blast off

Idioms

Also, blast away . Take off or be launched, especially into space, as in They're scheduled to blast off on Tuesday . This usage originated with the development of powerful rockets, spacecraft, and astronauts, to all of which it was applied. [c. 1950]
Depart, clear out, as in This party's over; let's blast off now . [ Slang ; early 1950s]
Become excited or high, especially from using drugs, as in They give parties where people blast off . [ Slang ; c. 1960]

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.

China, after all, is scheduled to put men on the moon by 2030, though not before Artemis III and IV blast off.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

I was filled with the same hope I had as a pre-teen watching Apollo 11 blast off for the historic moon landing.

From Salon • Apr. 3, 2026

Built by scientists from the German Aerospace Centre Mapheus, the rocket I saw blast off, flew for 14 minutes, leaving the atmosphere and reaching an altitude of almost 260km.

From BBC • Feb. 23, 2026

An enhanced version of Europe's Ariane 6 rocket will blast off Thursday to launch 32 satellites into orbit, forming part of the Amazon Leo network, which it hopes will rival Elon Musk's Starlink.

From Barron's • Feb. 10, 2026

The Lunar Lander needed to be able to blast off from the moon and reconnect with the mother ship for the trip back to Earth.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023