| ablution | (noun) the ritual washing of a priest's hands or of sacred vessels | - |
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| abocclusion | (noun) the condition in which the upper teeth do not touch the lower teeth when biting | - |
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| absolute | (noun) something that is conceived or that exists independently and not in relation to other things; something that does not depend on anything else and is beyond human control; something that is not relative | - |
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| absoluteness | (noun) the quality of being absolute | - |
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| (noun) the quality of being complete or utter or extreme | Synonyms: starkness, utterness |
| absolution | (noun) the act of absolving or remitting; formal redemption as pronounced by a priest in the sacrament of penance | Synonyms: remission, remission of sin, remittal |
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| (noun) the condition of being formally forgiven by a priest in the sacrament of penance | - |
| absolutisation | (noun) the process of rendering something absolute or converting it into an absolute. | Synonyms: absolutization |
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| absolutism | (noun) the doctrine of an absolute being, often related to idealism in philosophy. | - |
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| (noun) an ideological belief in the complete and unrestricted power of government. | Synonyms: totalism, totalitarianism |
| (noun) a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.) | Synonyms: authoritarianism, Caesarism, despotism, dictatorship, monocracy, one-man rule, shogunate, Stalinism, totalitarianism, tyranny |
| (noun) dominance through threat of punishment and violence | Synonyms: despotism, tyranny |
| absolutist | (noun) one who advocates absolutism | - |
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| absolutization | (noun) the process of rendering something absolute or converting it into an absolute. | Synonyms: absolutisation |
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| acervulus | (noun) small asexual fruiting body resembling a cushion or blister consisting of a mat of hyphae that is produced on a host by some fungi | - |
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| acetabulum | (noun) the cup-shaped hollow in the hipbone into which the head of the femur fits to form a ball-and-socket joint | Synonyms: cotyloid cavity |
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| acidophilus | (noun) a bacterium that is used to make yogurt and to supplement probiotics | Synonyms: Lactobacillus acidophilus |
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| acromphalus | (noun) abnormal protrusion of the navel; sometimes the start of umbilical hernia | - |
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| affluence | (noun) abundant wealth | Synonyms: richness |
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| affluent | (noun) a branch that flows into the main stream | Synonyms: confluent, feeder, tributary |
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| (noun) an affluent person; a person who is financially well off | - |
| affluenza | (noun) an inability to understand the consequences of one's actions because of financial privilege | - |
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| agglutination | (noun) the building of words from component morphemes that retain their form and meaning in the process of combining | - |
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| (noun) a clumping of bacteria or red cells when held together by antibodies (agglutinins) | - |
| (noun) the coalescing of small particles that are suspended in solution; these larger masses are then (usually) precipitated | Synonyms: agglutinating activity |
| agglutinin | (noun) an antibody that causes agglutination of a specific antigen | - |
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| agglutinogen | (noun) any substance that acts as an antigen to cause agglutinin production | - |
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| ailurophobia | (noun) a morbid fear of cats | - |
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| alkaluria | (noun) a condition in which the urine (which is normally slightly acidic) is alkaline | Synonyms: alkalinuria |
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| allure | (noun) the power to entice or attract through personal charm | Synonyms: allurement, temptingness |
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| allurement | (noun) the act of enticing a person to do something wrong (as an offer of sex in return for money) | Synonyms: solicitation |
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| (noun) the power to entice or attract through personal charm | Synonyms: allure, temptingness |
| (noun) attractiveness | - |
| allusion | (noun) passing reference or indirect mention | - |
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| allusiveness | (noun) a quality characterized by indirect reference | - |
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| alluviation | (noun) the phenomenon of sediment or gravel accumulating | Synonyms: deposit, sedimentation |
