blister
Americannoun
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a thin vesicle on the skin, containing watery matter or serum, as from a burn or other injury.
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any similar swelling, as an air bubble in a coat of paint.
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a relatively large bubble occurring in glass during blowing.
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Military. a transparent bulge or dome on the fuselage of an airplane, usually for mounting a gun.
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Photography. a bubble of air formed where the emulsion has separated from the base of a film, as because of defective processing.
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a dome or skylight on a building.
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the moving bubble in a spirit level.
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a small blisterlike covering of plastic, usually affixed to a piece of cardboard and containing a small item, as a pen, bolt, or medicinal tablet.
verb (used with object)
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to raise a blister or blisters on.
These new shoes blistered my feet.
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to criticize or rebuke severely.
The boss blistered his assistant in front of the whole office.
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to beat or thrash; punish severely.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a small bubble-like elevation of the skin filled with serum, produced as a reaction to a burn, mechanical irritation, etc
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a swelling containing air or liquid, as on a painted surface
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a transparent dome or any bulge on the fuselage of an aircraft, such as one used for observation
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slang an irritating person
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slang a rebuke
verb
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to have or cause to have blisters
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(tr) to attack verbally with great scorn or sarcasm
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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blistersimple
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blisterssimple
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have blisteredperfect
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has blisteredperfect
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am blisteringprogressive
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are blisteringprogressive
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is blisteringprogressive
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have been blisteringperfect progressive
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has been blisteringperfect progressive
Past
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blisteredsimple
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had blisteredperfect
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was blisteringprogressive
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were blisteringprogressive
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had been blisteringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of blister
1250–1300; Middle English blister, blester < Old Norse blǣstri, dative of blāstr swelling. See blast, blow 2
Explanation
A blister is a fluid-filled bubble people get where something rubs or burns the skin. Common causes are wearing fancy new shoes, playing sports, and trying to cook bananas flambé. Having a blister is no fun. A blister is a round raised area caused by repeated friction or rubbing. A second-degree burn can also cause a blister. A blister isn’t always a human problem. Plants can get blisters, and sometimes air bubbles on the surface of a painted wall or a shellacked table are called blisters. The verb blister means to form a blister. The Old French root word is blestre, "lump or bump."
Vocabulary lists containing blister
The Distance Between Us
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"The War Works Hard" by Dunya Mikhail
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Neighborhood Odes
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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.
See Examples For:
I’d let them blister and slump just slightly at the edges.
From Salon ● Feb. 18, 2026
Radar data from inside the ice shows what appears to be a blister beneath the surface, pushing the glacier upward at that location.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 5, 2026
The plant produces blister copper, which contains almost entirely copper with 3% of other precious metals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2025
Freeland lasted just four innings, leaving with what appeared to be a blister on his left hand after giving up six hits and a walk but stranding four runners.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2025
I had at least five bites, each of which would throb for days and rise into a teacup-sized ring with a blister in the center.
From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer
The result can be swelling, bruising, bleeding, blisters and discoloration of the skin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
When we meet in April, they’re still recovering from Coachella, where Yang braved horrible foot blisters for Addison Rae and Sabrina Carpenter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
But there are no tales of lost toenails or infected blisters for her.
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2026
If blisters are the cost of doing business, so be it.
From Slate ● Mar. 14, 2026
I moved from body to body, treating blisters, wounds, frostbite.
From "Salt to the Sea" by Ruta Sepetys
Among this year’s participants was WSJ’s achy, blistered Xavier Martinez.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
Yee said she should drop out of the race and Villaraigosa blistered her in ads.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2025
"I looked like a plucked turkey because my skin had blistered so much," Chris says.
From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2025
As I phrased it back when I first wrote about the dish, “The cheeses meld together to form the most delicious, frico-laced roasted and blistered fennel imaginable.”
From Salon ● Mar. 15, 2025
The last to do so was Homeless Harry Strickland, blistered feet and all.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
The blistering heat also has hindered efforts to fight massive wildfires raging in Colorado and Utah.
From Barron's ● Jul. 11, 2026
Isaac’s and Mulligan’s characters have a drawn-out, sometimes blistering, sometimes riotously funny fight in the premiere.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
The jet will fly over the National Mall alongside the Defense Department’s most impressive equipment on Saturday, before the president delivers a speech in what is forecast to be a blistering heat wave.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
Far more relaxed on her return to action two days later, there was an entirely different feel to this performance as the 25-year-old made a blistering start against 2021 runner-up Pliskova.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
She endured harsh nineteenth-century medical treatments like bloodletting and blistering.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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.
