blow

[bloh]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR blow ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object), blew, blown, blow·ing.

(of the wind or air) to be in motion.

to move along, carried by or as by the wind: Dust seemed to blow through every crack in the house.

to produce or emit a current of air, as with the mouth or a bellows: Blow on your hands to warm them.

(of a horn, trumpet, etc.) to give out sound.

to make a blowing sound; whistle: The siren blew just as we rounded the corner.

(of horses) to breathe hard or quickly; pant.

Informal. to boast; brag: He kept blowing about his medals.

Zoology. (of a whale) to spout.

(of a fuse, light bulb, vacuum tube, tire, etc.) to burst, melt, stop functioning, or be destroyed by exploding, overloading, etc. (often followed by out): A fuse blew just as we sat down to dinner. The rear tire blew out.

to burst from internal pressure: Poorly sealed cans will often blow.

Slang. to leave; depart.

verb (used with object), blew, blown, blow·ing.

to drive by means of a current of air: A sudden breeze blew the smoke into the house.

to spread or make widely known: Growing panic blew the rumor about.

to drive a current of air upon.

to clear or empty by forcing air through: Try blowing your nose.

to shape (glass, smoke, etc.) with a current of air: to blow smoke rings.

to cause to sound, as by a current of air: Blow your horn at the next crossing.

Jazz. to play (a musical instrument of any kind).

to cause to explode (often followed by up, to bits, etc.): A mine blew the ship to bits.

to burst, melt, burn out, or destroy by exploding, overloading, etc. (often followed by out): to blow a tire; blow a fuse.

to destroy; demolish (usually followed by down, over, etc.): The windstorm blew down his house.

Informal.

to spend money on.
to squander; spend quickly: He blew a fortune on racing cars.
to waste; lose: The team blew the lead by making a bad play.

Informal. to mishandle, ruin, botch; make a mess of; bungle: With one stupid mistake he blew the whole project. It was your last chance and you blew it!

Slang. to damn: Blow the cost!

to put (a horse) out of breath by fatigue.

Slang. to depart from: to blow town.

Slang: Vulgar. to perform fellatio on.

Slang. to smoke (marijuana or other drugs).

noun

a blast of air or wind: to clean machinery with a blow.

Informal. a violent windstorm, gale, hurricane, or the like: one of the worst blows we ever had around here.

an act of producing a blast of air, as in playing a wind instrument: a few discordant blows by the bugler.

Metallurgy.

a blast of air forced through a converter, as in the production of steel or copper.
the stage of the production process during which this blast is used.

Civil Engineering. boil¹(def 12).

Slang. cocaine.

Verb Phrases

blow away, Slang.

to kill, especially by gunfire: The gang threatened to blow away anyone who talked to the police.
to defeat decisively; trounce: She blew her opponent away in three straight sets.
to overwhelm with emotion, astonishment, etc.: Good poetry just blows me away.

blow down, Metallurgy. to suspend working of (a blast furnace) by smelting the existing charge with a diminishing blast.

blow in,

Slang.to arrive at a place, especially unexpectedly: My uncle just blew in from Sacramento.
Metallurgy.to begin operations in (a blast furnace).

blow off,

to allow steam to be released.
Informal.to reduce or release tension, as by loud talking.
Informal.to ignore, evade, or treat as unimportant: I mentioned his insulting remark, and he just blew the whole thing off.
Informal.to not go to or participate in: He blew off his first-period class three times that week.
Informal.to fail to meet (someone) as planned without alerting the person beforehand: I waited 20 minutes before I realized my sister had blown me off.
Informal.to end a romantic or other relationship with: He blew me off after our third date.

blow out,

to become extinguished: The candles blew out at once.
to lose force or cease: The storm has blown itself out.
(of an oil or gas well) to lose oil or gas uncontrollably.
Metallurgy.to blow down and clean (a blast furnace) in order to shut down.

blow over,

to pass away; subside: The storm blew over in five minutes.
to be forgotten: The scandal will eventually blow over.

blow up,

to come into being: A storm suddenly blew up.
to explode: The ship blew up.
to cause to explode: to blow up a bridge.
to exaggerate; enlarge: He blew up his own role in his account of the project.
Informal.to lose one's temper: When he heard she had quit school, he blew up.
to fill with air; inflate: to blow up a tire.
Photography.to make an enlarged reproduction of.
Mathematics.(of a function) to become infinite.

Idioms

blow hot and cold, to favor something at first and reject it later on; waver; vacillate: His enthusiasm for the job blows hot and cold.

blow off steam, Informal. steam(def 23).Also let off steam.

blow one's cool, Slang. to lose one's composure; become angry, frantic, or flustered.

blow one's cover. cover(def 52).

blow one's lines, Theater. to forget or make an error in a speaking part or stage directions.

blow one's mind. mind(def 36).

blow one's stack. stack(def 23).

blow one's top. top¹(def 43).

