blush
noun
- color
verb
- turn red
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈblʌʃ/ / [ˈblʌʃ]
noun
Etymology: Unknown; attested in the late 15th century.
- The collective noun for a group of boys.
“a blush of boys”
“I took the Red Cross senior lifesaving test, the one girl in a blush of boys taking the course.”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English blusshen, bluschen, blusschen, blisshen, from Old English blysċan (“to be red; shine”), perhaps from Proto-Germanic *blaskijaną, from *blasǭ (“burning candle; torch”) or alternatively from Proto-Germanic *bluskijaną, from *blusjǭ (“torch”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-. Cognate with Middle Low German blöschen (“to blush”). Compare also Old English blysian (“to burn; blaze”), Dutch blozen (“to blush”), Danish blusse (“to blush”), Old Norse blys (“torch”), Danish blus (“blaze”).
- To become red or pink in the face (and sometimes experience an associated feeling of warmth), especially due to shyness, love, shame, excitement, or embarrassment.
“The love scene made him blush to the roots of his hair / to the tips of his ears.”
“He wasn't used to this much attention, so he blushed as he saw dozens of pairs of eyes watching him.”
- To be shy, ashamed, or embarrassed (to do something).
“While Cato lives, Caesar will blush to see Mankind enslaved, and be ashamed of Empire.”
“He never blushed to rob a slave mother of her children, no matter how young or small.”
- To become red or pink.
“The sun of heaven, methought, was loth to set, But stayed, and made the western welkin blush,”
- To suffuse with a blush; to redden; to pinken; to make rosy.
“[the ghost] with the heart there cools and ne’er returneth To blush and beautify the cheek again.”
- To change skin color in the face (to a particular shade).
“When he saw it, he blushed a beet red.”
“I wasn't surprised, but it was embarrassing enough that I blushed a little pink.”
- To express or make known by blushing.
“Looking at me with a knowing glare, she blushed her discomfort with the situation.”
“I’ll blush you thanks.”
- To have a warm and delicate colour, like some roses and other flowers.
“The garden was full of blossoms that blushed in myriad shades to form a beautiful carpet of color.”
“Full many a Flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its Sweetness on the desart Air.”
- To glance with the eye, cast a glance.
- Of dope or varnish: to develop an undesirable white precipitate on the surface, due to being applied in humid conditions.
“Blushing is caused by doping under high relative humidity conditions.”
“Why is retarder used in dope when the dope is being sprayed in humid conditions? The retarder slows the drying of the dope and keeps it from blushing.”