- depressed spirits; despondency; melancholy: This rainy spell is giving me the blues.
- (used with a singular verb)Jazz.
- a song, originating with African Americans, that is marked by the frequent occurrence of blue notes, and that takes the basic form, customarily improvised upon in performance, of a 12-bar chorus consisting of a 3-line stanza with the second line repeating the first.
- the genre constituting such songs.
- any of various blue military uniforms worn by members of the U.S. armed services: dress blues.
- a blue uniform for work; blue work clothes: a doctor in surgical blues.
- police: The blues keep this neighborhood safe.
- a feeling of depression or deep unhappiness
- a type of folk song devised by Black Americans at the beginning of the 20th century, usually employing a basic 12-bar chorus, the tonic, subdominant, and dominant chords, frequent minor intervals, and blue notes
- the Royal Horse Guards
