blow

present singular third person blows · participle present blowing · past blew · participle past blown

1. intransitiveTo produce an air current.

   Hark how it rains and blows!

   1653, Iz[aak] Wa[lton], The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man’s Recreation. Being a Discourse of Fish and Fishing, […], London: […] T. Maxey for Rich[ard] Marriot, […], →OCLC; reprinted as The Compleat Angler (Homo Ludens; 6), Nieuwkoop, South Holland, Netherlands: Miland Publishers, 1969, →ISBN

   2 more examples

   Lear. Blow windes, & crack your cheeks; Rage, blow / You Cataracts, and Hyrricano's ſpout,

   c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 296, column 1

   Tend to th' Maſters whiſtle: Blow till thou burſt thy winde, if roome enough.

   1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 1, column 1

2. transitiveTo propel by an air current (or, if under water, a water current), usually with the mouth.

   Blow the dust off that book and open it up.

   2 more examples

   To-night the winds begin to rise ⁠And roar from yonder dropping day: ⁠The last red leaf is whirl’d away, The rooks are blown about the skies; […]

   1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XV”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 24

   In Koksan County, strong winds blew the roofs off homes, while torrential rains poked holes in or collapsed the walls of houses.

   2022 July 6, Kim Chae Hwan, “North Hwanghae Province hit hard by torrential rains”, in Daily NK, archived from the original on 07 Jul 2022

3. intransitiveTo be propelled by an air current.

   The leaves blow through the streets in the fall.

   1 more example

   What stormy weather —the roofs are blowing off!

4. figurativelytransitiveTo direct or move, usually of a person to a particular location.

   "This is an unexpected pleasure!" exclaimed he. "What good fortune blows Lady Marchmont hither?"

   1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “A Friend at Court”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 260

5. transitiveTo create or shape by blowing.

   to blow glass

   2 more examples

   to blow bubbles

   Joe puffed on his pipe and blew a couple of smoke rings.

6. transitiveTo force a current of air upon with the mouth, or by other means.

   to blow the fire

7. transitiveTo clear of contents by forcing air through.

   to blow an egg

   3 more examples

   to blow one’s nose

   The submarine blew its main ballast tanks.

   If you've ever smelt bad eggs you'll know it's not a nice experience. Blowing them is far worse.

   1983, Bill Oddie, Gone Birding, London: Methuen, page 29

8. transitiveTo cause to make sound by blowing (as a musical instrument).

   Blow your horn! That car is about to hit us!

9. intransitiveTo make a sound as a result of being blown.

   In the harbor, the ships’ horns blew.

   1 more example

   There let the pealing organ blow,

   a. 1645, John Milton, “Il Penseroso”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 43

10. intransitiveTo exhale visibly through the spout the seawater which it has taken in while feeding.

    There she blows! (i.e. “I see a whale spouting!”)

    3 more examples

    There’s nothing more thrilling to the whale watcher than to see a whale surface and blow.

    Soon after he [a porpoise] appeared again, blowing very hard, but the next moment he turned over; Rasmus was not slow in putting the boat-hook in him and hauling him into the boat with my assistance.

    1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 184

    At intervals of every two minutes or so they heard the whale blowing and bellowing as it came to the surface[.]

    1961, Tom Mead, Killers of Eden, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 33

11. intransitiveTo burst or explode; to occur suddenly

    Get away from that burning gas tank! It’s about to blow!

    1 more example

    Hitler is very, very important, and something's going to blow in Europe.

    1971, Herman Wouk, The Winds of War, page 12

12. transitiveTo cause to explode, shatter, or be utterly destroyed.

    The aerosol can was blown to bits.

    3 more examples

    The demolition squad neatly blew the old hotel up.

    He and my other hunter continued to see it two or three times a week, and to hear its peculiar note much oftener, but could never get a specimen, owing to its always frequenting the most dense thorny thickets, where only hasty glimpses of it could be obtained, and at so short a distance that it would be difficult to avoid blowing the bird to pieces.

