black and blue

alternative attributive black-and-blue

1. colloquialnot comparableOf a person, having obvious bruises of the skin, typically from falling or being hit or punched.

   My arm is still black and blue from slipping on the ice yesterday.

   1 more example

   The whole benighted, blooming crew, The Puddin'-thieves, the Usher too, Are being beaten black and blue With bottles on the pate.

   1918, Norman Lindsay, The Magic Pudding, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 167

present singular third person black and blues · participle present black and blueing · participle present black and bluing · participle past black and blued · past black and blued · alternative attributive black-and-blue

1. colloquialslangTo bruise, to strike (a person in such a way as to discolour the skin without breaking it).

   Come on through I black and blue your whole crew Then I get Rudy with the Hong Kong Phoo'

   1995, Ol' Dirty Bastard, “Protect Ya Neck II the Zoo”, in Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version

   1 more example

   ... he black-and-blued her eyes he cooked a big meal to make it up to her. He went out and stole a neighbor's hog or caught some rice birds ... This was a country of rice plantations, but Twig and Peggy lived upriver, where rice[…]

   1991, John Vernon, Peter Doyle: A Novel, Random House (NY)