blow
Part of speech: verb
noun
intj
adj
Morphological type: simple
Topics: Scientology
government
lifestyle
medicine
military
nautical
politics
religion
sciences
transport
war
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₁-
Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁-der.
Proto-Germanic *blēaną
Proto-West Germanic *blāan
Old English blāwan
Middle English blowen
English blow
From Middle English blowen, from Old English blāwan (“to blow, breathe, inflate, sound”), from Proto-West Germanic *blāan, from Proto-Germanic *blēaną (“to blow”) (compare German blähen), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁- (“to swell, blow up”) (compare Latin flō (“to blow”) and Old Armenian բեղուն (bełun, “fertile”)).
Inflected forms:
form: blows
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: blowing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: blew
pos: verb
tags: past
form: blown
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: blows
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: blower
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: more blow
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: blowest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: most blow
pos: adj
tags: superlative
Senses:
gloss: To produce an air current.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: Lear. Blow windes, & crack your cheeks; Rage, blow / You Cataracts, and Hyrricano's ſpout,
Tend to th' Maſters whiſtle: Blow till thou burſt thy winde, if roome enough.
Hark how it rains and blows!
gloss: To propel by an air current (or, if under water, a water current), usually with the mouth.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Blow the dust off that book and open it up.
To-night the winds begin to rise
⁠And roar from yonder dropping day:
⁠The last red leaf is whirl’d away,
The rooks are blown about the skies; […]
In Koksan County, strong winds blew the roofs off homes, while torrential rains poked holes in or collapsed the walls of houses.
gloss: To be propelled by an air current.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: The leaves blow through the streets in the fall.
What stormy weather —the roofs are blowing off!
gloss: To direct or move, usually of a person to a particular location.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
transitive
examples: "This is an unexpected pleasure!" exclaimed he. "What good fortune blows Lady Marchmont hither?"
gloss: To create or shape by blowing.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: to blow bubbles
to blow glass
Joe puffed on his pipe and blew a couple of smoke rings.
gloss: To force a current of air upon with the mouth, or by other means.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: to blow the fire
gloss: To clear of contents by forcing air through.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: to blow an egg
to blow one’s nose
The submarine blew its main ballast tanks.
If you've ever smelt bad eggs you'll know it's not a nice experience. Blowing them is far worse.
gloss: To cause to make sound by blowing (as a musical instrument).
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Blow your horn! That car is about to hit us!
gloss: To make a sound as a result of being blown.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: In the harbor, the ships’ horns blew.
There let the pealing organ blow,
gloss: To exhale visibly through the spout the seawater which it has taken in while feeding.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: There’s nothing more thrilling to the whale watcher than to see a whale surface and blow.
There she blows! (i.e. “I see a whale spouting!”)
Soon after he [a porpoise] appeared again, blowing very hard, but the next moment he turned over; Rasmus was not slow in putting the boat-hook in him and hauling him into the boat with my assistance.
gloss: To burst or explode; to occur suddenly
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: Get away from that burning gas tank! It’s about to blow!
Hitler is very, very important, and something's going to blow in Europe.
gloss: To cause to explode, shatter, or be utterly destroyed.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: The demolition squad neatly blew the old hotel up.
The aerosol can was blown to bits.
He and my other hunter continued to see it two or three times a week, and to hear its peculiar note much oftener, but could never get a specimen, owing to its always frequenting the most dense thorny thickets, where only hasty glimpses of it could be obtained, and at so short a distance that it would be difficult to avoid blowing the bird to pieces.
However, something once happened on the railway there which showed the very best of mankind: heroism, duty, self-sacrifice and calm professionalism under terrible pressure. It is a story which gives us far, far better reasons for remembering this attractive little town, which without these heroes would have been blown to smithereens in a gigantic explosion. (Two railwaymen lost their lives in 1944 when a wagon in an ammunition train caught fire and blew up, an even worse disaster was averted however.)
gloss: To cause the sudden destruction of.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: He blew the tires and the engine.
gloss: To blow from a gun (method of executing a person).
pos: verb
tags: historical
transitive
gloss: To suddenly fail or give way destructively.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: He tried to sprint, but his ligaments blew and he was barely able to walk to the finish line.