    1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume II, London: Macmillan and Co., page 136

    However, something once happened on the railway there which showed the very best of mankind: heroism, duty, self-sacrifice and calm professionalism under terrible pressure. It is a story which gives us far, far better reasons for remembering this attractive little town, which without these heroes would have been blown to smithereens in a gigantic explosion. (Two railwaymen lost their lives in 1944 when a wagon in an ammunition train caught fire and blew up, an even worse disaster was averted however.)

    2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 42

13. transitiveTo cause the sudden destruction of.

    He blew the tires and the engine.

14. historicaltransitivegovernmentTo blow from a gun (method of executing a person).
15. intransitiveTo suddenly fail or give way destructively.

    He tried to sprint, but his ligaments blew and he was barely able to walk to the finish line.

    1 more example

    A common problem for double glazed windows (or doors) is mist or condensation between the panes of glass. This is known as a blown window or failed double glazing. But what does it cost to repair?

    (Can we date this quote?), Checkatrade.com, “Blown windows repair cost guide”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)

16. informalintransitivemedicineOf a vein, to suffer a rupture or puncture in the wall as a result of an injection or cannula, causing fluid (blood, medication, or saline) to leak into the surrounding tissue.
17. ergativeTo melt away because of overcurrent, creating a gap in a wire, thus stopping a circuit from operating.
18. slangtransitiveTo recklessly squander.

    I blew $35 thou on a car.

    4 more examples

    I managed to blow $1000 at blackjack in under an hour.

    We blew an opportunity to get benign corporate sponsorship.

    ‘Holy Mackerel, Ann! I’m certainly glad we blew ourselves for that outfit of yours.’

    1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 136

    You'd better go / Everything's closed / Can't find a room / Money's all blown / Nowhere to sleep

    1985, “Johnny Come Home”, performed by Fine Young Cannibals

19. idiomaticinformaltransitiveTo fail at; to mess up; to make a mistake in.

    Good luck, and don’t blow it!

    3 more examples

    I blew it and forgot to start the spaghetti, so I had plenty of sauce and no pasta.

    […] I put myself on the line for you. I told you I wasn't sure if I was ready for a relationship again and you blew it. You blew it! You call this a fresh start? This doesn't look like a fresh start to me. You're dicking me around just like the rest of them, Drew.

    2006, Allison Rushby, Hating Valentine's Day, page 148

    Hodgson’s team attracted a certain amount of sympathy and understanding after the Italy defeat but it was beyond them to play with the same attacking panache and, if there is to be a feat of escapology, it will need an almost implausible combination of results and handouts in the final games of Group D. More realistically, they have blown it in their first week.

    2014 June 20, Daniel Taylor, “World Cup 2014: Uruguay sink England as Suárez makes his mark”, in guardian.co.uk

20. intransitiveslangstativesometimes considered vulgarTo be very undesirable.

    This blows!

    Synonyms: suck

21. transitivevulgarTo perform oral sex on (someone); to fellate.

    Who did you have to blow to get those backstage passes?

    1 more example

    The mandem all used to go round there and get head off her, the sister blowing the man line by line while her brother shotted downstairs in the stairwell.

    2011, “Chyna”, in How I Escaped a Girl Gang: Rolling in a London Girl Gang

    Synonyms: give brain, give dome, give hat, give head, give neck, give noddy, go down on

22. slangtransitiveTo leave, especially suddenly or in a hurry.

    Let’s blow this joint.

    2 more examples

    It's hard on a fella, when he don't know his way around If I don't find me a honey to help me spend my money I'm gonna have to blow this town.

    1963, Sam Cooke, “Another Saturday Night”, in Ain't That Good News

    I'm a wanted man and I'm blowing town Don't waste your time trying to hunt me down

    2007, Gus Seyffert, Charlie Wadhams, “Guilty As Charged”, in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, performed by John C. Reilly

23. intransitiveScientologyTo leave the Church of Scientology in an unauthorized manner.
24. transitiveTo make flyblown; to defile or spoil, especially with fly eggs.

    That decision was given an added kick by fury when he found that Podson had left the safe door open, and flies had blown the meat.

