blister
Americannoun
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blisters
plural
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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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blisters,
present (3rd person singular)
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blistered,
past participle, past
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blistering
present participle
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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)
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blisters,
present (3rd person singular)
-
blistered,
past participle, past
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blistering
present participle
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
-
blistersimple
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blisterssimple
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have blisteredperfect
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has blisteredperfect
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am blisteringprogressive
-
are blisteringprogressive
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is blisteringprogressive
-
have been blisteringperfect progressive
-
has been blisteringperfect progressive
Past
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blisteredsimple
-
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:
Roki Sasaki’s blister is healing as planned, and he shouldn’t miss additional time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
His signature victory was a record-setting blister up Alpe d’Huez in which he roared through costumed, enthusiastic revelers on his way to a fifth stage win.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
With her belongings delayed, Hodgkinson was forced to complete her preparations in somebody else's spikes, which ended up giving her a blister.
From BBC ● Mar. 22, 2026
I’d let them blister and slump just slightly at the edges.
From Salon ● Feb. 18, 2026
But after a day in the arena sun, the metal feels hot enough to blister my hands.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
It was so hot and humid that Lee Feaster, a native Texas and the father of freshman wideout Boobie Feaster, said on Tuesday that his wife passed out during the game and still had blisters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
He added: "I ended up covered in these large watery blisters the whole way up my arm, I'll always remember the pain of it."
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
The result can be swelling, bruising, bleeding, blisters and discoloration of the skin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
The balls of both feet and the ends of both pointer toes had been mashed into misshapen blisters.
From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2026
The 22-pound bergen backpack that he had been forced to wear cut into his shoulders and had rubbed blisters into his back.
From "Stormbreaker" by Anthony Horowitz
The 27-year-old had to be carried off the beach after suffering badly blistered feet and needed weeks of treatment.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
Would that make Antetokounmpo a candidate to take the Angels off the hands of Arte Moreno, who at games has been blistered by a large group of shirtless fans chanting “sell the team?”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026
I liked the sausage and kale and look forward to making her blistered Jimmy Nardello pepper pizzas this summer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
It nudged me to trust a roast chicken with five more minutes, until the skin blistered into crackle and glass.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2025
The going wasn’t easy on my feet, either, which had blistered in my ever-moist sneakers, but I picked up Otto and placed him on my back, which ached in familiar protest.
From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer
For Serena, who is the youngest of five sisters in the blended Williams family, that meant learning to return Venus’s blistering serve on Compton’s public courts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
After a blistering start in 2025 that appeared to solidify Crow-Armstrong as a burgeoning superstar, the Chicago Cubs’ outfielder fell into a dismal slump that not even a full winter could fix.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Earlier this month, the European Central Bank warned that “the rise of AI has driven a blistering rally in the tech sector, bringing stock market valuations to levels last seen during the dot-com bubble.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026
Just some of the blistering language used by Uefa's lawyers in legal papers lodged in the United States over Fifa president Gianni Infantino's now-shelved plan to sell off stakes in competitions to private investors.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
Their voice, which had been blistering before, had turned warm and languid.
From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi
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.
