What does blow mean

Crossword clues for blow

blow

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

blow

I.verb

COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES

a blow to sb/sth's credibilty (=something that damages credibility)

▪ The case was a severe blow to the administration's credibility.

a breeze blows

▪ The strong breeze blew sand in our faces.

a devastating blow (=a devastating action or event )

▪ When a huge car bomb exploded, it was a devastating blow to the peace plan.

a gale blows

▪ It was a grey winter’s day with an Atlantic gale blowing.

a severe blow (=an event that has a very bad effect)

▪ The closure of the mine was a severe blow to the country’s economy.

a storm blows itself out (=ends)

▪ The storm finally blew itself out.

a storm blows over (=ends)

▪ The President is just hoping that the storm will blow over quickly.

a storm blows up (=starts)

▪ That night, a storm blew up.

a storm blows up (=starts)

▪ In 1895 a diplomatic storm blew up between Britain and America over Venezuela.

be blowing/swaying/flapping etc in the wind

▪ The trees were all swaying in the wind.

be blown to bits (=by a bomb)

▪ A bus shelter nearby was blown to bits.

blew...to kingdom come

▪ He left the gas on and nearly blew us all to kingdom come.

blew...whistle

▪ The lifeguard blew his whistle.

blow a chanceinformal (= have a special opportunity and fail to use it)

▪ He thought he’d blown his chance of happiness.

blow a fuse (=make it melt by putting too much electricity through it)

blow a leadinformal (= to lose the lead)

▪ They managed to blow a 22-point lead.

blow a raspberry (also give a raspberry American English)

▪ She blew a raspberry at him as he drove off.

blow job

blow out a candle

▪ Can you blow out all the candles on your birthday cake?

blow sb a kiss (=to kiss your hand and then blow across it towards someone)

▪ Joe blew her a kiss and waved goodbye.

blow up

▪ Can you help me blow up these balloons?

blow your nose (=clear your nose by blowing strongly into a piece of soft paper or cloth)

▪ She blew her nose on a large white handkerchief.

blowing bubbles

▪ She was blowing bubbles in her milk with a straw.

body blow

▪ Hopes of economic recovery were dealt a body blow by this latest announcement.

cruel blow

▪ His death was a cruel blow.

crushing blow (=made him lose hope and confidence)

▪ Failing his final exams was a crushing blow .

cushion the blow/impact (of sth)

▪ generous leaving allowances to help cushion the blow of redundancy

death blow

▪ His decision to leave the show has delivered a death blow to the series.

deflected...blow

▪ He deflected the blow with his forearm.

delivered a death blow to

▪ His decision to leave the show has delivered a death blow to the series.

fatal blow

▪ His presidential hopes suffered a fatal blow in New Hampshire.

it’s blowing a galeBritish English (= the wind is blowing very strongly)

▪ It was blowing a gale last night.

soften the blow/impact

▪ The impact of the tax was softened by large tax-free allowances.

sound/toot/honk/blow your horn (=make a noise with your horn)

strike a blow at/against/to sth

▪ The scandal seemed to have struck a mortal blow to the government’s chances of re-election.

struck...a blow

▪ Paul struck him a blow to the head.

suffer a blow (=experience a situation or event that causes difficulty or sadness)

▪ The government suffered another blow when a report claimed that standards in education were falling.

the wind blows

▪ A cold wind was blowing.

COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS

■ ADVERB

apart

▪ As three more shots rang out, the push-chair blew apart.

▪ Others had been hit by pieces of trees or bomb fragments and blown apart.

▪ To stop the people going back, their homes are shelled, shot up and blown apart.

▪ Living away from each other, the extended family has been blown apart.

▪ Everyone on the bridge of the Raubvogel ducked as a pane of glass was blown apart.

▪ The old world has been blown apart.

▪ It was in the film to be blown apart.

▪ The ship had clearly been blown apart.

away

▪ The glass shattered like an eggshell, and blew away.

▪ Honest, how do they keep themselves from blowing away?

▪ Hundreds of millions of dollars blown away.

▪ But my doubts have been blown away.

▪ Amongst other things, it threatened to blow away the career of Michael Banks.

▪ Remaining stacks were blown away with tank fire.

▪ Beatlemania had arrived, and everywhere a gale of self-induced collective hysteria blew away the leaves of fuddy-duddy Britain.

▪ And again the Brit blew away the Yank.

down

▪ We planted it 12 years ago, to replace one blown down in the previous storms.

▪ Over the valley, a full moon was rising, and a chill wind was blowing down from the distant mountains.

▪ So ferocious was the wind that the trees blew down and blocked the roads and railways.

▪ Trees were uprooted, tents blown down, the bridges over the Chickahominy nearly swept away, and the very earth flooded.

▪ The experiment had to be abandoned however as drenching rain was continuous and the tent was blown down.

▪ The flame of the wick was blown down to touch the paraffin in the body of the lamp.

▪ And she blew down a kiss.

▪ Yellowed newspaper pages blew down its streets in the monsoon wind.

hard

▪ And the wind blew hard on the tower and me.

▪ Strong winds late Sunday blew hard south, sending the acrid smell of a campfire through much of Phoenix.

▪ There was no wind, of course, but the ladies blew hard to move my boat along.

▪ When we reached our house, the wind was blowing hard in our faces.

▪ Or was it the east wind blowing in through the open bell tower with renewed force?

▪ Out to a distance of seventy-five kilometers, windows are blown in and shards of glass are accelerated to high speeds.

▪ There is Miss Malcolm blown in late again.

▪ Claudia opened her window and let the wind blow in on her face.

▪ A draught of cold air blew in.

▪ The first snowstorm blew in from the north, and crows crossed the sky before it like thrown black socks.

off

▪ The door on the left was blown off its hinges by strategically placed charges that slammed it flat on to the floor.

▪ He was distracted by what sounded like the roof blowing off.

▪ Just then her hat blew off into the road and d'Urberville stopped the horse.

▪ At this point, you will let out a scream suggesting that some one has just blown off your toe with a. 45.

▪ Early that January a bitter wind blowing off the far Urals seized East Anglia in a grip of ice.

▪ She just needed to blow off steam.

▪ Four people were injured, including a man whose legs were blown off.

▪ Winds up here reach 80 miles an hour; the tin, the roofs, they blow off every now and then.

out

▪ He had the car heater on and the whirring as it blew out hot air was beginning to annoy him.

▪ On November 13, 1932, four tremendous explosions blew out the entrances and exits of the two Arizona tunnels.

