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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 perfect man could achieve more good for his country and for the world at large in a given time than the rule of the most enlightened democracy. It is certain that such men occupy the thrones of this earth but once in a blue moon. ...
— New York Times Current History; The European War, Vol 2, No. 5, August, 1915 • Various

... seat in the Casino garden, overlooking the sea. 'Sort of thing,' I found myself murmuring, 'might happen once in a blue moon,' and with that was aware that a sort of blue moonlight was indeed bathing the garden, though the moon's reflection lay yellow enough across the still Mediterranean. [Here, for description, turn up Matt. Arnold's A ...
— Foe-Farrell • Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch

... all," says Evans, fetching his hat and shawl from the corner, "I can't wait for a blue moon; and if so be we don't sign articles in a week, I'm off of my bargain, and mighty glad to get out ...
— A Set of Rogues • Frank Barrett

... and down, vindictive too for what they can't get. Barbed wire. Be sure now and write to me. And I'll write to you. Now won't you? Molly and Josie Powell. Till Mr Right comes along, then meet once in a blue moon. Tableau! O, look who it is for the love of God! How are you at all? What have you been doing with yourself? Kiss and delighted to, kiss, to see you. Picking holes in each other's appearance. You're ...
— Ulysses • James Joyce

... her voice twanging in her effort at suppression, "I notice you're pretty willing to borrow some of my loud dressing when you get a bid once in a blue moon to take a boat-ride up to Alton with that sad-faced Roy Brownell. If Charley didn't have a cent to his name and a harelip, he'd make Roy Brownell look like ...
— Gaslight Sonatas • Fannie Hurst



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