blush Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun a rosy color (especially in the cheeks) taken as a sign of good health
rosiness; bloom; flush.
noun sudden reddening of the face (as from embarrassment or guilt or shame or modesty)
flush.
verb turn red, as if in embarrassment or shame
crimson; redden; flush.
- The girl blushed when a young man whistled as she walked by
verb become rosy or reddish
- her cheeks blushed in the cold winter air

OE. bluschen to shine, look, turn red, AS. blyscan to glow; akin to blysa a torch, ablsian to blush, D. blozen, Dan. blusse to blaze, blush.

imperfect & past participle Blushed present participle & verbal noun Blushing

To become suffused with red in the cheeks, as from a sense of shame, modesty, or confusion; to become red from such cause, as the cheeks or face.
To the nuptial bower I led her blushing like the morn. Milton.

In the presence of the shameless and unblushing, the young offender is ashamed to blush. Buckminster.

He would stroke The head of modest and ingenuous worth, That blushed at its own praise. Cowper.
To grow red; to have a red or rosy color.
The sun of heaven, methought, was loth to set, But stayed, and made the western welkin blush. Shak.
To have a warm and delicate color, as some roses and other flowers.
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen. T. Gray.

To suffuse with a blush; to redden; to make roseate. Obs.
To blush and beautify the cheek again. Shak.
To express or make known by blushing.
I'll blush you thanks. Shak.

A suffusion of the cheeks or face with red, as from a sense of shame, confusion, or modesty.
The rosy blush of love. Trumbull.
A red or reddish color; a rosy tint.
Light's last blushes tinged the distant hills. Lyttleton.