blush

Etymology 1

From Middle English blusshen, bluschen, blusschen, blisshen, from Old English blysċan (“to be red; shine”), perhaps from Proto-Germanic *blaskijaną, from *blasǭ (“burning candle; torch”) or alternatively from Proto-Germanic *bluskijaną, from *blusjǭ (“torch”). Cognate with Middle Low German blöschen (“to blush”). Compare also Old English blysian (“to burn; blaze”), Dutch blozen (“to blush”), Danish blusse (“to blush”), Old Norse blys (“torch”), Danish blus (“blaze”).

noun

1. An act of blushing; a red glow on the face caused by shame, modesty, etc.
2. A glow; a flush of colour, especially pink or red.
   Each painting consists of a white aluminum disk, sprayed at the edges with a subtle blush of blue, pink or grey. 10 August 1968, “Light on Light”, in Time
3. (figurative) Feeling or appearance of optimism.
   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 The independence ceremony could not keep the blush of April's revolution, when carnations had seemed to sprout from every buttonhole, from fading.
   2016, David McKay, “AngloGold to fire up dividend in 2017 as net debt cut a third,” miningmx.com, 15 August, 2016, The weakening of local currencies – in Argentina, Australia and Brazil – gave a blush to the financial numbers. (As a whole, all-in sustaining costs (AISC) improved to an average of $911/oz compared with the $924/oz recorded in the first half of 2015).
4. (uncountable, countable) A sort of makeup, frequently a powder, used to redden the cheeks.
   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/16072264)
5. A color between pink and cream.
   blush:
   Makeup colors like ivory and blush dominate spring collections and have even infiltrated Burberry's shoes. 9 January 2006, Kate Betts, “What to Watch For in 2006”, in Time
6. (chiefly US) A pale pink wine made by removing the dark grape skins at the required point during fermentation.
   2016, Mishkah Abrahams, “Blush or Rosé? The Cape's Best Summer Drink,” capetownetc.com, 29 September, 2016, If you’re looking to indulge in some good food while you sip your blush, pair the Chardonnay-Pinot Noir with fresh, summer foods such as sushi, refreshing salads, delicious seafood and fruity summertime desserts.

verb

1. (intransitive) To become red in the face (and sometimes experience an associated feeling of warmth), especially due to shyness, shame, excitement, or embarrassment.
   The love scene made him blush to the roots of his hair / to the tips of his ears.
   He wasn't used to this much attention, so he blushed as he saw dozens of pairs of eyes watching him.
   But Tommy was bashful, and the attention he had thus drawn upon himself made him blush. He was a timid lad and he shrank away now, evidently fearing Shell. 1912, Stratemeyer Syndicate, chapter 1, in Baseball Joe on the School Nine
2. (intransitive, figurative) To be ashamed or embarrassed (to do something).
   He never blushed to rob a slave mother of her children, no matter how young or small. 1849, Henry Bibb, chapter 6, in Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, An American Slave, New York: for the author, page 50
3. (intransitive) To become red.
4. (transitive) To suffuse with a blush; to redden; to make rosy.
5. (copulative) To change skin color in the face (to a particular shade).
   When he saw it, he blushed a beet red.
   I wasn't surprised, but it was embarrassing enough that I blushed a little pink.
   A few lost leaves blushed crimson with their shame, And drowned themselves despairing in the brook, 1863, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Poet’s Tale: The Birds or Killingworth”, in Tales of a Wayside Inn, Boston: Ticknor & Fields, page 202
   […] she […] blushed a warm and genuine-looking pink. 1969, Margaret Atwood, chapter 8, in The Edible Woman, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, published 2010
6. (transitive) To express or make known by blushing.
   Looking at me with a knowing glare, she blushed her discomfort with the situation.
   “I can see you you yawning and stretching, Felix—not very polite.” Felix sprang to attention, metaphorically speaking, and blushed his apologies. 1978, Lawrence Durrell, chapter 5, in Livia, London: Faber & Faber, published 1981, page 134
7. (intransitive) To have a warm and delicate colour, like some roses and other flowers.
   The garden was full of blossoms that blushed in myriad shades to form a beautiful carpet of color.
   Full many a Flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its Sweetness on the desart Air. 1751, Thomas Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, London: R. Dodsley, page 8
   Natalie^’s pink bonnet blushed in the early sunshine […] 1899, Alice Dunbar Nelson, “The Fisherman of Pass Christian”, in The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories
8. (intransitive, obsolete) To glance with the eye, cast a glance.
9. (aviation, intransitive) Of dope or varnish: to develop an undesirable white precipitate on the surface, due to being applied in humid conditions.
   Blushing is caused by doping under high relative humidity conditions. 1966, Aviation Structural Mechanic S 3 & 2, United States. Bureau of Naval Personnel, page 219
   Why is retarder used in dope when the dope is being sprayed in humid conditions? The retarder slows the drying of the dope and keeps it from blushing. 1999, Dale Crane, Fast-Track Test Guides for Aviation Maintenance: Airframe, page 147

Etymology 2

Unknown; attested in the late 15th century.

noun

1. The collective noun for a group of boys.
   A blush of boys.
   I took the Red Cross senior lifesaving test, the one girl in a blush of boys taking the course. 1962, Bette Davis, chapter 3, in The Lonely Life: An Autobiography,, New York: Putnam, page 46
   He had come with his own blush of boys. All afternoon they had shimmered upon the lawns. 2001, Jamie O’Neill, At Swim, Two Boys, London: Simon & Schuster UK, published 2002, page 322