blue in the face

Discover More

Idioms and Phrases

Exhausted from anger, strain, or other great effort. For example, You can argue until you're blue in the face, but I refuse to go . This expression alludes to the bluish skin color resulting from lack of oxygen, which presumably might result from talking until one was breathless. See also under talk one's arm off .

Discover More

Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

"We were asking for nationalisation to be considered until we were blue in the face," Fletcher, who also represents south-west Wales, told BBC Radio Wales Drive.

From

Ministers tell you until they're blue in the face that they will build more homes and solve the housing crisis.

From

Ms Graham said she had "tried everything" to lose weight, including the calorie-restricting 5:2 diet and reading nutrition books "until I'm blue in the face".

From

As the cloud reached the French trenches, men began to clutch their throats, coughing and choking, turning blue in the face.

From

I got blue in the face saying “This is not ‘Seven.’

From

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

blueing Blue Island

Browse