A common problem for double glazed windows (or doors) is mist or condensation between the panes of glass. This is known as a blown window or failed double glazing. But what does it cost to repair?
gloss: Of a vein, to suffer a rupture or puncture in the wall as a result of an injection or cannula, causing fluid (blood, medication, or saline) to leak into the surrounding tissue.
pos: verb
tags: informal
intransitive
gloss: To melt away because of overcurrent, creating a gap in a wire, thus stopping a circuit from operating.
pos: verb
tags: ergative
gloss: To recklessly squander.
pos: verb
tags: slang
transitive
examples: I managed to blow $1000 at blackjack in under an hour.
I blew $35 thou on a car.
We blew an opportunity to get benign corporate sponsorship.
‘Holy Mackerel, Ann! I’m certainly glad we blew ourselves for that outfit of yours.’
You'd better go / Everything's closed / Can't find a room / Money's all blown / Nowhere to sleep
gloss: To fail at; to mess up; to make a mistake in.
pos: verb
tags: idiomatic
informal
transitive
examples: I blew it and forgot to start the spaghetti, so I had plenty of sauce and no pasta.
Good luck, and don’t blow it!
[…] I put myself on the line for you. I told you I wasn't sure if I was ready for a relationship again and you blew it. You blew it! You call this a fresh start? This doesn't look like a fresh start to me. You're dicking me around just like the rest of them, Drew.
Hodgson’s team attracted a certain amount of sympathy and understanding after the Italy defeat but it was beyond them to play with the same attacking panache and, if there is to be a feat of escapology, it will need an almost implausible combination of results and handouts in the final games of Group D. More realistically, they have blown it in their first week.
gloss: To be very undesirable.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
slang
stative
examples: This blows!
gloss: To perform oral sex on (someone); to fellate.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
vulgar
examples: Who did you have to blow to get those backstage passes?
The mandem all used to go round there and get head off her, the sister blowing the man line by line while her brother shotted downstairs in the stairwell.
gloss: To leave, especially suddenly or in a hurry.
pos: verb
tags: slang
transitive
examples: Let’s blow this joint.
It's hard on a fella, when he don't know his way around
If I don't find me a honey to help me spend my money
I'm gonna have to blow this town.
I'm a wanted man and I'm blowing town
Don't waste your time trying to hunt me down
gloss: To leave the Church of Scientology in an unauthorized manner.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
gloss: To make flyblown; to defile or spoil, especially with fly eggs.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Shall they hoyſt me vp,
And ſhew me to the ſhowting Varlotarie
Of cenſuring Rome? Rather a ditch in Egypt,
Be gentle graue vnto me, rather on Nylus mudde
Lay me ſtarke-nak'd, and let the water-Flies
Blow me into abhorring;
Fer. I am, in my condition
A Prince (Miranda) I do thinke a King
(I would not ſo) and would no more endure
This wodden ſlauerie, then to ſuffer
The fleſh-flie blow my mouth: heare my ſoule ſpeake.
That decision was given an added kick by fury when he found that Podson had left the safe door open, and flies had blown the meat.
gloss: (of a fly) To lay eggs; to breed (in flesh or meat).
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: […] said the bookseller, “but I cannot risk the expence of your debut - There are critics without as well as within a theatre.” - I know it, said I, interrupting him; “men who, like flies blowing on a piece of wholesome meat, can convert it into carrion - […]
In Cornwall, a singular mode of curing conger, once prevailed, which was, merely to split the conger in halves, and, without any further preparation, to hang them up in a kind of shambles erected for that purpose, when the flies, blowing on the fish, the progeny would devour all the parts liable to decomposition, whilst the residue, being dried in the sun, became in this manner fit for use: and, when perfectly cured, where exported to Spain and Portugal. There they were ground into powder, and with this preparation, the natives of those Countries used to thicken their soups.
