To blush means your face turns pink or red, usually because you feel embarrassed, shy, or flattered. When a teacher calls on you unexpectedly and you realize everyone's looking at you, you might feel your cheeks getting warm as you blush. When someone compliments your artwork in front of the whole class, that pleasant but self-conscious feeling might make you blush too.

Blushing happens automatically when blood rushes to the tiny vessels in your face. You can't really control it, which sometimes makes people blush even more when they realize it's happening. Some people blush easily, turning red at the smallest attention, while others rarely blush at all.

The word can also describe a pink or rosy color itself, like the blush of sunrise coloring the morning sky, or the blush on a peach's skin. Makeup called blush adds a healthy pink color to cheeks.

When something happens without a blush, it means someone does it shamelessly, without any embarrassment at all. And here's another phrase: when people say they wouldn't want to admit something “without blushing,” they mean it would be embarrassing to confess.