blue devils — English Dictionary

Noun

1. Low spirits; depression.

   Usage

   • idiomatic
   • plural
   • Plural only
   • Slang

   Examples

   ...ye who believe in the pernicious efforts of "Blue Devils," subscribe at once to that Paragon of Newspapers, "The Yankee Blade."

   More examples (1)

   "[…] the disease is either extinct, or exists in such a mild form that a short course of aperient medicine carries it off. It is sometimes called the Blue-devils now or the Mulleygrubs. Queer names, ain't they?"

2. Depressants, especially the barbiturate amobarbital.

   Usage

   • Figurative
   • plural
   • Plural only
   • Slang

Noun

1. a state of depression

   Synonyms

   bluesmegrimsvaporsvapours

   Broader terms

   depression

   Examples

   he had a bad case of the blues