blushes

Noun (1)

blush (countable and uncountable, plural blushes)

1. An act of blushing; a pink or red glow on the face caused by embarrassment, shame, shyness, love, etc.
   • Why, Warwick, canst thou speak against thy liege,
     Whom thou obeyed’st thirty and six years,
     And not bewray thy treason with a blush?c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
2. A glow; a flush of colour, especially pink or red.
   • And now the rosy blush of morn began to mantle in the east, and soon the rising sun, emerging from amidst golden and purple clouds, shed his blithesome rays on the tin weathercocks of Communipaw.1809, Diedrich Knickerbocker [pseudonym; Washington Irving], A History of New York, from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), New...

   Synonyms:

   color

3. (figuratively) A feeling or appearance of optimism.
   • The independence ceremony could not keep the blush of April's revolution, when carnations had seemed to sprout from every buttonhole, from fading.1974, “April's Fading Carnation,” Time, 9 September, 1974,https://web.archive.org/web/20130813201436/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,904100,00.html
4. A cosmetic, frequently a powder, used to redden the cheeks and lips.
   • The same rules that apply to face powder apply to powder blush, since neither contains water. Cream blush, however, should be replaced after a year. To prolong the life of any blush, clean your blush brush regularly and store the product in a dry place.2016, Sana Passricha, “Keep or Toss: The Shelflife of Your Beauty Treasures,” iDIVA, 22 July, 2016,_(http://www.idiva.com/news-style-beauty/keep-or-toss-the-shelf-life-of-your-beauty-treasures/1607226...

   Synonyms:

   blusher, rouge

5. A color between pink and cream.
   • Makeup colors like ivory and blush dominate spring collections and have even infiltrated Burberry's shoes.2006 January 9, Kate Betts, “What to Watch For in 2006”, in Time

Noun (2)

blush (plural blushes)

1. The collective noun for a group of boys.
   • a blush of boys

See all 15 meanings of blush