blowoff
Americannoun
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a current of escaping surplus steam, water, etc..
The safety valve released a violent blowoff from the furnace.
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a device that permits and channels such a current.
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Slang. a person who brags or boasts; a blow-hard.
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a temporary, sudden surge, as in prices.
The Federal Reserve Board's credit tightening could cause a blowoff in interest rates.
Etymology
Origin of blowoff
First recorded in 1830–40; noun use of verb phrase blow off
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.
“Even before the pandemic, people thought of Friday as a kind of blowoff day. And now there’s a growing expectation that you can work from home to jump-start your weekend.”
From Washington Post • Jul. 15, 2022
“I did kind of think it would be a blowoff class.”
From Washington Post • May 16, 2019
The Army began heading full tilt toward a blowoff last winter.
From Time Magazine Archive
The war, as President Kennedy sees it, is not likely to take the form of a big nuclear blowoff, although he intends to be prepared for one.
From Time Magazine Archive
Perhaps there is some major and as yet undiscovered atmospheric constituent—nitrogen, for example—which keeps the average molecular weight of the atmosphere high and prevents blowoff.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
