blow up
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also blow-up
Contents |
English [edit]
Verb [edit]
blow up (third-person singular simple present blows up, present participle blowing up, simple past blew up, past participle blown up)
- (intransitive) To explode or be destroyed by explosion.
- Why do cars in movies always blow up when they fall off a cliff?
- (transitive) To cause (something or someone) to explode, or to destroy (something) or maim or kill (someone) by means of an explosion.
- We had to blow up the bridge before the enemy army arrived.
- More civilians than soldiers have been blown up by anti-personnel mines.
- (transitive) To inflate or fill with air.
- Blow up the balloons.
- (transitive) To enlarge or zoom in.
- Blow up the picture to get a better look at their faces.
- (intransitive) To fail disastrously.
- 2002, Joan Barfoot, Critical injuries, page 118:
- So I wish you luck, but don't come crying to me when it blows up in your face.
- 2002, Joan Barfoot, Critical injuries, page 118:
- (slang, intransitive) To become popular very quickly.
- This album is about to blow up; they’re being promoted on MTV.
- (slang) To suddenly get very angry.
- Dad blew up at me when I told him I was pregnant.
- (slang, intransitive) To relatively quickly become much more fat or rotund.
Usage notes [edit]
In senses 2, 3, and 4 the object may appear before or after the particle. If the object is a pronoun, then it must be before the particle.
Translations [edit]
to explode (transitive)
to explode (intransitive)
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to inflate
to enlarge
- 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.
