blow

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See also błȫw

Contents

English[edit]

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Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English blo, bloo, from Old English blāw (“blue”), from Proto-Germanic *blēwaz (“blue, dark blue, grey, black”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlēw- (“yellow, blond, grey”). Cognate with Latin flavus (“yellow”). More at blue.

Adjective[edit]

blow (comparative blower or more blow, superlative blowest or most blow)

  1. (now chiefly dialectal, Northern England) Blue.

Etymology 2[edit]

From Middle English blowen, from Old English blāwan (“to blow, breathe, inflate, sound”), from Proto-Germanic *blēaną (“to blow”) (compare German blähen), from Proto-Indo-European *bhle- 'to swell, blow up' (compare Latin flare 'to blow', Armenian bełun 'fertile', Albanian plas (“to blow, explode”)).

Verb[edit]

blow (third-person singular simple present blows, present participle blowing, simple past blew, past participle blown)

  1. (intransitive) To produce an air current.
    • 1606, William Shakespeare, King Lear, act 3, sc. 2:
      "Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow!"
  2. (transitive) To propel by an air current.
    Blow the dust off that book and open it up.
  3. (intransitive) To be propelled by an air current.
    The leaves blow through the streets in the fall.
  4. (transitive) To create or shape by blowing; as in to blow bubbles, to blow glass.
  5. (transitive) To cause to make sound by blowing, as a musical instrument.
  6. (intransitive) To make a sound as the result of being blown.
    In the harbor, the ships' horns blew.
  7. (intransitive, of a cetacean) To exhale visibly through the spout the seawater which it has taken in while feeding.
    There's nothing more thrilling to the whale watcher than to see a whale surface and blow.
    There she blows! (i.e. "I see a whale spouting!")
  8. (intransitive) To explode.
    Get away from that burning gas tank! It's about to blow!
  9. (transitive, with "up" or with prep phrase headed by "to") To cause to explode, shatter, or be utterly destroyed.
    The demolition squad neatly blew the old hotel up.
    The aerosol can was blown to bits.
  10. (transitive) To cause sudden destruction of.
    He blew the tires and the engine.
  11. (intransitive) To suddenly fail destructively.
    He tried to sprint, but his ligaments blew and he was barely able to walk to the finish line.
  12. (intransitive, slang) To be very undesirable (see also suck).
    This blows!
  13. (transitive, slang) To recklessly squander.
    I managed to blow $1000 at blackjack in under an hour.
    I blew $35 thou on a car.
    We blew an opportunity to get benign corporate sponsorship.
  14. (transitive, vulgar) To fellate.
    Who did you have to blow to get those backstage passes?
  15. (transitive) To leave.
    Let's blow this joint.
  16. To make flyblown, to defile, especially with fly eggs.
    • 1606, William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, Act V, scene 2, line 55.
      Shall they hoist me up,
      And show me to the shouting varletry
      Of censuring Rome? Rather a ditch in Egypt
      Be gentle grave unto me, rather on Nilus' mud
      Lay me stark naked, and let the water-flies
      Blow me into abhorring!
    • 1610, The Tempest, by Shakespeare, act 3 scene 1
      (FERDINAND)
      I am, in my condition,
      A prince, Miranda; I do think, a king;—
      I would not so!—and would no more endure
      This wooden slavery than to suffer
      The flesh-fly blow my mouth.
Derived terms[edit]
Terms derived from blow (verb)
Translations[edit]
to produce an air current
to propel by an air current
to be propelled by an air current
to create or shape by blowing
to blow a musical instrument to make it give a sound
to make a sound as if being blown
(of a cetacean) exhale visibly through the spout the seawater
to explode
to cause to explode
to cause sudden destruction
to fail suddenly destructively
be very undesirable
to squander
to fellate
to leave
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun[edit]

blow (plural blows)

  1. A strong wind.
    We're having a bit of a blow this afternoon.
  2. (UK, informal) A chance to catch one’s breath.
    The players were able to get a blow during the last timeout.
  3. (uncountable, US, slang) Cocaine.
  4. (uncountable, UK, slang) Cannabis.
  5. (uncountable, US Chicago Regional, slang) Heroin.
Translations[edit]
strong wind
chance to catch one’s breath
cocaine — see cocaine

Etymology 3[edit]

Middle English blowe, blaw, northern variant of blēwe, from Proto-Germanic *blewwaną 'to beat' (compare Old Norse blegði 'wedge', German bläuen, Middle Dutch blouwen). Related to block.

Noun[edit]

blow (plural blows)

  1. The act of striking or hitting.
    A fabricator is used to direct a sharp blow to the surface of the stone.
    During an exchange to end round 13, Duran landed a blow to the mid-section.
  2. An unfortunate occurrence.
    A further blow to the group came in 1917 when Thomson died while canoeing in Algonquin Park.
    • 2011 April 15, Saj Chowdhury, “Norwich 2 - 1 Nott'm Forest”, BBC Sport:
      Norwich returned to second in the Championship with victory over Nottingham Forest, whose promotion hopes were dealt another blow.
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
terms derived from blow (noun)
Translations[edit]
act of striking or hitting
unfortunate occurrence

Etymology 4[edit]

Middle English blowen, from Old English blōwan, from Proto-Germanic *blōaną (compare Dutch bloeien, German blühen), from Proto-Indo-European *bhel- 'to thrive, bloom' (compare Latin florēre 'to bloom').

Verb[edit]

blow (third-person singular simple present blows, present participle blowing, simple past blew, past participle blown)

  1. To blossom; to cause to bloom or blossom.
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
blossom — see blossom

Noun[edit]

blow (plural blows)

  1. A mass or display of flowers; a yield.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Tatler:
      Such a blow of tulips.
  2. A display of anything brilliant or bright.
  3. A bloom, state of flowering.
    roses in full blow.
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
mass or display of flowers
display of anything brilliant
state of flowering

Anagrams[edit]

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