Origin of blow

before 1000; Middle English blowen (v.), Old English blāwan; cognate with Latin flāre to blow

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for blow down

obliterate, topple, demolish, overthrow, wreck, erase, smash, destroy, extinguish, bulldoze, scatter, dynamite, shoot, tumble, drop, flatten, slash, raze, wrack, bomb

British Dictionary definitions for blow down

blow down

verb

to open a valve in a steam boiler to eject any sediment that has collected

blow

verb blows, blowing, blew or blown

(of a current of air, the wind, etc) to be or cause to be in motion

(intr) to move or be carried by or as if by wind or aira feather blew in through the window

to expel (air, cigarette smoke, etc) through the mouth or nose

to force or cause (air, dust, etc) to move (into, in, over, etc) by using an instrument or by expelling breath

(intr) to breathe hard; pant

(sometimes foll by up) to inflate with air or the breath

(intr) (of wind, a storm, etc) to make a roaring or whistling sound

to cause (a whistle, siren, etc) to sound by forcing air into it, as a signal, or (of a whistle, etc) to sound thus

(tr) to force air from the lungs through (the nose) to clear out mucus or obstructing matter

(often foll by up, down, in, etc) to explode, break, or disintegrate completelythe bridge blew down in the gale

electronics to burn out (a fuse, valve, etc) because of excessive current or (of a fuse, valve, etc) to burn out

blow a fuse slang to lose one's temper

(intr) (of a whale) to spout water or air from the lungs

(tr) to wind (a horse) by making it run excessively

to cause (a wind instrument) to sound by forcing one's breath into the mouthpiece, or (of such an instrument) to sound in this way

(intr) jazz slang to play in a jam session

(intr) (of flies) to lay eggs (in)

to shape (glass, ornaments, etc) by forcing air or gas through the material when molten

(intr) mainly Scot, Australian and NZ to boast or brag

(tr) slang

to spend (money) freely
USto treat or entertain

(tr) slang to use (an opportunity) ineffectively

slang to go suddenly away (from)

(tr) slang to expose or betray (a person or thing meant to be kept secret)

(tr) US slang to inhale (a drug)

(intr) slang to masturbate

past participle blowed informal another word for damn I'll be blowed; blow it!

draughts another word for huff (def. 4)

blow hot and cold to vacillate

blow a kiss or blow kisses to kiss one's hand, then blow across it as if to carry the kiss through the air to another person

blow one's own trumpet to boast of one's own skills or good qualities

blow someone's mind slang

(of a drug, esp LSD) to alter someone's mental state
esp US and Canadianto astound or surprise someone

blow one's top, esp US and Canadian blow one's stack or blow one's lid informal to lose one's temper

noun

the act or an instance of blowing

the sound produced by blowing

a blast of air or wind

metallurgy

a stage in the Bessemer process in which air is blasted upwards through molten pig iron
the quantity of metal treated in a Bessemer converter

mining

a rush of air into a mine
the collapse of a mine roof

jazz slang a jam session

British a slang name for cannabis (def. 2)
US a slang name for cocaine

Word Origin for blow

Old English blāwan, related to Old Norse blǣr gust of wind, Old High German blāen, Latin flāre

blow

noun

a powerful or heavy stroke with the fist, a weapon, etc

at one blow or at a blow by or with only one action; all at one time

a sudden setback; unfortunate eventto come as a blow

come to blows

to fight
to result in a fight

an attacking actiona blow for freedom

Australian and NZ a stroke of the shears in sheep-shearing

Word Origin for blow

C15: probably of Germanic origin; compare Old High German bliuwan to beat

blow

verb blows, blowing, blew or blown

(intr) (of a plant or flower) to blossom or open out

(tr) to produce (flowers)

noun

a mass of blossoms

the state or period of blossoming (esp in the phrase in full blow)

Word Origin for blow

Old English blōwan; related to Old Frisian blōia to bloom, Old High German bluoen, Latin flōs flower; see bloom 1

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

Word Origin and History for blow down

blow

v.1

"move air," Old English blawan "blow, breathe, make an air current; kindle; inflate; sound a wind instrument" (class VII strong verb; past tense bleow, past participle blawen), from Proto-Germanic *blæ-anan (cf. Old High German blaen, German blähen), from PIE *bhle- "to swell, blow up" (cf. Latin flare "to blow"), possibly identical with *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell" (see bole).

Meaning "to squander" (of money) is from 1874. Sense of "depart suddenly" is from 1902. Slang "do fellatio on" sense is from 1933, as blow (someone) off, originally among prostitutes (cf. blow job). This usage probably is not connected to the colloquial imprecation (1781, associated with sailors, e.g. Popeye's "well, blow me down!"), which has past participle blowed. Meaning "to spend (money) foolishly and all at once" is 1890s; that of "bungle an opportunity" is from 1943. To blow over "pass" is from 1610s, originally of storms. To blow (someone's) mind was in use by 1967; there is a song title "Blow Your Mind" released in a 1965 Mirawood recording by a group called The Gas Company.

blow

v.2

"to bloom, blossom" (intransitive), from Old English blowan "to flower, blossom, flourish," from Proto-Germanic *blæ- (cf. Old Saxon bloian, Old Frisian bloia, Middle Dutch and Dutch bloeien, Old High German bluoen, German blühen), from PIE *bhle-, extended form of *bhel- (2) "to blow, inflate, swell" (see bole). This word is the source of the blown in full-blown.

blow

n.1

"hard hit," mid-15c., blowe, from northern and East Midlands dialects, perhaps from Middle Dutch blouwen "to beat," a common Germanic word of unknown origin (cf. German bleuen, Gothic bliggwan "to strike"). Influenced in English by blow (v.1). In reference to descriptions or accounts, blow-by-blow is recorded from 1921, American English, originally of prize-fight broadcasts.

LIKE a hungry kitten loves its saucer of warm milk, so do radio fans joyfully listen to the blow-by-blow broadcast description of a boxing bout. ["The Wireless Age," December 1922]

blow

n.2

"a blowing, a blast," 1650s, from blow (v.1).

Idioms and Phrases with blow down

blow

In addition to the idioms beginning with blow

blow a fuse
blow away
blow by blow
blow hot and cold
blow in
blow it
blow off
blow off steam
blow one's brains out
blow one's cool
blow one's cover
blow one's mind
blow one's own horn
blow one's top
blow out
blow over
blow sky-high
blow someone to
blow the lid off
blow the whistle on
blow up

also see:

at one stroke (blow)
body blow
come to blows
keep (blow) one's cool
low blow
way the wind blows