blowout

plural blowouts

1. A sudden puncturing of a pneumatic tyre/tire.
2. A sudden release of oil and gas from a well.
3. slangA social function, especially one with large quantities of food.

   Feathers were deeply ruffled when it became known that the BHC had been in town and taken me out for a meal without hosting a big blowout for all the local Brits. I didn't frequent the hotel bar, and by then, accepted few invitations to parties ...

   2015, Trish Nicholson, Inside the Crocodile: The Papua New Guinea Journals, Troubador Publishing Ltd, →ISBN

   1 more example

   Chloe's lips formed a thin line, and she guided her sister a few feet away from Aubrey and Erik, her hooker heels sinking into the shells a little as they went. "C'mon, Jane. Erik's cousin is a Barnie and is hosting a blowout tonight. The party is in Salem"

   2016, Blayne Cooper, Blind Side of the Moon, Bella Books, →ISBN

4. slangA large or extravagant meal.

   Regarding the sacred nature of communal blowouts […]

   2003, Herman Pleij, Dreaming of Cockaigne: Medieval Fantasies of the Perfect Life, page 464

   3 more examples

   […] but really swank blowouts are reported to serve even more exotic dishes. Bear paws, for instance; duck feet, unborn mice, and in Canton, puppy dogs.

   1949, Scene: The International East-West Magazine, volumes 1-2, page 33

   The dining room at Alain Ducasse's flagship Paris restaurant gleams with 10,000 crystals, confirming that this is the flashiest place in town for a blowout meal.

   2011, Fodor's Normandy, Brittany & the Best of the North: with Paris

   Eating a big blowout meal that probably includes every one of the foods you should be avoiding will trigger more food cravings […]

   2015, Judita Wignall, Raw and Simple Detox: A Delicious Body Reboot for Health, Energy, and Weight Loss, →ISBN, page 46

5. slanghobbiesA contest that is decidedly one-sided; an overwhelming victory or defeat.

   The game between the two teams was nothing but a blowout.

   2 more examples

   In World Cup soccer, Mexico defeated Cameroon one to nothing. Or as it's known in soccer, a blowout.

   2014, Norm Macdonald Live, season 2, episode 12, spoken by Norm Macdonald

   This is not a land of blowouts. It’s a middle ground, and that’s reflected in voter registration rolls. Nearly 2.6 million North Carolinians declare themselves unaffiliated, while just over 2.4 million identify as Democrats and just under 2.2 million as Republicans. We don’t tilt. We teeter.

   2023 May 4, Frank Bruni, “Republicans Are Running Wild in My State”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 25 Aug 2023

6. slangAn argument; an altercation.

   The day my aunt and I had talked was just as vivid to me now as it had been eight years ago, when I'd had a blowout with my mother over my decision to go to school in Tucson rather than staying safely up here in northern Arizona.

   2014, Christine Pope, Star Crossed, page 141

7. geographyA sandy depression in a sand dune ecosystem caused by the removal of sediments by wind.
8. AustraliaAn extreme and unexpected increase in costs, such as in government estimates for a project.
9. An act of defecation in which an incontinent person, usually an infant or toddler, produces a large amount of excrement that causes their diaper to overflow and leak.

   Synonyms: poonami

10. The cleaning of the flues of a boiler from scale, etc., by a blast of steam.
11. An unsightly flap of skin caused by an ear piercing that is too large.
12. An instance of having one's hair blow-dried and styled.

    Go to your local salon and get a blowout. Or put a blue streak in your hair. Or if you're commitment-phobic, get a temporary blue extension braided into your hair.

    2019, Susan Hyatt, Bare: A 7-Week Program to Transform Your Body, Get More Energy, Feel Amazing, and Become the Bravest, Most Unstoppable Version of You, BenBella Books, →ISBN

    3 more examples

    Get a blowout! Your hair is one of the first things a guy will notice because, hello, it's right at eye level. So take the time to do it right. No ponytails. No frizzy disasters. Wear your hair down.

    2007, Janis Spindel, How to Date Men: Dating Secrets from America's Top Matchmaker, Penguin, →ISBN, page 55

    I mean, how did the African sista' who was getting her hair braided in the first movie get a blowout? And the slave trader's shirt wasn't even right! And the look on the African woman's face when she was watching the white ladies pet her "friend" ...

    2011, Donna Kakonge, PhD Student, The Politics of Black Hair Online Coursebook, →ISBN

    A couple of weeks later, I contacted Melissa to get a blowout for my hair because I was going to New York for an interview but I had to be in the city early in the morning. Melissa said I could come to her condo the night before the event.

    2017, Anysia Marcell Kiel, Discovering the Healer Within: Use Chakras & Intuition to Clear Negativity & Release Pain, Llewellyn Worldwide, →ISBN

13. The blurring of a tattoo due to ink penetrating too far into the skin and dispersing.
14. artsThe damage done to the exit side of a drilled hole or sawn edge when no sacrificial backerboard is used during the drilling or sawing: the drill bit's or sawblade's exit on the far side causes chips of wood to be broken from the edge.

    Synonyms: tearout

15. PhilippinesA party (social gathering), such as a birthday party.
16. Synonym of taper fade.

    Synonyms: taper fade

17. Synonym of blowout sale.

    Synonyms: blowout sale