Word.ws English Dictionary

clear blue water

clear blue water noun: an obvious, unambiguous divide between the policies of two parties.

Noun

clear blue water (uncountable)

  1. (UK, especially, idiomatic) An obvious, unambiguous divide between the policies of two parties.
    • It was the Conservatives' policy, designed in part to put some clear blue water between themselves and Labour and to refresh Conservative Party ideas.2002, Anthony Forster, Euroscepticism in Contemporary British Politics, page 27
    • But, Boyle's admission does put clear blue water between CC and the autonomist politics of another notorious commons enthusiast, Peter Linebaugh, who is also included in this chapter.2010, Proud To Be Flesh

Examples of clear blue water in a sentence

  • […] the Conservatives can still create clear blue water between them and Labour by showing how they prioritise the family over the State.2011, Martin H. M. Steven, Christianity and Party Politics: Keeping the Faith, page 62:
  • I was of the view that there ought to be clear blue water between us and the Tories on this issue.2011, Chris Mullin, A Walk-On Part:
  • Sitting on the bottom of both league tables - with clear blue water between it and the next worst operator - is Avanti West Coast.2023 February 8, Sir Michael Holden, “Comment: Boom or bust: time to decide”, in RAIL, number 976, page 3:

Origin of clear blue water

Introduced by the Conservative Party in the 1990s.

Questions about clear blue water

What does clear blue water mean?
Clear blue water means an obvious, unambiguous divide between the policies of two parties.
How do you use clear blue water in a sentence?
[…] the Conservatives can still create clear blue water between them and Labour by showing how they prioritise the family over the State.
What part of speech is clear blue water?
Clear blue water is a noun.

Words near clear blue water in the dictionary

  1. clear as day
  2. clear as mud
  3. clear as print
  4. clear as the sun at noonday
  5. clear away
  6. clear blue water
  7. Clear Creek
  8. Clear Creek County
  9. clear cut
  10. clear cuts
  11. clear cutting

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: clear blue water (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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