▪ The novelty was in the clean and smiling way he said them, blowing out gray smoke rings at the same time.

▪ The scare has been blown out of proportion, said John Marchello, professor of animal science at the University of Arizona.

▪ Myles blew out the lamp and placed it on the sideboard.

▪ He cupped his hand over his thing as if it were a flame that might blow out.

▪ He then shuffled around the room cupping his hand around the chimneys and blowing out one lamp after another.

▪ The blast wave is much too weak when it reaches sea level to blow out the flames.

over

▪ The wind is blowing, blowing over the grass.

▪ Carter was merely stunned by the reaction from the East; he was blown over backward by the reaction from the West.

▪ This meant that the gliders were then parked the wrong way and, being light, they often blew over.

▪ That way, nothing will blow over while you are preparing for the next step: installing the joists.&038;.

▪ If a glider was blown over with some one sitting inside it unstrapped, that person could be killed.

▪ The forgery scare had blown over, actually.

▪ He blew over his cocoa and gave Sammy some of the skin, feeling rather important at doing so.

▪ Days of fear and trembling until it blew over.

▪ Anwar blew up all over the place.

▪ That same agent blew up the room I had been in because I was getting too close.

▪ He blew up five city blocks, of course.

▪ Urban violence and civil unrest were mushrooming like small bombs threatening to blow up the machine from within.

▪ On June 8, 1910, Post was back to blow up 171 2-pound charges at three-minute intervals.

▪ It has been blown up by the Arabs.

▪ What did it take to make Paul blow up?

■ NOUN

balloon

▪ You look like you have blown up like a balloon and you feel that you are a complete dieting failure.

▪ Tell the students to blow up the balloon and then tape the straw to the balloon.

▪ Work quickly or keep the cutting material in a plastic bag blown up like a balloon and sealed.

▪ But there are two ways of blowing up a balloon.

▪ There was a game where you blew up balloons and sat on them.

▪ The first players then have to blow the balloons back for the second person to take over.

brain

▪ The bullet took him right between the eyes, blowing his brains out through the back of his head.

▪ In a few years you will blow your brains out, a bankrupt.

▪ There was a mercury pool for losers to reflect in while they blew their brains out.

▪ At that range she knew the gun would blow out her brains.

▪ Reading my dreams felt like a cool breeze blowing through my brain.

▪ Hunting rabbits with hawks is surely better than blowing their brains out with shotguns.

▪ The accused said that he would blow the victim's brains out if he was not quiet.

▪ No wonder the scribblers on the hustings have so much stale garbage blowing around their brains.

breeze

▪ The next day was bright and cold, with a stiff breeze blowing straight down the field.

▪ Uncertain which way to go, Benny gradually became aware of a gentle breeze blowing from the right.

▪ It was winter at last and a cool breeze blew at night.

▪ When she pushes it open, and switches on the light, she finds the breeze blowing through broken windows.

▪ A gentle breeze blew through the windows, lightly rustling the curtains.

▪ A thin, bad-tempered breeze blew sand into our faces and whipped up under my skirt.

▪ A breeze blows through the palms below, rustling their branches, so they whisper like voices.

bubble

▪ That is why you can blow bubbles with soapy water.

▪ She would watch the ball, shading her eyes, and blow a pink bubble.

▪ Felt Hat blows a bubble with her gum.

▪ Bunny or not, he still could not blow bubbles with it.

▪ It will be all downhill after the guests blow bubbles or light sparklers as you leave the church.

candle

▪ When we left they blew out all the candles and remained in the dark tombs.

▪ Then blindfold them and invite them to take four steps backwards followed by four forward before trying to blow out the candle.

▪ Then, picking up his tomahawk, he blows out the candle and springs into bed.

▪ They gathered the flowers that had been left as offerings, they blew the floating candles out.

▪ Mike blew his candle out, and I did the same.

▪ With a sigh, Connor shut the door and bolted it, then blew out the candle and went upstairs.

▪ He blew our the candle and locked the door.

chance

▪ Oxford blew their chance to stake a claim in the promotion race.

▪ The Astros were 9-20 without him last August to blow their wild-card chances.

▪ Middlesbrough have blown their championship chance with two defeats in four days.

▪ He had already blown his chances and perhaps that was why he played a relaxed stroke.

▪ Before he'd blown his chance of happiness for ever.

course

▪ Bad weather can force an emergency landing or strong winds can blow them off course.

▪ All the old fusty stuff had to be blown away, of course, so we might be nearer to nature.

▪ A huge gust of energy blew him back on course.

cover

▪ Last week the Prime Ministerwent to Devon and blew its cover.

▪ They blew their cover story almost immediately.

▪ It would only take one phone call to blow her cover.

▪ But they have blown their cover.

▪ All the press had to do was to interview any one of the islanders to blow the government cover story wide open.

▪ But if you were arrested for murder they would have to be very careful not to blow their cover.

▪ One mistake could blow his cover and ruin years of careful work in the North.

▪ They want to use a customised version to help their overseas operatives communicate home and browse without blowing their cover.

dust

▪ Some one should dig it out from the carpet under which it was brushed and blow the dust off it.

▪ The wind began to blow, grass and dust whipping ahead of them as though fleeing the black cloud.

▪ Kobborg and Cojocaru blow away the dust.

▪ The crowd thinning around them, the wind that blew dust and papers past could not interrupt their looking at each other.

▪ The hot wind blows a storm of dust and leaves, and the women retreat into their houses.

▪ Between the moon and my see-through roof a purple storm was blowing the dust of some previous war into the waste spaces.

▪ The clay dries and cracks in the sun, and the top layers are blown off as dust.

▪ Otherwise blow out dust from the keyboard and clean keyboard casing. 5.

fuse

▪ Damian Flint does everything he possibly can to make me blow twenty-five fuses at once!

▪ Ken ran to Maurine and Hayes's house, and Hayes rushed into our basement and replaced a blown fuse.

▪ I've even known him switch on a light without blowing all the fuses.

gale

▪ What would the position be if there was an exceptionally strong gale blowing at the time of the original road accident?

▪ When the autumn gales blew you could see the smoke being sucked out through the wall like water out of a leaky bucket.

▪ A gale may otherwise blow the whole fence over.

▪ She saved an old apple tree which the gale of 1987 had blown horizontal, but which sprouted again in the spring.

▪ His present place was shaky - a violent gale had just blown in the window panes and the frame was flapping loose.

glass

▪ The chocolates made her melt, sticky, gooey, and desire made her harden, glass blown by fire.