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| alluvion | (noun) clay or silt or gravel carried by rushing streams and deposited where the stream slows down | Synonyms: alluvial deposit, alluvial sediment, alluvium |
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| (noun) the rising of a body of water and its overflowing onto normally dry land | Synonyms: deluge, flood, inundation |
| (noun) gradual formation of new land, by recession of the sea or deposit of sediment | - |
| alluvium | (noun) clay or silt or gravel carried by rushing streams and deposited where the stream slows down | Synonyms: alluvial deposit, alluvial sediment, alluvion |
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| altocumulus | (noun) a cumulus cloud at an intermediate altitude of 2 or 3 miles | Synonyms: altocumulus cloud |
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| alula | (noun) tuft of small stiff feathers on the first digit of a bird's wing | Synonyms: bastard wing, spurious wing |
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| (noun) scalelike structure between the base of the wing and the halter of a two-winged fly | Synonyms: calypter |
| alum | (noun) a double sulphate of aluminum and potassium that is used as an astringent (among other things) | - |
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| (noun) a white crystalline double sulfate of aluminum: the potassium double sulfate of aluminum | Synonyms: potash alum, potassium alum |
| (noun) a white crystalline double sulfate of aluminum: the ammonium double sulfate of aluminum | Synonyms: ammonia alum, ammonium alum |
| (noun) a person who has received a degree from a school (high school or college or university) | Synonyms: grad, graduate |
| alumbloom | (noun) any of several herbs of the genus Heuchera | Synonyms: alumroot |
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| alumina | (noun) any of various forms of aluminum oxide occurring naturally as corundum | Synonyms: aluminium oxide, aluminum oxide |
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| aluminate | (noun) a compound of alumina and a metallic oxide | - |
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| aluminium | (noun) a silvery ductile metallic element found primarily in bauxite | Synonyms: Al, aluminum, atomic number 13 |
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| aluminum | (noun) a silvery ductile metallic element found primarily in bauxite | Synonyms: Al, aluminium, atomic number 13 |
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| alumna | (noun) a female person who has received a degree from a school (high school or college or university) | - |
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| alumnus | (noun) a male person who has received a degree from a school (high school or college or university) | - |
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| alumroot | (noun) any of several herbs of the genus Heuchera | Synonyms: alumbloom |
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| alundum | (noun) a substance made of fused alumina | - |
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| alveolus | (noun) a tiny sac for holding air in the lungs; formed by the terminal dilation of tiny air passageways | Synonyms: air cell, air sac |
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| (noun) a bony socket in the alveolar ridge that holds a tooth | Synonyms: tooth socket |
| amatungulu | (noun) very large closely branched South African shrub having forked bright green spines and shiny leaves | Synonyms: Carissa grandiflora, Carissa macrocarpa, natal plum |
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| amorphophallus | (noun) any plant of the genus Amorphophallus | - |
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| amylum | (noun) a complex carbohydrate found chiefly in seeds, fruits, tubers, roots and stem pith of plants, notably in corn, potatoes, wheat, and rice; an important foodstuff and used otherwise especially in adhesives and as fillers and stiffeners for paper and textiles | Synonyms: starch |
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| anacoluthia | (noun) an abrupt change within a sentence from one syntactic structure to another | Synonyms: anacoluthon |
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| anacoluthon | (noun) an abrupt change within a sentence from one syntactic structure to another | Synonyms: anacoluthia |
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| angelus | (noun) the sound of a bell rung in Roman Catholic churches to announce the time when the Angelus should be recited | Synonyms: angelus bell |
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| animalculum | (noun) microscopic organism such as an amoeba or paramecium | Synonyms: animalcule |
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| annulus | (noun) (Fungi) a remnant of the partial veil that in mature mushrooms surrounds the stem like a collar | Synonyms: skirt |
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| (noun) a toroidal shape | Synonyms: anchor ring, doughnut, halo, ring |
| antediluvian | (noun) a very old person | Synonyms: ancient |
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| (noun) any of the early patriarchs who lived prior to the Noachian deluge | Synonyms: antediluvian patriarch |
| apolune | (noun) apoapsis in orbit around the moon | Synonyms: aposelene |
