turn a number of shades of red

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English

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Verb

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turn a number of shades of red (third-person singular simple present turns a number of shades of red, present participle turning a number of shades of red, simple past and past participle turned a number of shades of red)

  1. (intransitive, idiomatic) To blush, especially with embarrassment or shame
    • 2017 September, "Ms.Caramel" (username), Sandra Rose[1] (blog):
      I must have turned 2 shades of red. Talk about embarrassed.
    • 1997 August, Courtney Weaver, “When straights can't take "yes" for an answer”, in Salon Magazine[2] (article):
      Tristan craned his neck, but not before Fred suddenly looked over at us, turned 17 shades of red and ducked behind a palm tree, busily arranging tortilla chips in little anally retentive rows.
    • 2015 August, "nonochuu" (username), Tumblr[3] (blog):
      To say that Midorima turned a billion shades of red would be an understatement.

Usage notes

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  • The specific number of shades varies greatly, as shown by the citations.