▪ The craft of glass blowing is vital to science, especially when researchers design experiments for which no containers are available.

▪ Everyone on the bridge of the Raubvogel ducked as a pane of glass was blown apart.

▪ After the glass is blown into the general shape, it is inspected.

▪ For contrast we went to the glass blowing factory for a demonstration of their skills.

▪ What collectors refer to as historical flasks are glass bottles blown into metal molds between about 1815 and 1870.

▪ They don't wash the glasses there; they blow on them.

▪ At Jalame crucibles must have been necessary to allow the gathering of glass on a blowing iron.

horn

▪ Other angry motorists blew their horns and flashed rude two-finger salutes when they finally managed to overtake him.

▪ Then all three of the traders laughed together and sounded like a fleet of tugboats blowing their horns.

▪ As she turned uphill, a dark-red Daimler slid by, and blew its horn at her.

▪ When you blow the horn, it sounds blaring.

▪ Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

▪ We climbed up on to it; some one blew a horn and the beat started.

▪ Nanny hoisted her higher in her arms as the huntsman blew his horn and the hounds moved off.

kiss

▪ She blew a kiss to Tunney, and scampered up a wall like a spider.

▪ She blew him little kisses, and he felt love and pangs of something that frightened him.

▪ And she blew down a kiss.

▪ I wanted to blow her a kiss but there was nothing in me to send her way.

▪ Dinah was at the near window, saw him, and blew a kiss.

▪ Leyland blew kisses to his family behind the dugout.

▪ He gave them a huge grin and blew them a kiss.

▪ For him to blow a kiss to the gallery was one thing.

mind

▪ I sat down at the keyboard blowing my mind with Puccini.

▪ But then he blows his mind anyway.

▪ Even the pop posters were old, they blew my mind with boredom.

▪ One species, the ravens, already blows my mind.

▪ It is the catastrophic slippage in public respect which blows the minds of the apparatus.

▪ He estimated there were 100,000 of them, enough to blow the mind of an entire town.

nose

▪ She blew her nose as daintily as was possible in the circumstances and handed the handkerchief back with a wan smile.

▪ Jozia blew her red nose into her kerchief.

▪ With great discretion, the overcoats in the front pews blew their noses.

▪ For a moment Converse thought that she would blow her nose on him.

▪ He took his handkerchief from his pocket and blew his nose.

▪ Upstairs, Petey blew his nose and sipped water after finally giving up his dinner and feeling like he could walk again.

▪ Simpson grimaced, and blew his nose again.

proportion

▪ Female speaker I think it's been blown up out of all proportion.

▪ Athletes are a mirror of society, even if sometimes their images are blown out of proportion.

▪ The whole thing, of course, is being blown up out of all proportion by the Western media.

▪ Likewise, the scare associated with the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island was blown out of proportion.

▪ Things get blown out of proportion.

▪ He thought the whole incident had been blown up out of proportion.

▪ The issue was blown far out of proportion.

raspberry

▪ As I watched it soar over the crossbar,.Jamir stuck his tongue out in ridicule and blew a raspberry.

▪ I blew a raspberry, he blew two.

smithereens

▪ He remembered how innocently they had discussed which natives they would blow to smithereens and which they would grant a reprieve to.

smoke

▪ By the end of the evening she was puffing her cigarette and blowing the smoke at Miss Poole in the darkness.

▪ She's lying on the bed, blowing smoke at the ceiling.

▪ Winnie whips out a stogie and starts puffing away, blowing smoke over to your table.

▪ One or two chimneys blew smoke at the edge of the scheme.

▪ People had been blowing cigarette smoke on to them for years.

▪ Kersey blew smoke rings and watched them with approval.

▪ He gnawed at his thick lower lip or blew smoke in my direction.

storm

▪ On both of the previous occasions, the area was evacuated and isolated until the storm blew itself apart.

▪ The storm had blown itself out, leaving the sky pearly.

▪ Ahab stands and fights fiercely against the storm which blows him away from his course.

▪ Between the moon and my see-through roof a purple storm was blowing the dust of some previous war into the waste spaces.

▪ The morning of the third day, they woke up and saw the storm had blown itself out.

▪ She could do nothing but batten down the conversational hatches and wait until the storm blew itself out.

▪ As he rounded the tip of Cape Horn, a storm blew up from the west.

top

▪ Whether the Ipswich directors who watched him blow his top with the unwitting journalist believe that is debatable.

▪ Lit came on the east stage and blew the top off Woodstock.

▪ The wind was blowing over the top of Jinny's head, fluttering the loose, short hairs round her forehead.

▪ By blowing over the top of the paper, you made the air above the slow moving air strip move faster.

▪ It was unusual for Hauser to blow his top.

▪ Then suddenly he blew his top while walking down the street one day.

▪ It had me rolling on the floor to see Schmeichel blowing his top at the scum defence.

▪ Then Nature blows her top, just to remind us.

trumpet

▪ Most were reluctant, defensive, or simply hesitant to blow their own trumpet.

▪ Gordy started blowing on the trumpet in rhythm with her cries.

▪ For too long we Christians have heard the modern world blowing its own trumpet.

▪ Tonight, he could have shouted through the streets, blown a trumpet, waved a banner.

▪ Despite a unique record of achievement is recent years, he can never be accused of blowing his own trumpet.

▪ They are blowing trumpets singing up a storm and waving as they walk past us.

▪ The heraldry of day-to-day: a cat couchant on bricks; a baby in a push-chair blowing a trumpet very loudly.

▪ An angel hovered over their heads, blowing a yellow trumpet.

water

▪ But we could get blown out of the water....

▪ Steady offshore winds keep blowing the water westward where it becomes heated.

▪ It was as if his confidence, like a target decoy, had been blown clean out of the water.

▪ Cassius heard the fisherman blow the water from his snorkel.

▪ Again, if there had been a Thatcherite on the programme, the Labour expert would have been blown out of the water.

▪ Wind whipping across sandbar on opposite shore, sand blowing across water.

▪ That is why you can blow bubbles with soapy water.

whistle

▪ Such whistles were blown only during war to offer the warrior supernatural protection.

▪ All I could do was frantically reach for my safety whistle and blow like crazy to alert the raft crew.

▪ Just before the whistle blew Vernon thought she had seen him; at any rate she was looking in his direction.

▪ A shrill whistle is blown angrily by a shivering soldier, a sentry at the tomb.

▪ The whistle would blow and Aunt Dorothy would wave goodbye.