    1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 78

    2 more examples

    Shall they hoyſt me vp, And ſhew me to the ſhowting Varlotarie Of cenſuring Rome? Rather a ditch in Egypt, Be gentle graue vnto me, rather on Nylus mudde Lay me ſtarke-nak'd, and let the water-Flies Blow me into abhorring;

    c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii], page 365, column 1

    Fer. I am, in my condition A Prince (Miranda) I do thinke a King (I would not ſo) and would no more endure This wodden ſlauerie, then to ſuffer The fleſh-flie blow my mouth: heare my ſoule ſpeake.

    1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 11, column 1

25. intransitive(of a fly) To lay eggs; to breed (in flesh or meat).

    […]and often after they drop off the punctured skins are the seats of maggots, etc., owing to flies blowing on these injuries.

    1921, “The British Veterinary Journal”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), volume 77, Ballière Tindall, page 29

    2 more examples

    […] said the bookseller, “but I cannot risk the expence of your debut - There are critics without as well as within a theatre.” - I know it, said I, interrupting him; “men who, like flies blowing on a piece of wholesome meat, can convert it into carrion - […]

    1807, Thomas Pike Lathy, Gabriel Forrester;or, The deserted son. A novel in four volumes, volume 2, London: Lewis and Hamblin, page 77

    In Cornwall, a singular mode of curing conger, once prevailed, which was, merely to split the conger in halves, and, without any further preparation, to hang them up in a kind of shambles erected for that purpose, when the flies, blowing on the fish, the progeny would devour all the parts liable to decomposition, whilst the residue, being dried in the sun, became in this manner fit for use: and, when perfectly cured, where exported to Spain and Portugal. There they were ground into powder, and with this preparation, the natives of those Countries used to thicken their soups.

    1843, William Hughes(Piscator), Fish, How to Choose and How to Dress, London: Longman, Green, Brown, and Longmans, pages 41–42

26. obsoletetransitiveTo spread by report; to publish; to disclose.

    Through the court his courtesy was blown.

    1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC

27. obsoletetransitiveTo inflate, as with pride; to puff up.

    O peace, now he's deepely in: looke how imagination blowes him.

    c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene v], page 263, column 2

28. intransitiveTo breathe hard or quick; to pant; to puff.

    Rob. Miſtris Ford, Miſtris Ford: heere's Miſtris Page at the doore, ſsweating, and blowing, and looking wildely, and would needs ſpeake with you preſently.

    c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii], page 58, column 1

29. transitiveTo put out of breath; to cause to blow from fatigue.
30. datedintransitiveTo talk loudly; boast; brag.

    He didn't just set around and try to out sweettalk^([sic]) somebody; he got out and out-fit somebody. He wouldn't be blowing when he told his boys how he fit for the woman he got.

    a. 1940, Mildred Haun, “Shin-Bone Rocks”, in The Hawk's Done Gone, page 218

    3 more examples

    I don't want the worst characters in hell to be running after me with friendly messages and little testimonials of admiration for Smythe, and blowing about his talents, and bragging on him, and belching their villainous fire and brimstone all through the atmosphere and making my place smell worse than a menagerie.

    1866 February 6, Mark Twain, “Remarkable Dream”, in Virginia City Territorial Enterprise

    At the breaking edge with him and completely fed up with his everlasting bragging and blowing about his personal exploits, and desirous of putting him somewhere, anywhere, so they wouldn't be continuously annoyed by him, […]

    1969, Charles Ambrose McCarthy, The Great Molly Maguire Hoax, page 113

    Audie never liked him because he was further in with old Craig than he was, bragging and blowing about his work and the things he could do, while Audie sat quiet as a mouse listening to his blab.

    1976, David Toulmin, Blown Seed, page 148

31. datedslangtransitiveTo slander, insult, critique or discredit (someone); to reprimand or scold (someone).
32. UKarchaicslangtransitiveTo expose, or inform on.

    'As for that,' says Will, 'I could tell it well enough, if I had it, but I must not be seen anywhere among my old acquaintances, for I am blown, and they will all betray me.'

