blowoff
a current of escaping surplus steam, water, etc.: The safety valve released a violent blowoff from the furnace.
a device that permits and channels such a current.
Slang. a person who brags or boasts; a blow-hard.
a temporary, sudden surge, as in prices:The Federal Reserve Board's credit tightening could cause a blowoff in interest rates.
Origin of blowoff
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use blowoff in a sentence
A boiler should be blown off about one gauge at a time two or three times a day with the blow-off if the water is muddy.
Farm Engines and How to Run Them | James H. StephensonI want you to help me fix the fire hose, the short length, to that blow-off cock at the bottom of the boiler.
Facing Death | G. A. HentyThis operation should be begun at the bottom of the boiler near the blow-off plug, and be continued in advancing toward the top.
The cut tubes fall to the bottom of the boiler, and are removed through the blow-off hole of the front tube-plate.
A safety valve, a pressure indicator, and a blow-off complete the outfit.
Burroughs' Encyclopaedia of Astounding Facts and Useful Information, 1889 | Barkham Burroughs
British Dictionary definitions for blow off
to permit (a gas under pressure, esp steam) to be released
(intr) British slang to emit wind noisily from the anus
(tr) informal to reject or jilt (someone)
blow off steam See steam (def. 6)
a discharge of a surplus fluid, such as steam, under pressure
a device through which such a discharge is made
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with blowoff
Vent one's strong feelings; see blow off steam.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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