▪ Suddenly, all over Illinois, train whistles began blowing in the middle of the night.

▪ I blew my whistle till I blew the pea out of it.

wind

▪ The wind was blowing over the top of Jinny's head, fluttering the loose, short hairs round her forehead.

▪ It was so much dust, and the slightest wind would blow it away.

▪ The wind is blowing, blowing over the grass.

▪ The wind blew strongly into the room.

▪ It would take some wind to blow me off.

▪ It represented a change of style, and this new wind threatened to blow away all that was dated and traditional.

▪ First high winds blow Stu Miller off the mound, forcing a balk, at Candlestick Park.

PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

a glancing blow

▪ As Pegasus fought clear, I smelled smoke and felt a glancing blow which whirled me backwards and away.

▪ Gorbad bellowed in agony and swung Morgor wildly, catching Adolphus a glancing blow across the temple.

▪ He was standing on a piling at the ferry slip in Brooklyn when the ferry hit it a glancing blow.

▪ It leapt forward as Delaney cried out and struck it a glancing blow with the torch.

▪ Police believe Tony was struck a glancing blow by the wing mirror of a transit-type van.

▪ Tom struck his head a glancing blow, and blood came.

blow a gasket

▪ The next morning we found the aircraft had blown a gasket.

▪ They've got her started and she's blown a gasket.

▪ We had blown a gasket and told them of our problem, but we did not declare an emergency.

blow sth sky-high

blow/clear the cobwebs away

▪ It will blow the cobwebs away.

▪ Talk about blowing the cobwebs away!

blow/go hot and cold

▪ Paula was going hot and cold by now.

▪ She went hot and cold, dizzy with confusion.

▪ Some of these young officers blow hot and cold.

blow/sod/bugger etc that for a lark

hammer blow

▪ Granny's thoughts had the strength of hammer blows and they'd pounded her personality into the walls.

▪ It brought another hammer blow to Britain's depressed farming industry.

▪ It was followed by a hammer blow that echoed like thunder through the steel hulk.

▪ Labour's energy spokesman says the decision is bad news for the consumer and a hammer blow for the coal industry.

▪ She glanced at her own reflection in the mirror and the answer came with the suddenness of a hammer blow.

▪ Such speeds are far faster than any hammer blow and considerably faster than the flight of bullets.

▪ The sight was a hammer blow to Yuri Rudakov.

▪ The tunnels were quiet during the hammer blow of 1972.

it's an ill wind (that blows nobody any good)

knock/blow sb's socks off

▪ And yet the correlations just knock my socks off...

▪ So, he popped down to my office, stuck this demo on the turntable and it just blew my socks off.

▪ The current crop of non-Windows databases can knock the socks off their predecessors.

▪ This in-your-face marketing could be forgiven if the food absolutely knocked your socks off.

knockout punch/blow

▪ And then, as if to deliver the knockout blow to his scheme, the phone rang.

▪ But the new West Indies proved encouragingly resilient, repeatedly getting up off the canvas to deliver the final knockout punch.

▪ Great passing; good running, but they lacked a knockout punch.

▪ He may not have a knockout punch, but he does have good moves all the way to the bell.

▪ If people will use the vaccine available, it is possible to give paralytic polio a knockout blow within the next year.

▪ It was a knockout punch of which Indurain, Hinault or Merckx would have been proud.

▪ That seven eighty-one was like a knockout punch.

▪ The business was reeling from what appeared to have been the knockout punch.

let/blow off steam

▪ Recess is a good chance for kids to blow off steam.

▪ It was recreation hour, explained Brother Andrew with a smile, and the Brothers were letting off steam.

▪ Jody lets her blow off steam first.

▪ Others have behavioural problems and need to let off steam in a safe and controlled setting.

▪ She just needed to blow off steam.

▪ So kicking the cat, biting a towel or pounding a pillow aren't really much use, except for letting off steam.

▪ We let off steam in graffiti, vandalism and football hooliganism.

▪ You got upset, blew off steam.

▪ You want to let off steam?

mortal blow/danger/wound etc

▪ As she reads or hears the news reports of battles, she can ascertain whether he is in mortal danger.

▪ Hellenism no longer represented a mortal danger.

▪ His dragon had taken a mortal wound as he and Caledor clashed on the battlefield.

▪ Railroad traffic is a mortal danger.

▪ This rust-blood pouring from mortal wounds in the planet's skin is a terrible indictment of the tyranny we climbers inflict.

▪ Yesterday, the joint shop stewards committee of Corporate Jets said a loss of production would be a mortal blow.

see which way the wind is blowing

smash/blow etc sth to smithereens

▪ He says an overweight lorry in a crash will smash a car to smithereens.

EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

▪ Blow on it, Ian - the oatmeal's very hot.

▪ A warm breeze was blowing from the south.

▪ He blew smoke rings across the table.

▪ He won £500,000 in the National Lottery, but he's already blown the lot.

▪ I put the balloon to my lips and blew as hard as I could.

▪ One of the tires blew and they skidded into the center divider.

▪ She blew the feather off her sleeve.

▪ The ornaments are made of blown glass.

▪ The referee blew his whistle to start the game.

▪ The whistle blew on the old steam engine.

▪ The wind must have blown the door shut.

▪ We blew $3000 on a trip to Barbados.

▪ You're lucky you didn't blow out the whole engine.

EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS

▪ He thinks one of the anti-Castro group is going to blow me away.

▪ His black hair was tousled, blown by the wind, shining strands of it across his brown forehead.

▪ On one of them was Blue Mooney, his pale blond hair blown against his cheek as he skidded around the corner.

▪ On the minus side, she'd blown a lot of money and received a couple of scares.

▪ She tried to open the door to the storage-room, but twice the wind blew it out of her hands.

▪ The scare has been blown out of proportion, said John Marchello, professor of animal science at the University of Arizona.

▪ The wind blew so hard the bread got stale in our hands.

▪ They know the way that the wind is blowing, and would be only too pleased to be redeployed into another trade.

II.noun

COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS

■ ADJECTIVE

big

▪ He says that it's a big blow, staff are very upset.

▪ A big blow came last summer, when Fortune magazine predicted legal and financial chaos for Hong Kong after 1997.

▪ The decision is a big blow to James but a welcome boost for Hooper.

▪ The card suffered a big blow when Phoenix junior-flyweight Michael Carbajal withdrew because of pneumonia.

▪ But the biggest blow was a cut of £200,000 in its council grant.

