blowup
Americannoun
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an explosion.
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a violent argument, outburst of temper, or the like, especially one resulting in estrangement.
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Also blow-up an enlargement of a photograph.
Etymology
Origin of blowup
First recorded in 1800–10; noun use of verb phrase blow up
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.
A few months later, the OpenAI leaders had a blowup in the office.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026
One lending blowup is showing how America’s banks helped fuel the private-credit boom, and what could happen in its unraveling.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026
That should have a negative impact on the market—and that assumes no blowup in the bond market or anything like that.
From Barron's • Jan. 9, 2026
In a recent edition of his Substack newsletter, Bob Elliott, chief investment officer at investment firm Unlimited and former executive at hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, dismissed concerns about another carry-trade blowup as “clickbait fears.”
From MarketWatch • Dec. 5, 2025
What followed our blowup were heartfelt apologies on my end and my parents' end, but we had no idea that our immigration status was about to get far more complicated and scary.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
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.
