blush
Plural: blushes
Noun
- a rosy color (especially in the cheeks) taken as a sign of good health
- sudden reddening of the face (as from embarrassment or guilt or shame or modesty)
- An act of blushing; a pink or red glow on the face caused by embarrassment, shame, shyness, love, etc.
- A glow; a flush of colour, especially pink or red.
- A feeling or appearance of optimism.
- A sort of makeup, frequently a powder, used to redden the cheeks.
- A color between pink and cream.
- A pale pink wine made by removing the dark grape skins at the required point during fermentation.
- The collective noun for a group of boys.
Verb
Verb Forms: blushed, blushing, blushes
- To redden in the face from embarrassment or shame.
- turn red, as if in embarrassment or shame
- "The girl blushed when a young man whistled as she walked by"
- become rosy or reddish
- "her cheeks blushed in the cold winter air"
- 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.
- To be shy, ashamed, or embarrassed (to do something).
- To become red or pink.
- To suffuse with a blush; to redden; to pinken; to make rosy.
- To change skin color in the face (to a particular shade).
- To express or make known by blushing.
- To have a warm and delicate colour, like some roses and other flowers.
- 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.
Examples
- a blush of boys
- He made such a terrible play that even the game board seemed to BLUSH in embarrassment.
- He wasn't used to this much attention, so he blushed as he saw dozens of pairs of eyes watching him.
- I wasn't surprised, but it was embarrassing enough that I blushed a little pink.
- Looking at me with a knowing glare, she blushed her discomfort with the situation.
- The garden was full of blossoms that blushed in myriad shades to form a beautiful carpet of color.
- The love scene made him blush to the roots of his hair / to the tips of his ears.
- When he saw it, he blushed a beet red.
Origin / 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”).
Scrabble Score: 10
blush: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordblush: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
blush: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary