blow

Pronunciation

• IPA ^(key): /blɔʊ/
• SAMPA: /'blOU/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Verb

Plain form blow

Third-person singular blows

Past tense blew

Past participle blown

Present participle blowing

1. (transitive & intransitive) If wind, air, etc. blows, it moves.

   The wind is blowing and the trees are moving.

   The wind blew the paper down the street.

2. (intransitive) If something blows, the air moves it.

   His hat blew off.

   I could see some grass where the snow had blown away.

   Her gray hair blew across her face in the wind.

   Last fall, a storm blew through this town tearing up trees.

3. (transitive & intransitive) If you blow, you push air out of your mouth or nose.

   She blew her nose into a tissue.

   He put his mouth in the water and blew bubbles for a few seconds.

   He hopes to celebrate his 25th birthday by blowing out the candles.

4. (transitive & intransitive) If a horn, whistle, etc. blows, it makes a sound.

   When the final whistle blew, Arsenal had won the game 2 -- 0.

5. (transitive & intransitive) If something blows up, it explodes.

   The car blew up as it drove over the bomb.

6. (transitive) If something blows you away, it surprises or impresses you.

   We were blown away. We couldnt believe that a ten-year-old could do that.

7. (intransitive) If you blow up, you get angry.

   I dropped the cake and she totally blew up on me.

8. (transitive & intransitive) If something blows up, it gets bigger.

   Can you blow that picture up a bit more? I can't see it clearly.

9. (transitive & intransitive) If something is blown off, away, or out, apart, etc., it is damaged by an explosion or a bullet.

   BANG! The shot blew off one of his fingers.

   The truck he was driving was blown apart by a roadside bomb.

   They put the guns to their heads and blew their brains out.

   The blast had blown a hole in the wall.

10. (transitive) If you blow something, you do not do it successfully.

    I can't believe it. You almost had it, but you blew it.

11. (transitive) If you blow money, you spend it, often without being careful.
12. (transitive & intransitive) If a piece of equipment blows, it stops working because there is an electrical problem.
13. (transitive & intransitive) If a tire blows, it gets a hole, letting out its air quickly.

    His little joke had been blown out of proportion and he'd gotten in a lot of trouble.

    The car blew a tire on the way to our campsite.

14. (transitive) If something is blown out of proportion, it is exaggerated.
15. (transitive) If you blow by something, you move past it very quickly.
16. (transitive) If you blow someone, you perform oral sex on them.

Synonyms

• move
• carry
• drive

Noun

Singular blow

Plural blows

1. (countable) A blow is a hit.

   He spent two days in hospital after a serious blow to the head.

   The thought struck like a blow to the chest.

2. (countable) A blow is something bad that happens.

   The team was dealt a terrible blow when goalie Ryan Francis was killed.

   The final blow came when his wife left.

   To soften the blow, the government will send one-time payments to everyone involved.

   The town suffered a severe blow when the car factory shut down.

3. (countable) A blow is an action of blowing.

   He gave a quick blow on the whistle.

4. (slang) Cocaine.

Synonyms

• shock
• strike
• hit
• crack
• disappointment