blow a fuse

1. Also, blow a gasket. Lose one's temper, express furious anger. For example, When his paycheck bounced, John blew a fuse, or Tell Mom what really happened before she blows a gasket. An electric fuse is said to “blow” (melt) when the circuit is overloaded, whereas a gasket, used to seal a piston, “blows” (breaks) when the pressure is too high. The first of these slangy terms dates from the 1930s, the second from the 1940s. Also see blow one's top; keep one's cool.

Example Sentences

One of the crew’s fire engines — a “Type 6,” essentially a decked-out pickup truck — blew a fuse, leaving it stuck in park as a nearby home erupted into flames.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

It’s a great song pick with manic crescendos — You blow a fuse, zing boom!

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His arms are folded tight and he looks ready to blow a fuse.

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What a pity the Serbia striker blew a fuse at Old Trafford.

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She knew what to do when we blew a fuse, how often the gutters should be cleared, and why the neighbours screamed at their television on weekends in winter – “the Rabbitohs are losing again”.

Read more on The Guardian

Related Words

• burst 
• craze 
• excitement 
• fever 
• free-for-all 
• furor 
• fury 
• hysteria 
• madness 
• mania 
• outburst 
• passion 
• rage 
• turmoil