black and blue
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
A fixed-order word pair (irreversible binomial); full definition pending editorial review.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
‘ I have ended up with my children in a Women's Hostel, still black and blue after the battering I got from the drunken unfaithful bully I was stupid enough to marry.
Claire, of Gipsy Hill, south - east London, needed 10 stitches and was treated for black eyes and severe bruises at King's College Hospital.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “Irreversible binomial” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29).
Common questions
What does “black and blue” mean?
A fixed-order word pair (irreversible binomial); full definition pending editorial review.
Is “black and blue” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.