Blood clam (Zo["o]l.), a bivalve mollusk of the genus Arca and allied genera, esp. Argina pexata of the American coast. So named from the color of its flesh. Blood corpuscle. See Corpuscle. Blood crystal (Physiol.), one of the crystals formed by the separation in a crystalline form of the h[ae]moglobin of the red blood corpuscles; h[ae]matocrystallin. All blood does not yield blood crystals. Blood heat, heat equal to the temperature of human blood, or about 981/2 [deg] Fahr. Blood horse, a horse whose blood or lineage is derived from the purest and most highly prized origin or stock. Blood money. See in the Vocabulary. Blood orange, an orange with dark red pulp. Blood poisoning (Med.), a morbid state of the blood caused by the introduction of poisonous or infective matters from without, or the absorption or retention of such as are produced in the body itself; tox[ae]mia. Blood pudding, a pudding made of blood and other materials. Blood relation, one connected by blood or descent. Blood spavin. See under Spavin. Blood vessel. See in the Vocabulary. Blue blood, the blood of noble or aristocratic families, which, according to a Spanish prover, has in it a tinge of blue; -- hence, a member of an old and aristocratic family. Flesh and blood.

    1. A blood relation, esp. a child.

    2. Human nature.

       In blood (Hunting), in a state of perfect health and vigor.
       --Shak.

       To let blood. See under Let.

       Prince of the blood, the son of a sovereign, or the issue of a royal family. The sons, brothers, and uncles of the sovereign are styled princes of the blood royal; and the daughters, sisters, and aunts are princesses of the blood royal.

1809 in reference to the blood that flows in the veins of the old and aristocratic families of Spain, translating Spanish sangre azul, claimed by certain families of Castile as uncontaminated by Moorish or Jewish admixture; the term is probably from the notion of the visible veins of people of fair complexion. In reference to English families by 1827. As a noun, "member of an old and aristocratic family," by 1877.

n. 1 (context uncountable English) noble or aristocratic ancestry 2 (context countable English) an aristocrat

n. a member of the aristocracy [syn: aristocrat, patrician]

Blue Blood is the second studio album by the Japanese heavy metal band X Japan, then named X. It was released on April 21, 1989 by CBS/Sony as the band's major label debut. Blue Blood sold more than 700,000 copies, reached number 6 on the Oricon chart and stayed on the chart for more than 100 weeks. The album's singles would also reach the top five on the chart. In 2007, Rolling Stone Japan ranked Blue Blood number 15 on their list of the "100 Greatest Japanese Rock Albums of All Time".

Blue Blood is a documentary film that was released in UK cinemas in 2007 and showed on BBC2's Storyville in 2008. The film follows the paths of five students from Oxford University as they try to win a place on the Oxford University Amateur Boxing Club Varsity squad. Those who do will face off against students from the University of Cambridge and earn the right to call themselves a "Blue".

Blue blood may refer to:

• Hemolymph, circulatory fluid colored blue by hemocyanin, a respiratory protein evident in most molluscs and some arthropods
• Nobility, a social class

Blue Blood is an album by American guitarist James Blood Ulmer recorded in 2000 and released on Bill Laswell's Innerhythmic label in 2001. The album features performances by Ulmer with Laswell, Bernie Worrell, Jerome Brailey, and Amina Claudine Myers.

Blue Blood is an extant 1925 silent film produced and distributed by Chadwick Pictures and starring George Walsh. Scott R. Dunlap directed.

Blue Blood is a 1973 British horror film directed by Andrew Sinclair and starring Oliver Reed, Fiona Lewis and Derek Jacobi. It was based on the novel The Carry-Cot by Alexander Thynn. It was shot on location at Longleat House in Wiltshire.

Blue Blood is a 2014 Brazilian drama film directed by Lírio Ferreira. It was screened in the Panorama section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.

Blue Blood'' (Italian:Sangue blu'') is a 1914 Italian silent drama film directed by Nino Oxilia and starring Francesca Bertini, Amedeo Ciaffi and Anna Cipriani.