BLUSH

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does blush mean? 

• BLUSH (noun)
  The noun BLUSH has 2 senses:

1. a rosy color (especially in the cheeks) taken as a sign of good health

2. sudden reddening of the face (as from embarrassment or guilt or shame or modesty)

  Familiarity information: BLUSH used as a noun is rare.

• BLUSH (verb)
  The verb BLUSH has 2 senses:

1. turn red, as if in embarrassment or shame

2. become rosy or reddish

  Familiarity information: BLUSH used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BLUSH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A rosy color (especially in the cheeks) taken as a sign of good health

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

bloom; blush; flush; rosiness

Hypernyms ("blush" is a kind of...):

good health; healthiness (the state of being vigorous and free from bodily or mental disease)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Sudden reddening of the face (as from embarrassment or guilt or shame or modesty)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

blush; flush

Hypernyms ("blush" is a kind of...):

inborn reflex; innate reflex; instinctive reflex; physiological reaction; reflex; reflex action; reflex response; unconditioned reflex (an automatic instinctive unlearned reaction to a stimulus)

Derivation:

blush (turn red, as if in embarrassment or shame)

• BLUSH (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they blush    ... he / she / it blushes   
Past simple: blushed   
Past participle: blushed   
-ing form: blushing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Turn red, as if in embarrassment or shame

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

blush; crimson; flush; redden

Context example:

The girl blushed when a young man whistled as she walked by

Hypernyms (to "blush" is one way to...):

color; colour; discolor; discolour (change color, often in an undesired manner)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

blush (sudden reddening of the face (as from embarrassment or guilt or shame or modesty))

blusher (makeup consisting of a pink or red powder applied to the cheeks)

blusher (yellowish edible agaric that usually turns red when touched)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Become rosy or reddish

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

her cheeks blushed in the cold winter air

Hypernyms (to "blush" is one way to...):

redden (turn red or redder)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

 Context examples 

Catherine recollected herself, blushed deeply, and could say no more.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

“I suppose so,” I replied with a smile, and not without a blush.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Anne sighed and blushed and smiled, in pity and disdain, either at her friend or herself.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Her companion looked at her keenly; and gathering greater spirit from the blush soon produced from such a look, only said, “He is best off as he is,” and turned the subject.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I am blushing as I write, for although I think he loves me, he has not told me so in words.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

She eats and drinks and sleeps like a sensible creature, she looks straight in my face when I talk about that man, and only blushes a little bit when Teddy jokes about lovers.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I expected she would show signs of great distress and shame; but to my surprise she neither wept nor blushed: composed, though grave, she stood, the central mark of all eyes.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

“Indeed, Mamma, you are mistaken,” said Elizabeth, blushing for her mother.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

"Then," said I, blushing, I dare say, as I said it, "let it be named Lake Gladys."

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The sitting began; and Harriet, smiling and blushing, and afraid of not keeping her attitude and countenance, presented a very sweet mixture of youthful expression to the steady eyes of the artist.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)