Meaning of blue murder | Babel Free

Definitions

A loud protest or angry outburst.

uncountable

Examples

“Here men would murder⟳ for five dollars, here men would seek⟳ divorce because their wives sighed at the handsomeness of the film star P. Ramlee, here the very night-roaming dogs screamed blue murder⟳ if another dog bit their little toe.”

“[I]t was her [Princess Charlotte of Prussia's] increasingly violent tantrums that caused her parents the greatest concern⟳. Shortly before the child's second birthday we read⟳, 'Ditta has such outbreaks of rage & stubbornness that she screams blue murder⟳.'”

“I pull⟳ her [a car] back into third, boot her up to sixty and the outreach bungalows go to blur. The gearbox screams blue murder⟳, but we're getting there, and the newspaper kid stops, turns on his BMX. He fades to a speck in the mirror until we are once again on our own⟳, […]”

“And I was going to shout⟳ at him. I was going to scream⟳ blue murder⟳. I was going to tell⟳ him just what I thought of that.”

“The first time he was offered a bottle, my boy screamed blue murder⟳; the second time, he screamed blue murder⟳; the third time, my husband fed him and he screamed blue murder⟳; the fourth time, he drank it without a whimper.”

“[H]e didn't turn⟳ the light⟳ on in the garage and crept through in the dark as quietly as he could until, that is, he stepped on a piece of wood with half a dozen nails hammered through it! He let⟳ out the most enormous yell⟳ and came hopping into the kitchen screaming blue murder⟳ about leaving such dangerous things lying around. As soon as he realised what was going on, the youngest boy also started screaming blue murder⟳ about his dad wrecking his model⟳ of a boat.”

CEFR level