[…]and often after they drop off the punctured skins are the seats of maggots, etc., owing to flies blowing on these injuries.
gloss: To spread by report; to publish; to disclose.
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
transitive
examples: Through the court his courtesy was blown.
gloss: To inflate, as with pride; to puff up.
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
transitive
examples: O peace, now he's deepely in: looke how imagination blowes him.
gloss: To breathe hard or quick; to pant; to puff.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: Rob. Miſtris Ford, Miſtris Ford: heere's Miſtris Page at the doore, ſsweating, and blowing, and looking wildely, and would needs ſpeake with you preſently.
gloss: To put out of breath; to cause to blow from fatigue.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To talk loudly; boast; brag.
pos: verb
tags: dated
intransitive
examples: I don't want the worst characters in hell to be running after me with friendly messages and little testimonials of admiration for Smythe, and blowing about his talents, and bragging on him, and belching their villainous fire and brimstone all through the atmosphere and making my place smell worse than a menagerie.
He didn't just set around and try to out sweettalk^([sic]) somebody; he got out and out-fit somebody. He wouldn't be blowing when he told his boys how he fit for the woman he got.
At the breaking edge with him and completely fed up with his everlasting bragging and blowing about his personal exploits, and desirous of putting him somewhere, anywhere, so they wouldn't be continuously annoyed by him, […]
Audie never liked him because he was further in with old Craig than he was, bragging and blowing about his work and the things he could do, while Audie sat quiet as a mouse listening to his blab.
gloss: To slander, insult, critique or discredit (someone); to reprimand or scold (someone).
pos: verb
tags: dated
slang
transitive
gloss: To expose, or inform on.
pos: verb
tags: UK
archaic
slang
transitive
examples: 'As for that,' says Will, 'I could tell it well enough, if I had it, but I must not be seen anywhere among my old acquaintances, for I am blown, and they will all betray me.'
gloss: To sing.
pos: verb
tags: informal
intransitive
slang
examples: That girl has a wonderful voice; just listen to her blow!
gloss: To flatulate or defecate.
pos: verb
tags: colloquial
intransitive
slang
examples: Uh, oh! I gotta blow!
gloss: A strong wind.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: We’re having a bit of a blow this afternoon.
Now they were faced with the problem of a northerly blow, which could soon send a heavy swell clean into the bay.
gloss: A chance to catch one's breath.
pos: noun
tags: countable
informal
uncountable
examples: The players were able to get a blow during the last timeout.
gloss: Powder cocaine.
pos: noun
tags: US
slang
uncountable
examples: Hi there, you're a pretty cute chick, want to snort some blow?
Hey man, you wanna cop some blow? / Sure, what you got, dust, flakes or rocks?
Jesus Christ, George, I don't see you for two years and you show up on my doorstep with 110 pounds of blow.
I ran out of blow a long time ago / I can't smoke a J or my guts fly away
gloss: Cannabis.
pos: noun
tags: UK
slang
uncountable
gloss: Heroin.
pos: noun
tags: slang
uncountable
gloss: A blowjob; fellatio.
pos: noun
tags: countable
informal
uncountable
vulgar
examples: His girlfriend gave him a blow.
gloss: An instance of using high-pressure air to empty water from the ballast tanks of a submarine, increasing the submarine's buoyancy and causing it to surface.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: The sounding of the alarm was the signal to begin the emergency blow maneuver. At this time, witnesses reported, the guest at the high-pressure air controls operated the levers under close supervision of Navy personnel, and the submarine started to rise at a sharp angle.
gloss: Used to express displeasure or frustration.
pos: intj
examples: Blow the expense!