    1722, Daniel Defoe, Colonel Jack

    Synonyms: grass up

33. informalintransitiveslangAfrican-American VernacularTo sing.

    That girl has a wonderful voice; just listen to her blow!

34. colloquialintransitiveslangTo flatulate or defecate.

    Uh, oh! I gotta blow!

35. transitiveTo generate (a reading) on a breath alcohol meter.

    I blew a zero, so the cop let me drive on.

plural blows

1. countableuncountableA strong wind.

   We’re having a bit of a blow this afternoon.

   1 more example

   Now they were faced with the problem of a northerly blow, which could soon send a heavy swell clean into the bay.

   1956 September, F. F. Nicholls, “Neyland, A Forgotten Harbour”, in Railway Magazine, page 632

2. countableinformaluncountableA chance to catch one's breath.

   The players were able to get a blow during the last timeout.

3. USslanguncountablePowder cocaine.

   Hi there, you're a pretty cute chick, want to snort some blow?

   1982, Slava Tsukerman, Anne Carlisle, Nina V. Kerova, Liquid Sky

   3 more examples

   Hey man, you wanna cop some blow? / Sure, what you got, dust, flakes or rocks?

   1983, “White Lines (Don't Do It)”, performed by Grandmaster Melle Mel

   Jesus Christ, George, I don't see you for two years and you show up on my doorstep with 110 pounds of blow.

   2001, David McKenna, Blow, spoken by Derek

   I ran out of blow a long time ago / I can't smoke a J or my guts fly away

   2023, “Modern Day Ripoff”, in Every Loser, performed by Iggy Pop

   Synonyms: snow, nose candy, benzoylmethylecgonine, Bolivian marching powder, booger sugar, boots, California corn flakes, charlie

4. UKslanguncountableCannabis.

   Synonyms: bhang, benj, boo, broccoli, bud, buddha, cannabis, cheeba

5. slanguncountableChicago dialectalHeroin.

   Synonyms: Big H, boy, brown sugar, brown, bujj, diacetylmorphine, diamorphine, dog food

6. countableinformaluncountablevulgarA blowjob; fellatio.

   His girlfriend gave him a blow.

   Synonyms: brain, dome, head, mouth music, neck, Kirk

7. countableuncountablenauticalAn instance of using high-pressure air to empty water from the ballast tanks of a submarine, increasing the submarine's buoyancy and causing it to surface.

   The sounding of the alarm was the signal to begin the emergency blow maneuver. At this time, witnesses reported, the guest at the high-pressure air controls operated the levers under close supervision of Navy personnel, and the submarine started to rise at a sharp angle.

   2005 September 29, National Transportation Safety Board, “Emergency Evolutions”, in Marine Accident Brief: Collision between the U.S. Navy Submarine USS Greeneville and Japanese Motor Vessel Ehime Maru near Oahu, Hawaii, 9 February 2001, archived from the original on 25 Mar 2022, page 24

1. Used to express displeasure or frustration.

   Blow the expense!

   1 more example

   [H]e suddenly flung down his brush on the floor, said 'Bother!' and 'Oh blow!' and also 'Hang spring-cleaning!' and bolted out of the house without even waiting to put on his coat.

   1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, “The River Bank”, in The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, pages 1–2

comparative blower · comparative more blow · superlative blowest · superlative most blow

1. otherwise obsoleteBlue.

plural blows

1. An instance of the act of striking or hitting.

   A fabricator is used to direct a sharp blow to the surface of the stone.

   1 more example

   During an exchange to end round 13, Duran landed a blow to the midsection.

   Synonyms: bace, strike, hit, punch

2. A sudden or forcible act or effort; an assault.

   There he found that […] Hanno's camp was crowded with cattle and carriages, and a mixed multitude of unarmed men, and even of women and children; and that a vigorous blow might win it with all its spoil: the indefatigable general was absent, scouring the country for additional supplies of corn.

   1843, Thomas Arnold, “Progress of the War in Italy after the Battle of Cannæ. […]”, in J[ulius] C[harles] Hare, editor, History of Rome, volume III (From the End of the First to the End of the Second Punic War), London: B. Fellowes; […], →OCLC, page 227

3. A damaging occurrence.

   A further blow to the group came in 1917 when Thomson died while canoeing in Algonquin Park.

