blush
verbEtymology 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”).
9 senses
- 1To become red or pink in the face (and sometimes…
- 2To be shy, ashamed, or embarrassed (to do something).
- 3To become red or pink.
- 4To suffuse with a blush; to redden; to pinken; to make rosy.
- 5To change skin color in the face (to a particular shade).
- 6To express or make known by blushing.
- 7To have a warm and delicate colour, like some roses and…
- 8To glance with the eye, cast a glance.
- 9Of dope or varnish: to develop an undesirable white…
1
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.
4 more examples
- […] they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush:1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jeremiah 6:15:
- text-To the Nuptial Bowre I led her blushing like the Morn:1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 1147-1148:
- I wonder whether they [women] ever blush at those things by themselves, at which they have so charming a knack of blushing in company.—If not; and if blushing be a sign of grace or modesty, have not the sex as great a command over their blushes, as they are said to have over their tears?1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XLI”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume IV, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by John Osborn, […], →OCLC, page 233:
- Mrs. Montgomery brushed away her tears, and blushed at having shed them.1880, Henry James, chapter 14, in Washington Square, Harper & Brothers, →OCLC:
2
Figuratively To be shy, ashamed, or embarrassed (to do something).
- While Cato lives, Caesar will blush to see Mankind enslaved, and be ashamed of Empire.1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act IV, scene i, page 53:
- He never blushed to rob a slave mother of her children, no matter how young or small.1849, Henry Bibb, chapter 6, in Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, An American Slave, New York: for the author, page 50:
1 more example
- […] in this enlightened age, we have much to blush for in the acts of our ancestors.1908 February 19, Jack London, chapter 17, in The Iron Heel, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC:
3
To become red or pink.
- The sun of heaven, methought, was loth to set, But stayed, and made the western welkin blush,c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v]:
4
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.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
5
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.
2 more examples
- A few lost leaves blushed crimson with their shame, And drowned themselves despairing in the brook,1863, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Poet’s Tale: The Birds or Killingworth”, in Tales of a Wayside Inn, Boston: Ticknor & Fields, page 202:
- […] she […] blushed a warm and genuine-looking pink.1969, Margaret Atwood, chapter 8, in The Edible Woman, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, published 2010:
6
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.c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act WINTER'S TALE, scene iv], page 4:
2 more examples
- The windows smiled, the door coaxed and beckoned, the creeper blushed confederacy.1891, Thomas Hardy, chapter XXV, in Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented […], volume II, London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], →OCLC, phase the fourth (The Consequence), page 47:
- “I can see you yawning and stretching, Felix—not very polite.” Felix sprang to attention, metaphorically speaking, and blushed his apologies.1978, Lawrence Durrell, chapter 5, in Livia, London: Faber & Faber, published 1981, page 134:
7
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.1751, Thomas Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, London: R. Dodsley, page 8:
2 more examples
- […] lanes which last night blushed full of flowers, to-day were pathless with untrodden snow;1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter XI, in Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 302:
- Natalie^’s pink bonnet blushed in the early sunshine […]1899, Alice Dunbar Nelson, “The Fisherman of Pass Christian”, in The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories:
8
Obsolete To glance with the eye, cast a glance.
9
Aeronautics, Aerospace, Aviation, Business, Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences 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.1966, Aviation Structural Mechanic S 3 & 2, United States. Bureau of Naval Personnel, page 219:
- 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.1999, Dale Crane, Fast-Track Test Guides for Aviation Maintenance: Airframe, page 147:
- Derived terms
- ablush, antiblush, antiblushing, blusher, blushet, blushing bride, blushing bunny, blushingly, blushworthy, make the angels blush, outblush, unblush, unblushing
- Related terms
- erythrophobia