blow off steam

English

Etymology

Relief valves released the excess pressure in a steam engine to prevent the boiler from exploding.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Verb

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

1. (idiomatic) To vent; to talk or take action (especially in a ranting or unrestrained way) so as to relieve stress.

   Synonyms: blow off one's steam, let off steam

   Don't take it personally when he shouts like that. He's just blowing off steam.

   I told her she could call me and talk any time she wanted to blow off steam.

2. (idiomatic) To do something to get rid of excess energy or worry, especially exercise or diversion.

Related terms

• blow-off
• blowoff

 

Translations

to vent to relieve stress

• Dutch: stoom afblazen
• Finnish: puhista
• French: souffler (fr), décompresser (fr), se défouler (fr)
• German: Dampf ablassen (de)
• Hebrew: קיטר / קִטֵּר (he) (qitér) (slang)
• Icelandic: rasa út, fá útrás
• Polish: wyszaleć się pf, wyszumieć się pf
• Portuguese: desabafar (pt)
• Russian: спусти́ть пар (spustítʹ par)
• Spanish: desahogarse (es), desfogarse (es)

to get rid of excess energy

• Finnish: purkaa paineita

References

• “blow off steam”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.