▪ Losing Harris and Prince would be the biggest blows, though.

▪ He says that the biggest blow came when Rank's made thousands redundant in the eighties.

▪ Wilson knows which way the big national wind blows.

bitter

▪ It was a bitter blow when the trustees preferred the reprint.

▪ The loss of that partner through death, either shortly before retirement or afterwards, comes as a bitter blow.

▪ It was a particularly bitter blow for Leeds, because in the very first minute they should have levelled the tie.

▪ So defeat was a bitter blow to Dowding.

cruel

▪ That was a cruel blow for Howard Wilkinson's team, who had made a committed, controlled and commanding start.

▪ This had been a cruel blow, but it wouldn't stop her from ensuring that justice was done.

▪ It would have been an unnecessary and cruel blow for her to see her old home in its state of decay.

▪ The fact Pears could be ruled out of the crunch game at Molineux is a cruel blow after his superb season.

▪ It is a cruel blow and one that again underlines the inconsistency of the red card law.

▪ He wanted to give comfort, and protect her from the cruel blow life had dealt her.

▪ Yet with their very first attack, the visitors struck a cruel blow.

devastating

▪ A sharp run-down in the business would be a devastating blow to the local economy.

▪ That would be a devastating blow to the long-term unemployed.

▪ Her loss is a devastating blow to the standing of the monarchy.

▪ That was a devastating blow from which the constituency is struggling to recover.

▪ Forest struck a devastating first blow after 11 minutes.

▪ Shaking a little at first but gradually warming to his theme, the sacked Chancellor dealt John Major a devastating blow.

▪ The death of Osvaldo was a devastating blow to all Danuese patriots.

double

▪ Villa had suffered a double injury blow before manager Ron Atkinson had settled in the dugout.

▪ However, the danger is that the double blow of recession and Royal Mail reorganisation could make that first rung very narrow.

▪ The double blow left the 43-year-old Grease star numb with shock.

▪ It was a double blow, too, for Morris.

fatal

▪ But the elections were a further, and fatal, blow.

▪ His presidential hopes thus suffered a fatal blow in the snow drifts of New Hampshire.

▪ For the prosecution case to stand, it will be necessary to prove that Lenny McLean struck the fatal blow.

▪ This was the first time he dealt a fatal blow without intending it.

▪ Experts claim that at least half were inflicted well before the fatal blow.

▪ The woman had lashed out in fear and given the bird a fatal blow, feathers everywhere.

▪ He had not delivered the fatal blows, he had not pulled the trigger.

▪ Who might strike the fatal blow this time?

final

▪ The final blow for many firms was the government's abolition of import duties which resulted in a flood of cheap imports.

▪ Practices which have characterised the details of your daily living from the cradle upwards are dealt a swift and final blow.

▪ The final blow for Philip was the defection of his chancellor, Conrad, bishop of Würzburg.

further

▪ This was a further blow for Adolph Zukor; both Arbuckle and Taylor had been under contract to him.

glancing

▪ It leapt forward as Delaney cried out and struck it a glancing blow with the torch.

▪ Gorbad bellowed in agony and swung Morgor wildly, catching Adolphus a glancing blow across the temple.

▪ Police believe Tony was struck a glancing blow by the wing mirror of a transit-type van.

great

▪ It will be a greater blow than would be a dozen pogroms.

▪ It was a great blow to all the family. 1962 brought more shocks for Salvationists in Rhodesia.

▪ Stalingrad was the greatest single blow of the war.

▪ Her death in April 1994 was the second great blow in his life.

hard

▪ He had struggled to his feet, but then felt a really hard blow on the face.

▪ Good fortune can be as bewildering as a hard blow sometimes.

▪ It's a hard blow to stop.

▪ It was the hardest blow he had ever taken.

▪ He survived a hard blow to the jaw in the dying seconds to win 20-10.

heavy

▪ Now think again of the wound on Hector's face - a heavy blow, a wide gash.

▪ I am not wholly barren of hope, for circumstances have been dealing the conventional wisdom a new series of heavy blows.

▪ It is knocked to the ground by a heavy blow, seized by the throat or mouth and quickly suffocated.

▪ For the beneficiaries the change would be almost imperceptible: for the losers it would be a heavy blow.

▪ He says that both changes will be a heavy blow for young self-employed workers.

▪ The repression which followed temporarily halted the labour movement and dealt the party a heavy blow.

▪ Obituary: Carlo Verrri. Heavy blow to Alitalia:.

huge

▪ But the study is a huge blow to the transplant programme, criticised not least because of the huge costs involved.

▪ It was a huge blow to him.

knockout

▪ If people will use the vaccine available, it is possible to give paralytic polio a knockout blow within the next year.

low

▪ Trinidad was warned for low blows twice by referee Mitch Halpern.

▪ He respected Ray and his willingness to fight for his ideals, but this was a low blow.

major

▪ The loss of the plant would have been a major blow to the local economy.

▪ This is a major blow, perhaps a turning point.

▪ It then takes a major blow to fracture it.

▪ However, its fall is another major blow to the rebels.

▪ That would be a major blow for the airline.

▪ Dundee also suffered a major blow when player/manager Simon Stainrod limped off seven minutes from the interval.

▪ Losing his international place two years ago was also a major blow.

▪ Losses are expected to top £100m this year, a major blow to the company's 40,000 employees.

mortal

▪ Yesterday, the joint shop stewards committee of Corporate Jets said a loss of production would be a mortal blow.

▪ It was not a mortal blow in the style of Lord Howe who brought about the downfall of Margaret Thatcher.

▪ Though Canary's death was a mortal blow to the film, the groundwork he had laid carried the project forward.

serious

▪ Like the contagious diseases defeat, Simon's resignation was received as a serious blow by the medical profession.

▪ But politically, the rebellion in the Cabinet is a serious and telling blow.

▪ The Taff Vale decision was a serious blow to trade unionism.

▪ This year, that amount could plummet to $ 1 million, a serious blow to the already financially struggling tribe.

▪ A person who is quickly back on his or her feet after a serious blow.

▪ The decision also represented a serious blow to the morale of the regulatory authorities.

▪ His departure will, of course, be a serious blow to our hopes of pulling away from the foot of the table.

▪ It is being said with some conviction that Labour inflicted a serious blow on itself with that Sheffield monster rally.

severe

▪ The failure of the Accord was also a severe blow to Mulroney and prompted opposition calls for his resignation.

▪ This was a severe blow because we needed him desperately.