[H]e suddenly flung down his brush on the floor, said 'Bother!' and 'Oh blow!' and also 'Hang spring-cleaning!' and bolted out of the house without even waiting to put on his coat.
gloss: Blue.
pos: adj
Related words: insufflate
Derived words: air-blown asphalt
ale-blown
beblow
blow a backsight
blowability
blowable
blow a cloud
blow a fuse
blow a gasket
blow a hole through
blow a kiss
blow a nut
blow apart
blow ass
blow away
blow chunks
blow down
blow-dry
blower
blow forward
blow from a gun
blowhard
blowhorn
blow hot air
blow hot and cold
blow in
blow-in
blowing agent
blowing a load
blowing house
blowing mill
blow in the bag
blow into
blow it
blow it out one's ass
blow it out one's ear
blowjob
blow me
blow me down
blow me over
blow me pink
blow me tight
blow me up
blow my buttons
blown diffuser
blown pupil
blown save
blow off
blow off course
blow off one's steam
blow off steam
blow one's chance
blow one's cool
blow one's cork
blow one's horn
blow one's lid
blow one's load
blow one's nose
blow one's own horn
blow one's own trumpet
blow one's stack
blow one's top
blow one's trumpet
blow one's wad
blow one's wig
blow out
blowout
blow out of proportion
blow out of proportions
blow out of the water
blow out one's bags
blow over
blow past
blow sky high
blow smoke
blow smoke up someone's ass
blow smoke up someone's arse
blow someone's back out
blow someone's brains out
blow someone's cover
blow someone's mind
blow someone's skirt up
blow someone's socks off
blow someone's trumpet
blow sunshine up someone's ass
blow sunshine up someone's skirt
blowth
blow the coals
blow the cobwebs away
blow the doors off
blow the gaff
blow the grampus
blow the lid off
blow the roof off
blow the whistle
blow this for a game of soldiers
blow this for a lark
blow this Popsicle stand
blow this popsicle stand
blow this pop stand
blow this taco stand
blow through
blow to kingdom come
blow tomahawks
blow town
blow up
blowup
blow up in one's face
blow upon
blow water
blow-wave
blow wide open
blow wind up someone's skirt
blow wise to
blow with the wind
blowy
cop and blow
cow blowing
fly-blown
free-blown
glassblower
glass blowing
go or blow
high-blown
how the wind is blowing
I'll be blowed
inblow
look what the wind blew in
mind-blowing
misblow
outblow
overblow
preblow
snow-blow
suck and blow
there she blows
upblow
what way the wind is blowing
which way the wind is blowing
whistle blow
whistle-blow
Winblows
wind-blown
blow poke
underblow
alcoblow
blort
blowball
blowbuddy
blow-by
blowdart
blowfish
blow football
blowgun
blowhole
blowie
blowlamp
blow mould
blow-organ
blowpipe
blowpoint
blowproof
blow snake
blowtorch
blowtube
blow valve
Cold Blow
counterblow
flyblow
handblow
mindblow
peachblow
Translations:
lang: Armenian
word: պայթել
roman: paytʻel
lang: Bulgarian
word: взривявам се
roman: vzrivjavam se
lang: Bulgarian
word: експлодирам
roman: eksplodiram
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 爆炸
roman: bàozhà
lang: Danish
word: sprænge
lang: Dutch
word: springen
lang: Dutch
word: ontploffen
lang: Finnish
word: räjähtää
lang: French
word: péter
lang: French
word: sauter
lang: German
word: hochgehen
lang: German
word: in die Luft gehen
lang: German
word: explodieren
lang: Hebrew
word: התפוצץ
roman: hitpotzétz
lang: Italian
word: esplodere
lang: Japanese
word: 爆発する
roman: bakuhatsusuru
lang: Korean
word: 터지다
roman: teojida
lang: Latvian
word: sprāgt
lang: Macedonian
word: се распрснува
roman: se rasprsnuva
lang: Polish
word: wybuchać
lang: Polish
word: wybuchnąć
lang: Portuguese
word: explodir
lang: Portuguese
word: estourar
lang: Russian
word: взрыва́ться
roman: vzryvátʹsja
lang: Russian
word: взорва́ться
roman: vzorvátʹsja
lang: Russian
word: взлета́ть на во́здух
roman: vzletátʹ na vózdux
lang: Russian
word: взлете́ть на во́здух
roman: vzletétʹ na vózdux
lang: Vietnamese
word: nổ