blowback
Britishnoun
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the escape to the rear of gases formed during the firing of a weapon or in a boiler, internal-combustion engine, etc
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the action of a light automatic weapon in which the expanding gases of the propellant force back the bolt, thus reloading the weapon
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The social media blowback exploded like a digital Montezuma’s revenge.
From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2026
Wall Street analysts have continued to raise their 2026 earnings estimates, even as economists have warned about the possible blowback for the global economy due to the conflict.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 13, 2026
Or as the progressive writer Matt Stoller tweeted over the weekend in a thread about the war’s political blowback, “I do not know why people assume Trump will be in office for much longer.”
From Slate • Mar. 23, 2026
When payments company Block said it was cutting 40% of its staff this past week due to artificial intelligence, the blowback was quick and severe.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 1, 2026
He zinged her with that one, and even though it was super petty, all of us were yikes-ing from the blowback.
From "Patina" by Jason Reynolds
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