   2 more examples

   a most poor man, made tame to fortune's blows

   c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vi]

   Norwich returned to second in the Championship with victory over Nottingham Forest, whose promotion hopes were dealt another blow.

   2011 April 15, Saj Chowdhury, “Norwich 2 - 1 Nott'm Forest”, in BBC Sport

   Synonyms: disaster, calamity

4. AustraliahistoricalshearingA cut made to a sheep's fleece by a shearer using hand-shears.

   Click goes his shears; click, click, click. / Wide are the blows, and his hand is moving quick, / The ringer looks round, for he lost it by a blow, / And he curses that old shearer with the bare belled ewe.

   1891 December 5, The Bacchus Marsh Express, Victoria, page 7, column 7

5. AustraliaNew ZealandAn outcrop of quartz from surrounding rock, thought to indicate mineral deposits below.

   "Blows" of quartz, crop out above the layers of slate, granite, and sandstone formation.

   1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 315

6. broadcastingSynonym of button (“the punchy or suspenseful line of dialogue that concludes a scene”).

   The blow is important because it transitions the reader and eventually the audience from one scene to another.

   2014, Martie Cook, Write to TV: Out of Your Head and onto the Screen, page 105

   Synonyms: button

present singular third person blows · participle present blowing · past blew · participle past blown

1. To blossom; to cause to bloom or blossom.

   How blows the citron grove.

   1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC

   5 more examples

   You ſeeme to me as Diane in her Orbe, / As chaſte as is the budde ere it be blowne:

   1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 114, column 2

   Boys are at best but pretty buds unblown, / Whose scent and hues are rather guessed than known;

   1784, William Cowper, Tirocinium; or, A Review of Schools

   No joy the blowing season gives, ⁠The herald melodies of spring, ⁠But in the songs I love to sing A doubtful gleam of solace lives.

   1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXXVIII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 59

   Irám indeed is gone with all its Rose, And Jamshýd's Sev'n-ring'd Cup where no one knows; But still the Vine her ancient Ruby yields, And still a Garden by the Water blows.

   1859, Edward Fitzgerald, The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám: The Astronomer-Poet of Persia, page 2

   Romanesco is slow to blow and more forgiving to grow than most cauliflowers, while being perhaps the most delicious and certainly the nuttiest-flavoured of the lot.

   2015 January 26, Mark Diacono, “How to grow and cook cauliflower, 2015's trendiest veg”, in The Daily Telegraph (Gardening)

plural blows

1. A state of flowering; a bloom.

   roses in full blow

   1 more example

   [F]lowers that in perennial blow / Round the moist marge of Persian fountains cling; […]

   1820, William Wordsworth, “The River Duddon. A Series of Sonnets. Sonnet I.”, in The River Duddon: A Series of Sonnets: Vaudracour and Julia; and Other Poems. […], London: […] [Andrew and Robert Spottiswoode] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, […], →OCLC, page 3

2. A display or mass of flowers; a yield.

   [H]e believed he could shew me such a blow of tulips as was not to be matched in the whole country.

   1710 September 10 (Gregorian calendar), Isaac Bickerstaff [et al., pseudonyms; Joseph Addison], “Wednesday, August 31, 1710”, in The Tatler, number 218; republished in [Richard Steele], editor, The Tatler, […], London stereotype edition, volume III, London: I. Walker and Co.; […], 1822, →OCLC, page 212

   1 more example

   Passing the apple-tree blows of white and pink in the orchards; / Carrying a corpse to where it shall rest in the grave, / Night and day journeys a coffin.

   1865 (indicated as 1865–1866), Walt Whitman, “When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom’d”, in Sequel to Drum-Taps. […] When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom’d. And Other Pieces, Washington, D.C.: Gibson Brothers, […], →OCLC, canto 5, stanza 8, page 4

3. figurativelyA display of anything bright or brilliant.

plural Blows

1. A surname.