▪ Pittsburgh suffered a severe blow, however, when quarterback Neil O'Donnell broke his right leg.

▪ This is a severe blow to the Fernandez family.

▪ Bank Assistants have suffered a severe blow.

▪ That could deliver a severe financial blow to the county.

▪ Pentrite can explode without a detonator if it receives a severe blow or strong friction.

▪ Finally, the cutting of trade with the United States from 1985 was a severe blow.

sharp

▪ With the exact position established, the outline can be scored with sharp blows from a club hammer and bolster chisel.

▪ The bird-swat includes the same approach, but then ends with an upward leap and a sharp blow with the front foot.

▪ The sharpest financial blow came in mid-1939, when the owner of Bunce Court decided she wanted to sell the freehold.

▪ Another sharp blow hit him between his shoulder-blades.

▪ She felt a sharp blow to her arm and gasped, retreating further.

single

▪ The lock shattered with a single blow of the sledgehammer and they were in.

▪ There was no acceptable explanation for the injuries, and the injuries were consistent with a single blow.

▪ He found the spot where the three reeds were growing and at a single blow cut down all three with his sword.

▪ Stalingrad was the greatest single blow of the war.

▪ It looks as if he was struck by a single blow and died where he fell.

▪ Baking makes chestnuts brittle, which means they can be knocked off their string with a single blow.

▪ I agree that he was probably killed by a single blow and that wooden mallet on the table seems the likely weapon.

▪ Drums with single blows merging into a volley, resembling a creaking branch.

terrible

▪ Female speaker It's a terrible blow just on top of everything else.

▪ The outcome of the campaign was a terrible blow to the burdened President.

▪ I knew it would be a terrible blow to Marxism-Leninism.

▪ His untimely loss is a terrible blow to all of us who knew and cared for him.

▪ She says closing the college would be a terrible blow - it's used by thousands of people.

▪ How it all happened I now don't quite know, Except that my nose stopped a terrible blow.

■ NOUN

body

▪ Suddenly the confidence of the new radicals received a body blow.

▪ The heat had gradually become an expected body blow which was endurable with certain rules.

▪ The news was a body blow and for several months the company was on a knife edge.

▪ But tomorrow, with just a few words, the Chancellor could deal the company a body blow.

▪ Every tale - depressing as it is in its own right represents another body blow to the leasing industry.

▪ The news Herrmann brought was like a body blow.

death

▪ The fact that they have seen nothing is by no means an immediate death blow for all grand unified theories.

▪ The death blow to drug chic actually may have been struck by a fast-food chain.

▪ The death blow to the Aksumite kingdom came in the tenth century from unassimilated Agaw in the south.

▪ Neither, however, will be a death blow.

▪ Was it however so paradoxical as to have dealt a death blow to the theory?

hammer

▪ Such speeds are far faster than any hammer blow and considerably faster than the flight of bullets.

▪ The tunnels were quiet during the hammer blow of 1972.

▪ It brought another hammer blow to Britain's depressed farming industry.

▪ She glanced at her own reflection in the mirror and the answer came with the suddenness of a hammer blow.

▪ Labour's energy spokesman says the decision is bad news for the consumer and a hammer blow for the coal industry.

▪ Granny's thoughts had the strength of hammer blows and they'd pounded her personality into the walls.

▪ The sight was a hammer blow to Yuri Rudakov.

▪ It was followed by a hammer blow that echoed like thunder through the steel hulk.

■ VERB

cushion

▪ To cushion the blow, wages and pensions were increased.

▪ Additionally, two presidential decrees on March 23 had been designed to cushion the blow of the price rises.

▪ There was no way to cushion the blow.

▪ Even where price increases have taken place, retailers with good stocks may be able to cushion the blow for a while.

▪ The thick, air-filled bone of the skull helps to cushion the blow.

▪ Colonel Goreng broke the news to me, making no effort to cushion the blow.

deal

▪ It also dealt a blow to his testimonial, which nevertheless realised more than £2000.

▪ This was the first time he dealt a fatal blow without intending it.

▪ Once more the war had dealt an unfair blow to Otago cricket.

▪ Every blow of his was parried, though I dealt no blows in return.

▪ But it will deal a blow to the agreement, which allows publishers to set a minimum price for most books.

▪ His stance was apologetic, almost cringing as if he expected to be dealt a blow.

▪ Mickey had a ramp with pea sized objects rolling down to be dealt a mighty blow from a spring loaded mallet.

▪ They have enough problems avoiding the stones they are throwing among themselves to be dealt such an additional blow.

deflect

▪ He deflected the blow, and the razor edge cut deep into the gunwale of the ship.

▪ Scathach pushed her away, turning her in time to deflect the blow from another raider.

▪ As the knife flashed down, aimed at his heart, Connor deflected the blow with his left forearm.

deliver

▪ Furthermore, its flexibility and power of movement are considerably greater, so that less power is needed to deliver a blow.

▪ She stood her ground and got an almighty shove from Vassily, who smiled at me apologetically as he delivered the blow.

▪ Government forces delivered a critical blow to the rebels on March 7 when the Defence Ministry's communication links were severed.

▪ By the late 1880s there was nothing terribly mysterious about getting a steam hammer to deliver a blow of so many tons.

▪ Our final rehearsal before Farnham, however, delivered the cruellest blow so far.

▪ When he delivered his last blow, he avoided my face, and looked worried.

▪ He had not delivered the fatal blows, he had not pulled the trigger.

▪ That could deliver a severe financial blow to the county.

exchange

▪ Two figures were battling furiously, exchanging blows as they materialized.

▪ While the men exchanged blows the girl struck Farini from behind with a blunt instrument.

▪ They rolled over and over on the damp moss, exchanging blows and vile words until finally Topaz's strength ran out.

land

▪ The darker boy rallied and eventually landed more and heavier blows.

▪ The official unions will have to compete directly with Solidarity for members, so they want to land the first blows.

▪ Sharpe hacked again, this time landing a blow on the back of the helmet.

▪ Johnson counter-punched, landing three telling blows.

▪ This time, he hardly landed a blow as the majestic Christie cruised home.

receive

▪ Like the contagious diseases defeat, Simon's resignation was received as a serious blow by the medical profession.

▪ His adventure began during a practice game against the Minnesota Vikings when he received a blow to the head.

▪ Her eyebrow had received the blow from the torch and had begun to throb; she could feel a trickle of blood.

▪ I used to duck and cover my face, receiving ten blows instead of one.

▪ As they straighten, curve the spine and pull in the tummy, as if you have just received a blow.

