Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Noble or aristocratic descent.
  • noun A member of the aristocracy.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun a member of the nobility or aristocracy, or a person of high social status.
  • noun the quality of status that qualifies one as a blue blood; -- used metaphorically, as “They have blue blood in their veins.”.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable noble or aristocratic ancestry
  • noun countable an aristocrat

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a member of the aristocracy

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Translation of Spanish sangre azul : sangre, blood + azul, blue (probably from the visible veins of fair-complexioned aristocrats).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

A calque of Spanish sangre azul.

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Examples

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