I. ˈblō verb
( blew ˈblü ; or dialect blowed ˈblōd ; blown ˈblōn ; or dialect blowed ; blowing ; blows )
Etymology: Middle English blowen, from Old English blāwan; akin to Old High German blāen to blow, inflate, Latin flare to blow, follis bellows, Greek phallos penis, Sanskrit bhāṇḍa pot; basic meaning: to swell
intransitive verb
1. of air or air currents : to move with speed or force
the wind blew in gusts
— often used with it as an impersonal nominative
let it blow , we're snug and warm
2.
a. : to produce a current of air (as by expelling it forcibly from the lungs through the mouth)
never blow on your soup to cool it
b. : to drive air or other gas
the fan is blowing on my neck
c. : to escape (as of natural gas or oil) from a region of high pressure
3.
a. : to make a sound by or as if by blowing : hiss , whistle , toot
the train blew for the crossing
b. : to play a wind instrument ; also slang : to play jazz on any instrument
c. of a wind instrument : sound
there let the pealing organ blow — John Milton
d. of an animal : snort
the horse stood stamping and blowing restlessly in the cold
4.
a. : to talk emptily : boast
he kept us awake half the night blowing about his family
b. : storm , bluster , fulminate ; also : to be or become enraged : blow up
when he heard what they had done he really blew
5.
a. : to breathe hard or rapidly : pant , puff , gasp
my, those stairs make me blow
b. of whales and other cetaceans : to eject moisture-laden air from the lungs through the blowhole
6. obsolete , of flies : to lay eggs
7.
a. : to move or be carried by or as if by wind
the echo of a lost world blows through her sparkling prose — Beatrice Washburn
the soil is blowing badly all along the hedge
b. : to flutter, billow, or flap in a current of air
curtains blowing out the open window
: be carried by the wind
the kite blew away
8. : to be damaged in a manner involving swelling or expansion:
a. : to become destroyed by explosion : explode
if this old blunderbuss doesn't blow we may have duck for dinner
b. of cement : to swell and crack due to imperfect preparation and curing
c. of foods : to become swollen by the products of abnormal fermentation
certain bacteria cause cheeses to blow
d. of an electrical fuse : to melt when overloaded
an overloaded outlet often causes fuses to blow
e. of a pneumatic tire : to release its air through a spontaneous rupture : blow out
f. of pottery : to blow apart from too rapid heating in the kiln
g. of paper : to blister especially from air entrapped between the wet sheet and the felt or from too sudden drying on the cylinder ; also of paperboard : to blister from air entrapped between two piles
9. slang : to move off : clear out : depart
blow now, nobody wants the likes of you around here
10. of a horse or mule : to pause for breath
let the mare blow at the end of the furrow
transitive verb
1.
a. : to drive (gas or vapor) from a region of greater to a region of lower pressure
use the bellows to blow air on the forge
specifically : to eject (breathed air) from the lungs during normal or forced exhalation
don't blow your breath in my face
b. : to set (gas or vapor) in motion (as by the action of a fan)
the fan blew the hot air about our heads
c. : to force a current of gas or vapor upon, through, or into, usually to produce a particular effect (as of warming, cooling, drying)
come on out, let the breeze blow your hair dry
blow the fire into a good blaze
oil being blown with air and oxygen
d.
(1) : to force air through (molten metal) to refine (as in a Bessemer or other converter)
(2) : to force air into (a blast furnace) to support the combustion of coke
2.
a. : to play on (a wind instrument) ; also slang : to play jazz on (any instrument)
b. : to sound a signal for (as an assault or retreat) on a wind instrument
c. : to sound (as a note or blast) on or with a wind instrument
d. of a wind instrument : sound
e. : to direct (hunting dogs) with the sound of a horn
f. : to play (jazz) on an instrument
3.
a. : to spread by report : noise abroad : make public : disclose
through the court his courtesy was blown — John Dryden
— now usually used with about or abroad
they have blown all sorts of silly rumors about
b. obsolete : to give utterance to : utter — used especially of emotional expression
c. archaic : to inform against (a person) or inform a person of (as an act or secret) : betray — formerly used with up; now only in the phrase blow the gaff
d. : darn , damn , blast
blow it, my watch has stopped
often : pay no attention to : put aside from consideration : ignore , disregard
blow the expense
risk be blowed
4.
a. : to drive, activate, or act upon with a current of gas or vapor
the storm blew the boat aground
b. : to clear of contents by the passage of such a current:
(1) : to free (the nose) of mucus and debris by forcible exhalation
(2) : to empty (an egg) by forcing out the contents through one small hole with a current of air introduced through another small hole
(3) : to expel (the contents of a wood-pulp digester) by relief of pressure at the completion of a cook
5.
a. : to distend with or as if with gas : blow up : bloat
his face blown out like a bladder
small boys blowing their balloons
b. obsolete : to puff up with pride
look how imagination blows him — Shakespeare
c. : to expand and shape (glass) by the action of injected air
d. : to produce or shape (as a glass vessel) by the action of blown or injected air
blowing iridescent soap bubbles
the wind blew a hollow on the edge of the dune
6. of insects : to deposit eggs or larvae on or in — now used only of blowflies and flesh flies
wounds blown by flies often healed faster than supposedly clean wounds
7. : to shatter, burst, or destroy by explosion — used commonly with out, in, or up
be ready to charge when we blow in the gate
or with phrases expressing degree of damage
they were blown to bits
8.
