blow up

British  

verb

1. to explode or cause to explode

2. (tr) to increase the importance of (something)

   they blew the whole affair up

3. (intr) to come into consideration

   we lived well enough before this thing blew up

4. (intr) to come into existence with sudden force

   a storm had blown up

5. informal to lose one's temper (with a person)

6. informal (tr) to reprimand (someone)

7. informal (tr) to enlarge the size or detail of (a photograph)

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noun

1. an explosion

2. informal an enlarged photograph or part of a photograph

3. informal a fit of temper or argument

4. Also called: blowing up.  informal a reprimand

blow up Idioms  

1. Explode or cause to explode. For example, The squadron was told to blow up the bridge , or Jim was afraid his experiment would blow up the lab . The term is sometimes amplified, as in blow up in one's face . [Late 1500s]

2. Lose one's temper, as in I'm sorry I blew up at you . Mark Twain used this metaphor for an actual explosion in one of his letters (1871): “Redpath tells me to blow up. Here goes!” [ Colloquial ; second half of 1800s]

3. Inflate, fill with air, as in If you don't blow up those tires you're sure to have a flat . [Early 1400s]

4. Enlarge, especially a photograph, as in If we blow up this picture, you'll be able to make out the expressions on their faces . [c. 1930]

5. Exaggerate the importance of something or someone, as in Tom has a tendency to blow up his own role in the affair . This term applies the “inflate” of def. 3 to importance. It was used in this sense in England from the early 1500s to the 1700s, but then became obsolete there although it remains current in America.

6. Collapse, fail, as in Graduate-student marriages often blow up soon after the couple earn their degrees . [ Slang ; mid-1800s]

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Example Sentences

MarketWatch: What actually separates traders who make money consistently from those who blow up their accounts?

From MarketWatch • May 26, 2026

On Friday, authorities described the tank exploding or rupturing as the only possible outcomes, but on Saturday Covey said: "Letting this thing just fail and blow up is unacceptable."

From Barron's • May 23, 2026

But my phone didn’t blow up that day because of a classic song.

From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026

"I didn't expect it to blow up the way that it did if I'm being honest," Jordan admitted.

From BBC • Apr. 21, 2026

“If the Children’s League was formed to end the camps, why did you even bother getting me and Martin? Why didn’t you just blow up the Control Tower while you were there?”

From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken

Related Words

• blast
• bomb
• burst
• detonate
• dynamite
• erupt
• go off
• rupture
• shatter