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| aqualung | (noun) a device (trade name Aqua-Lung) that lets divers breathe under water; scuba is an acronym for self-contained underwater breathing apparatus | Synonyms: Aqua-Lung, scuba |
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| astragalus | (noun) the bone in the ankle that articulates with the leg bones to form the ankle joint | Synonyms: anklebone, astragal, talus |
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| asylum | (noun) a hospital for mentally incompetent or unbalanced person | Synonyms: insane asylum, institution, mental home, mental hospital, mental institution, psychiatric hospital |
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| (noun) a shelter from danger or hardship | Synonyms: refuge, sanctuary |
| autofluorescence | (noun) self-induced fluorescence | - |
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| bacillus | (noun) aerobic rod-shaped spore-producing bacterium; often occurring in chainlike formations; found primarily in soil | Synonyms: B |
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| ballup | (noun) something badly botched or muddled | Synonyms: balls-up, cockup, mess-up |
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| baluster | (noun) one of a number of closely spaced supports for a railing | - |
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| balusters | (noun) a railing at the side of a staircase or balcony to prevent people from falling | Synonyms: balustrade, banister, bannister, handrail |
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| balustrade | (noun) a railing at the side of a staircase or balcony to prevent people from falling | Synonyms: balusters, banister, bannister, handrail |
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| beluga | (noun) valuable source of caviar and isinglass; found in Black and Caspian seas | Synonyms: Acipenser huso, hausen, white sturgeon |
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| (noun) small northern whale that is white when adult | Synonyms: Delphinapterus leucas, white whale |
| bioluminescence | (noun) luminescence produced by physiological processes (as in the firefly) | - |
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| bloodlust | (noun) a desire for bloodshed | - |
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| blubber | (noun) excess bodily weight | Synonyms: avoirdupois, fat, fatness |
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| (noun) an insulating layer of fat under the skin of whales and other large marine mammals; used as a source of oil | - |
| blubberer | (noun) someone who sniffles and weeps with loud sobs | - |
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| blucher | (noun) a high shoe with laces over the tongue | - |
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| bludgeon | (noun) a club used as a weapon | - |
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| bludgeoner | (noun) an assailant who uses a bludgeon | - |
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| blue | (noun) any of numerous small butterflies of the family Lycaenidae | - |
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| (noun) the sodium salt of amobarbital that is used as a barbiturate; used as a sedative and a hypnotic | Synonyms: amobarbital sodium, Amytal, blue angel, blue devil |
| (noun) blue clothing | - |
| (noun) blue color or pigment; resembling the color of the clear sky in the daytime | Synonyms: blueness |
| (noun) any organization or party whose uniforms or badges are blue | - |
| (noun) the sky as viewed during daylight | Synonyms: blue air, blue sky, wild blue yonder |
| (noun) used to whiten laundry or hair or give it a bluish tinge | Synonyms: blueing, bluing |
| bluebell | (noun) one of the most handsome prairie wildflowers having large erect bell-shaped bluish flowers; of moist places in prairies and fields from eastern Colorado and Nebraska south to New Mexico and Texas | Synonyms: Eustoma grandiflorum, prairie gentian, tulip gentian |
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| (noun) perennial of Northern Hemisphere with slender stems and bell-shaped blue flowers | Synonyms: Campanula rotundifolia, harebell |
| (noun) sometimes placed in genus Scilla | Synonyms: harebell, Hyacinthoides nonscripta, Scilla nonscripta, wild hyacinth, wood hyacinth |
| blueberry | (noun) sweet edible dark-blue berries of either low-growing or high-growing blueberry plants | - |
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| (noun) any of numerous shrubs of the genus Vaccinium bearing blueberries | Synonyms: blueberry bush |
| bluebill | (noun) diving ducks of North America having a bluish-grey bill | Synonyms: broadbill, scaup, scaup duck |
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| bluebird | (noun) blue North American songbird | - |
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| (noun) fruit-eating mostly brilliant blue songbird of the East Indies | Synonyms: fairy bluebird |
| bluebonnet | (noun) a brimless dark blue Scottish cap with a flat top and a plume on one side | Synonyms: Balmoral |
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| (noun) low-growing annual herb of southwestern United States (Texas) having silky foliage and blue flowers; a leading cause of livestock poisoning in the southwestern United States | Synonyms: buffalo clover, Lupinus subcarnosus, Texas bluebonnet |