a. : to put out of breath : cause to pant with fatigue
take it easy on the hills or you'll blow your horse
b. : to let (as a horse) pause to catch the breath — often used with out
c. of a saddle horse : to keep the chest of expanded by holding the breath while being girthed — used with out
the stud frequently blew himself out
9.
a. : to spend (money) recklessly or extravagantly : squander
he blew his pay at the gambling tables
b. : to treat with unusual or lavish expenditure — used with to
come on, I'll blow you to a steak
I may live on beans for a month, but I'm going to blow myself to a really good handbag now
10. : to cause (a fuse) to blow
11. : to rupture (as a seal or cover) by too much pressure
the engine blew a head gasket
12. slang : to lose control of (a winning position) : toss away : misplay , muff
two chances to win and he blew them both
blow an easy putt
13. : to leave especially hurriedly
he blew town after running up huge bills
•
- blow a fuse
- blow great guns
- blow hot and cold
- blow into
- blow one's horn
- blow one's lines
- blow one's top
- blow the lid
- blow the whistle
- blow upon
II. noun
( -s )
1. : a blowing of wind especially when strong or violent : windstorm , gale
recurrent blows sweep the coastal islands bare
2. : the act of certain insects of depositing eggs or larvae ; sometimes : a larva so deposited (as in a wound) — used chiefly of blowflies and flesh flies
3.
a. : boasting, brag
b. slang : boaster
4.
a. : an act or instance of forcing air through or from some instrument
give the fire a blow with the bellows
a single loud blow of his horn
b. : forcible ejection of air from the body (as in freeing the nose of mucus and debris)
Junior, give your nose a good blow before we start
5. : the spouting of a whale
6.
a. : a short rest : breathing spell , breather
b. : a brief stop (of a horse) for rest
7.
a. : parison
b. : the vacuity in the stem of certain blown-glass vessels
8. : huff 5
9. slang : a social affair ; especially : blowout , binge , spree
10. : bloat 2 — usually plural but sing. or plural in constr.
11.
a. : a leak in the packing of a valve or cylinder (as of a steam locomotive)
b. : the failure of a cofferdam or dike causing a sudden inrush of water through or under the structure
12. : blowhole
13.
a. : the period in the manufacture of water gas in which a blast of air is admitted to the ignited fuel bed for heating the bed by combustion before the run
b. : the blowing of gas from an open well
c.
(1) : the blast of air forced through molten metal to refine it (as in a Bessemer or other converter)
(2) : the time during which air is being forced through molten metal to refine it
(3) : the quantity of metal refined during that time
III. verb
( blew ; blown or obs blowe ; blowing ; blows )
Etymology: Middle English blowen, from Old English blōwan; akin to Old High German bluoen to bloom, Latin florēre to bloom, flos flower, folium leaf, Greek phyllon
intransitive verb
: flower , blossom , bloom
I know a bank where the wild thyme blows — Shakespeare
transitive verb
1. archaic : to cause to blossom
2. obsolete : to put forth (blossoms or flowers)
banks that blow flowers — John Milton
IV. noun
( -s )
1.
a. : a display of flowers
the south border made a fine blow this spring
b. : bloom II 1b — used chiefly in the phrases in blow, in full blow
the old lilac by the fence is in full blow
c. archaic : an individual flower
2. : full and perfect development : bloom II 2b
3.
a. : blossom 4
b. : blowout 8
V. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English (northern dialect) blaw; perhaps akin to Old High German bliuwan to beat, Old Norse blegthi wedge, Gothic bliggwan to beat, Old English bealu evil — more at bale
1.
a. : a forcible stroke delivered with a part of the body (as the fist or head) or with an instrument (as a hammer) : buffet , punch , slap
b. Australia : a single stroke in shearing sheep
c. slang : base hit
2. : a hostile act or state : combat , fighting — usually used in plural and used especially in the phrase come to blows
nations like small boys have come to blows over the most trivial issues
3. : a forcible, determined, or sudden and unexpected act or effort : impact , assault
such a language … would solve many of his … difficulties at a single blow — Edward Sapir
shall we not support the downtrodden in their blow for freedom
4. : a severe and usually sudden misfortune or calamity
hail at this season was like a blow from heaven
: something that suddenly or unexpectedly produces mental, physical, or financial suffering or loss
the loss of her husband was a blow from which she never recovered
5. sports : misplay ; specifically : failure to bowl a spare when no split exists
•
- at a blow
VI. transitive verb
1. : fellate herein — usually considered vulgar
2. : smoke
a few had started blowing grass in their early teens — Daniel Greene
3. : to defeat decisively
has simply blown competitors from the field — Roger Sale
4. : to move quickly
blow past him in the final yards
•
- blow one's cool
- blow one's cover
- blow one's mind
- blow out of the water
VII. noun
Etymology: perhaps from blow (V)
slang : cocaine