blow out
Appearance
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle English blow out, blowe out, dissimilated forms of earlier Middle English outblowen, ut-blawen (> English outblow), equivalent to blow + out. Compare West Frisian útblaze (“to blow out”), Dutch uitblazen (“to blow out”), German ausblähen and ausblasen (“to blow out”), Danish blæse ud (“to blow out”), Swedish blåsa ut (“to blow out”).
Pronunciation
[edit]Audio (General Australian): (file)
Verb
[edit]blow out (third-person singular simple present blows out, present participle blowing out, simple past blew out, past participle blown out)
- (transitive) To extinguish something, especially a flame, especially by means of a strong current of air or another gas.
- He blows out the match.
- The wind blew the candle out.
- (transitive) To destroy or degrade (something) quickly, especially inadvertently and prematurely; for example, to deflate (a tire) by puncturing it, to burn out a light bulb by overcurrent, or to injure a bodily joint.
- (intransitive) To be destroyed or degraded quickly, especially inadvertently and prematurely.
- (sports, transitive) In a sporting contest, to dominate and defeat an opposing team, especially by a large scoring margin.
- The No. 1-rated football team proceeded to blow out its undermanned opponent.
- (transitive) To exhaust; to physically tire.
- 2011 December 29, Keith Jackson, “SPL: Celtic 1 Rangers 0”, in Daily Record[1]:
- And although they were pushed harder than even Lennon might have expected on a night of galeforce winds, they clung on to the lead Ledley gave them for all they were worth until their rivals had blown themselves out and surrendered top spot.
- (transitive) To force open or out by the expansive force of a gas or vapour.
- 2013 April 18, “Dozens injured in Texas fertilizer plant explosion”, in NDTV[2], archived from the original on 2019-10-01:
- [T]he blast that followed knocked off his fire helmet and blew out the doors and windows of his home nearby.
- (intransitive) To be driven out by the expansive force of a gas or vapour.
- A steam cock or valve sometimes blows out.
- (slang, vulgar, archaic) To talk violently or abusively.
- (slang) To sing out, sing out loud.
- (slang) To spend a lot of money; to splurge.
- 2014, Martha Stone, Oli Lynch, London: An Insiders Budget Guide:
- There's also an abundance of sky bars for an expensive drink with an awesome view. If you're looking to blow out in style then try one of them.
Derived terms
[edit]- blow-out (noun)
- blowout (noun)
- blow out of the water
- BTFO
Related terms
[edit]- [Term?]
Translations
[edit]extinguish
Anagrams
[edit]Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English phrasal verbs
- English phrasal verbs formed with "out"
- English multiword terms
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with usage examples
- English intransitive verbs
- en:Sports
- English terms with quotations
- English slang
- English vulgarities
- English terms with archaic senses
- en:Singing