▪ As he received the blow his face writhed and he gasped with pain.

▪ Agnes went to pick her up and received a blow from an elbow that sent her across the room.

▪ He went down to protest and himself began to receive blows.

soften

▪ Help, or soften the blow.?

▪ There was no warning, no softening of the blow.

▪ Or will motherhood soften the blow?

▪ Try starting with a pat on the back to soften the blow of criticism.

▪ The Chancellor's flexibility to reduce interest rates much further, to soften the blow of tax increases, looks limited.

▪ Factories had closed, and thousands were out of work, without unemployment insurance to soften the blow.

▪ But you can soften the blow by telling his Dad that none of the other dads can do it either.

▪ Letting some one resign is a way to soften the blow.

strike

▪ But Kevin Curren struck some crucial blows - runs that Warwickshire could ill afford to concede at this stage of the match.

▪ They were certainly striking a blow for short people.

▪ Let us strike the blow which is to restore peace and union to this distracted land.

▪ Eventually, one of them attacked it with a large branch, striking it a damaging blow.

▪ The guard made a point of gazing into the distance as he struck his blows.

▪ Some one ought to strike a blow for women and show this vain man that he was utterly resistible!

suffer

▪ Villa had suffered a double injury blow before manager Ron Atkinson had settled in the dugout.

▪ His presidential hopes thus suffered a fatal blow in the snow drifts of New Hampshire.

▪ Pittsburgh suffered a severe blow, however, when quarterback Neil O'Donnell broke his right leg.

▪ The card suffered a big blow when Phoenix junior-flyweight Michael Carbajal withdrew because of pneumonia.

▪ In addition to the papal disregard of Canterbury's primatial claim over York, the monastic community suffered another grievous blow.

▪ Bank Assistants have suffered a severe blow.

▪ Aside from the engine failure Stiletto suffered a tyre blow out.

▪ Maesteg suffered a blow yesterday when they learnt captain and centre Huw Woodland will be sidelined for another month.

PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

a glancing blow

▪ As Pegasus fought clear, I smelled smoke and felt a glancing blow which whirled me backwards and away.

▪ Gorbad bellowed in agony and swung Morgor wildly, catching Adolphus a glancing blow across the temple.

▪ He was standing on a piling at the ferry slip in Brooklyn when the ferry hit it a glancing blow.

▪ It leapt forward as Delaney cried out and struck it a glancing blow with the torch.

▪ Police believe Tony was struck a glancing blow by the wing mirror of a transit-type van.

▪ Tom struck his head a glancing blow, and blood came.

blow sth sky-high

blow/clear the cobwebs away

▪ It will blow the cobwebs away.

▪ Talk about blowing the cobwebs away!

blow/go hot and cold

▪ Paula was going hot and cold by now.

▪ She went hot and cold, dizzy with confusion.

▪ Some of these young officers blow hot and cold.

blow/sod/bugger etc that for a lark

come as a surprise/relief/blow etc (to sb)

▪ And this might come as a surprise to our brethren in the popular national press - Thirty-eight.

▪ Buller's Hill House came as a surprise.

▪ Her answer came as a surprise.

▪ It comes as a surprise to find him boasting of his prowess as a rioter.

▪ Nevertheless, he said the sharp drop in the book-to-bill came as a surprise.

▪ Nor should it come as a surprise that these rules frequently get S corporation owners into trouble.

▪ So it comes as a surprise to discover that this is not always the case.

▪ This should not come as a surprise to people who are free.

deal a blow (to sb/sth)

▪ But it will deal a blow to the agreement, which allows publishers to set a minimum price for most books.

▪ His stance was apologetic, almost cringing as if he expected to be dealt a blow.

▪ It also dealt a blow to his testimonial, which nevertheless realised more than £2000.

▪ Very many died without ever a chance of dealing a blow in return.

exchange blows (with sb)

▪ They rolled over and over on the damp moss, exchanging blows and vile words until finally Topaz's strength ran out.

▪ Two figures were battling furiously, exchanging blows as they materialized.

▪ While the men exchanged blows the girl struck Farini from behind with a blunt instrument.

hammer blow

▪ Granny's thoughts had the strength of hammer blows and they'd pounded her personality into the walls.

▪ It brought another hammer blow to Britain's depressed farming industry.

▪ It was followed by a hammer blow that echoed like thunder through the steel hulk.

▪ Labour's energy spokesman says the decision is bad news for the consumer and a hammer blow for the coal industry.

▪ She glanced at her own reflection in the mirror and the answer came with the suddenness of a hammer blow.

▪ Such speeds are far faster than any hammer blow and considerably faster than the flight of bullets.

▪ The sight was a hammer blow to Yuri Rudakov.

▪ The tunnels were quiet during the hammer blow of 1972.

it's an ill wind (that blows nobody any good)

knock/blow sb's socks off

▪ And yet the correlations just knock my socks off...

▪ So, he popped down to my office, stuck this demo on the turntable and it just blew my socks off.

▪ The current crop of non-Windows databases can knock the socks off their predecessors.

▪ This in-your-face marketing could be forgiven if the food absolutely knocked your socks off.

knockout punch/blow

▪ And then, as if to deliver the knockout blow to his scheme, the phone rang.

▪ But the new West Indies proved encouragingly resilient, repeatedly getting up off the canvas to deliver the final knockout punch.

▪ Great passing; good running, but they lacked a knockout punch.

▪ He may not have a knockout punch, but he does have good moves all the way to the bell.

▪ If people will use the vaccine available, it is possible to give paralytic polio a knockout blow within the next year.

▪ It was a knockout punch of which Indurain, Hinault or Merckx would have been proud.

▪ That seven eighty-one was like a knockout punch.

▪ The business was reeling from what appeared to have been the knockout punch.

land a punch/blow etc

▪ Flaws' Nigel's style includes getting caught with punches in order to land punches.

▪ He shot out his right arm and landed a punch on Lorrimer's nose.

▪ Sharpe hacked again, this time landing a blow on the back of the helmet.

▪ The first tried to land a punch, but he missed.

▪ This time, he hardly landed a blow as the majestic Christie cruised home.

let/blow off steam

▪ Recess is a good chance for kids to blow off steam.

▪ It was recreation hour, explained Brother Andrew with a smile, and the Brothers were letting off steam.

▪ Jody lets her blow off steam first.

▪ Others have behavioural problems and need to let off steam in a safe and controlled setting.

▪ She just needed to blow off steam.