| bluebottle | (noun) blowfly with iridescent blue body; makes a loud buzzing noise in flight | Synonyms: Calliphora vicina |
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| (noun) an annual Eurasian plant cultivated in North America having showy heads of blue or purple or pink or white flowers | Synonyms: bachelor's button, Centaurea cyanus, cornflower |
| bluecoat | (noun) a person dressed all in blue (as a soldier or sailor) | - |
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| bluefin | (noun) largest tuna; to 1500 pounds; of mostly temperate seas: feed in polar regions but breed in tropics | Synonyms: bluefin tuna, horse mackerel, Thunnus thynnus |
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| (noun) flesh of very large tuna | Synonyms: bluefin tuna |
| bluefish | (noun) bluish warm-water marine food and game fish that follow schools of small fishes into shallow waters | Synonyms: Pomatomus saltatrix |
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| (noun) fatty bluish flesh of bluefish | - |
| bluegill | (noun) important edible sunfish of eastern and central United States | Synonyms: Lepomis macrochirus |
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| bluegrass | (noun) a type of country music played at a rapid tempo on banjos and guitars | - |
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| (noun) any of various grasses of the genus Poa | Synonyms: blue grass |
| bluehead | (noun) small Atlantic wrasse the male of which has a brilliant blue head | Synonyms: Thalassoma bifasciatum |
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| blueing | (noun) a process that makes something blue (or bluish) | Synonyms: bluing |
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| (noun) used to whiten laundry or hair or give it a bluish tinge | Synonyms: blue, bluing |
| bluejacket | (noun) a serviceman in the navy | Synonyms: navy man, sailor, sailor boy |
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| blueness | (noun) blue color or pigment; resembling the color of the clear sky in the daytime | Synonyms: blue |
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| bluenose | (noun) a native or inhabitant of Nova Scotia | Synonyms: Nova Scotian |
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| bluepoint | (noun) small edible oyster typically from the southern shore of Long Island | Synonyms: blue point |
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| (noun) oysters originally from Long Island Sound but now from anywhere along the northeastern seacoast; usually eaten raw | Synonyms: blue point |
| blueprint | (noun) photographic print of plans or technical drawings etc. | - |
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| (noun) something intended as a guide for making something else | Synonyms: design, pattern |
| blues | (noun) a type of folksong that originated among Black Americans at the beginning of the 20th century; has a melancholy sound from repeated use of blue notes | - |
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| (noun) a state of depression | Synonyms: blue devils, megrims, vapors, vapours |
| bluestem | (noun) tall grass with smooth bluish leaf sheaths grown for hay in the United States | Synonyms: Andropogon furcatus, Andropogon gerardii, blue stem |
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| bluestocking | (noun) a woman having literary or intellectual interests | Synonyms: bas bleu |
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| bluestone | (noun) bluish-grey sandstone used for paving and building | - |
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| bluethroat | (noun) songbird of northern Europe and Asia | Synonyms: Erithacus svecicus |
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| bluetick | (noun) a very fast American hound; white mottled with bluish grey | - |
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| bluetongue | (noun) a viral disease of sheep and cattle that is transmitted by biting midges | - |
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| blueweed | (noun) a coarse prickly European weed with spikes of blue flowers; naturalized in United States | Synonyms: blue devil, blue thistle, Echium vulgare, viper's bugloss |
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| bluewing | (noun) American teal | Synonyms: Anas discors, blue-winged teal |
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| bluff | (noun) the act of bluffing in poker; deception by a false show of confidence in the strength of your cards | Synonyms: four flush |
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| (noun) pretense that your position is stronger than it really is | - |
| (noun) a high steep bank (usually formed by river erosion) | - |
| bluffer | (noun) a person who tries to bluff other people | Synonyms: four-flusher |
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| bluffness | (noun) good-natured frankness | - |
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| bluing | (noun) a process that makes something blue (or bluish) | Synonyms: blueing |
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| (noun) used to whiten laundry or hair or give it a bluish tinge | Synonyms: blue, blueing |