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Blue moon   /blu mun/   Listen
noun
blue moon  n.  The second full moon occurring in the same month; derived from the expression once in a blue moon; as, we had a blue moon on January 31, 1999, and another in March.
once in a blue moon very rarely; from the observation that the moon rarely has a bluish tint. Note: In 1980, the phrase blue moon was applied to the second full moon of any month, because this phenomenon is unusual. This new meaning for blue moon, a long time, used primarily in the phrase once in a blue moon, has become widely accepted.



Moon  n.  
1.
The celestial orb which revolves round the earth; the satellite of the earth; a secondary planet, whose light, borrowed from the sun, is reflected to the earth, and serves to dispel the darkness of night. The diameter of the moon is 2,160 miles, its mean distance from the earth is 240,000 miles, and its mass is one eightieth that of the earth. See Lunar month, under Month. "The crescent moon, the diadem of night."
2.
A secondary planet, or satellite, revolving about any member of the solar system; as, the moons of Jupiter or Saturn.
3.
The time occupied by the moon in making one revolution in her orbit; a month; as, it's been many moons since I last visited Washington.
4.
(Fort.) A crescentlike outwork. See Half-moon.
5.
The deliberately exposed naked buttocks. (slang)
Moon blindness.
(a)
(Far.) A kind of ophthalmia liable to recur at intervals of three or four weeks.
(b)
(Med.) Hemeralopia.
Moon dial, a dial used to indicate time by moonlight.
Moon face, a round face like a full moon.
Moon madness, lunacy. (Poetic)
Moon month, a lunar month.
Moon trefoil (Bot.), a shrubby species of medic (Medicago arborea). See Medic.
Moon year, a lunar year, consisting of lunar months, being sometimes twelve and sometimes thirteen.
blue moon, see blue moon in the vocabulary.
many moons, a long time.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Blue moon" Quotes from Famous Books



... a great place. Only I haven't had time to go there once in a blue moon. And just now it's those old associations pulling—something seems drawing and drawing me to the East. It's like a voice calling my name—'Nick—Nick, I want you. Come!' Funny, ...
— The Port of Adventure • Charles Norris Williamson and Alice Muriel Williamson

... original, unconventional, unheard of, unfamiliar; undescribed, unprecedented, unparalleled, unexampled. Adv. unconformably &c. adj.; except, unless, save barring, beside, without, save and except, let alone. however, yet, but. once in a blue moon, once in a million years. Int. what on earth! what in the world! What the devil! Holy cow! Can you top that?; Sacre bleu [Fr]. Phr. never was seen the like, never was heard the like, never was known the ...
— Roget's Thesaurus

... burst into the usual fervent declarations of "Who was she to tell? Was she a person who went about telling things? When did she see anybody? Not she, once in a blue moon;" and then, when Mr. Chillingworth went out, like the King of Otaheite, she invited the neighbours round about to ...
— Varney the Vampire - Or the Feast of Blood • Thomas Preskett Prest

... at the transformation; he could work away (in every sense) until all was blue. He could have heroic adventures; the putting of the last touches to a blue tiger. He could have fairy dreams; the dawn of a blue moon. But if he worked hard, that high-minded reformer would certainly (from his own point of view) leave the world better and bluer than he found it. If he altered a blade of grass to his favourite colour every day, he would get on slowly. But if he altered ...
— Orthodoxy • G. K. Chesterton



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