blow the grampus

verb

To throw water on a sleeping person, generally as a practical joke.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbblow the grampus (third-person singular simple present blows the grampus, present participle blowing the grampus, simple past blew the grampus, past participle blown the grampus)

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

  1. obsoleteslangnauticalTo throw water on a sleeping person, generally as a practical joke.

    There was the goggle-eyed daughter a blowing the Grampus with the platter-faced planter, whenever he caulked [slept] upon deck; […]

    1829, William Nugent Glascock, Sailors and Saints: Or Matrimonial Manœvres, page 179
    1 more example

    "[…] why then we must blow the grampus." He then discharged the contents of the water-jug on her face and neck, and she opened her eyes, and would have screamed, had not the prompt Horatio clapped his hand over her mouth.

    1840, Edward Howard, Jack Ashore, page 127
Cite this entry
APA

blow the grampus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blow%20the%20grampus

MLA

“blow the grampus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blow%20the%20grampus. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “blow the grampus,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blow%20the%20grampus.

Source: blow the grampus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.