bluescreen

B3L1U1E1S1C3R1E1E1N1

verb

To experience a stop error and shut down to prevent damage to system hardware.

“His computer bluescreened because of the prerelease software.”

UncommonScrabble 14
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Meanings

verbbluescreen (third-person singular simple present bluescreens, present participle bluescreening, simple past and past participle bluescreened)

present singular third person bluescreens · participle present bluescreening · participle past bluescreened · past bluescreened

  1. intransitivecomputingTo experience a stop error and shut down to prevent damage to system hardware.

    His computer bluescreened because of the prerelease software.

  2. informalby analogyTo emotionally shut down, such as in response to a traumatic personal crisis.
nounbluescreen (plural bluescreens)

plural bluescreens

  1. alternativeAlternative form of blue screen.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
greenscreen

Origin

From blue + screen; derived from "blue screen of death".

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

bluescreen. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bluescreen

MLA

“bluescreen.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bluescreen. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bluescreen,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bluescreen.

Source: bluescreen on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.