▪ So kicking the cat, biting a towel or pounding a pillow aren't really much use, except for letting off steam.

▪ We let off steam in graffiti, vandalism and football hooliganism.

▪ You got upset, blew off steam.

▪ You want to let off steam?

mortal blow/danger/wound etc

▪ As she reads or hears the news reports of battles, she can ascertain whether he is in mortal danger.

▪ Hellenism no longer represented a mortal danger.

▪ His dragon had taken a mortal wound as he and Caledor clashed on the battlefield.

▪ Railroad traffic is a mortal danger.

▪ This rust-blood pouring from mortal wounds in the planet's skin is a terrible indictment of the tyranny we climbers inflict.

▪ Yesterday, the joint shop stewards committee of Corporate Jets said a loss of production would be a mortal blow.

rain (down) blows/blows rain down

receive an injury/blow

▪ Agnes went to pick her up and received a blow from an elbow that sent her across the room.

▪ As they straighten, curve the spine and pull in the tummy, as if you have just received a blow.

▪ Ben stood transfixed with disbelief, his mouth open, as if he had received a blow across it.

▪ For his outspokenness, he received a blow to the skull which sent him reeling.

▪ He went down to protest and himself began to receive blows.

▪ His adventure began during a practice game against the Minnesota Vikings when he received a blow to the head.

▪ It was almost as if I had received a blow to the heart.

▪ Wilson received an injury in the third minute, but that didn't hamper his stand on the game.

ride a punch/blow

smash/blow etc sth to smithereens

▪ He says an overweight lorry in a crash will smash a car to smithereens.

strike a blow for sb/sth

▪ Little Bill in drag strikes a blow for the downtrodden girls.

▪ Some one ought to strike a blow for women and show this vain man that he was utterly resistible!

▪ They were certainly striking a blow for short people.

trade insults/blows etc

▪ He was more than prepared to trade blows with the former circus act Benichou.

▪ The two camps traded insults, moans and jeers, threatening occasionally to turn the proceedings into an intramural debate.

EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

▪ a blow to the stomach

▪ His championship hopes were dealt a savage blow last night when he received a hamstring injury.

▪ Not being allowed to return to her own country was a blow from which she never really recovered.

▪ Officer Stacey was knocked over by a sharp blow to the head.

▪ The blow proved fatal.

▪ The assailant struck several blows before he was restrained.

▪ The Colorado river was closed, a bitter blow to rafters and kayakers who may have to wait seven years for a river use permit.

▪ three heavy blows from the hammer

EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS

▪ For the prosecution case to stand, it will be necessary to prove that Lenny McLean struck the fatal blow.

▪ He had a robust self-esteem, even though this was a blow, and he needed financially to continue working.

▪ He kept coming, taking ten blows for one.

▪ It is a sweeping blow and only one who has seen them in action knows how tremendous it is.

▪ One jarring blow crushed it all.

▪ One of the knife blows had punctured a lung.

▪ The blue rose on stubby wings, twisting acrobatically to slip the blow.

▪ Tony smiled and without moving his left knee dodged the blows, his torso jinking, neck muscles popping.

The Collaborative International Dictionary

Blow

Blow \Blow\ (bl[=o]), v. i. [imp. Blew (bl[=u]); p. p. Blown (bl[=o]n); p. pr. & vb. n. Blowing.] [OE. blowen, AS. bl[=o]wan to blossom; akin to OS. bl[=o]jan, D. bloeijen, OHG. pluojan, MHG. bl["u]ejen, G. bl["u]hen, L. florere to flourish, OIr. blath blossom. Cf. Blow to puff, Flourish.] To flower; to blossom; to bloom.

How blows the citron grove.
--Milton.

Blow

Blow \Blow\, v. i. [imp. Blew (bl[=u]); p. p. Blown (bl[=o]n); p. pr. & vb. n. Blowing.] [OE. blawen, blowen, AS. bl[=a]wan to blow, as wind; akin to OHG. pl[=a]jan, G. bl["a]hen, to blow up, swell, L. flare to blow, Gr. 'ekflai`nein to spout out, and to E. bladder, blast, inflate, etc., and perh. blow to bloom.]

To produce a current of air; to move, as air, esp. to move rapidly or with power; as, the wind blows.

Hark how it rains and blows !
--Walton.
To send forth a forcible current of air, as from the mouth or from a pair of bellows.
To breathe hard or quick; to pant; to puff.

Here is Mistress Page at the door, sweating and blowing.
--Shak.
To sound on being blown into, as a trumpet.

There let the pealing organ blow.
--Milton.
To spout water, etc., from the blowholes, as a whale.
To be carried or moved by the wind; as, the dust blows in from the street.

The grass blows from their graves to thy own.
--M. Arnold.
To talk loudly; to boast; to storm. [Colloq.]

You blow behind my back, but dare not say anything to my face.
--Bartlett.
To stop functioning due to a failure in an electrical circuit, especially on which breaks the circuit; sometimes used with out; -- used of light bulbs, electronic components, fuses; as, the dome light in the car blew out.
To deflate by sudden loss of air; usually used with out; -- of inflatable tires. To blow hot and cold (a saying derived from a fable of [AE]sop's), to favor a thing at one time and treat it coldly at another; or to appear both to favor and to oppose. To blow off, to let steam escape through a passage provided for the purpose; as, the engine or steamer is blowing off. To blow out.
1. To be driven out by the expansive force of a gas or vapor; as, a steam cock or valve sometimes blows out.
2. To talk violently or abusively. [Low]
  
  To blow over, to pass away without effect; to cease, or be dissipated; as, the storm and the clouds have blown over.
  
  To blow up, to be torn to pieces and thrown into the air as by an explosion of powder or gas or the expansive force of steam; to burst; to explode; as, a powder mill or steam boiler blows up. ``The enemy's magazines blew up.''
  --Tatler.

Blow

Blow \Blow\, v. t. To cause to blossom; to put forth (blossoms or flowers).

The odorous banks, that blow Flowers of more mingled hue.
--Milton.

Blow

Blow \Blow\, n. (Bot.) A blossom; a flower; also, a state of blossoming; a mass of blossoms. ``Such a blow of tulips.''
--Tatler.

Blow

Blow \Blow\, n. [OE. blaw, blowe; cf. OHG. bliuwan, pliuwan, to beat, G. bl["a]uen, Goth. bliggwan.]

A forcible stroke with the hand, fist, or some instrument, as a rod, a club, an ax, or a sword.

Well struck ! there was blow for blow.
--Shak.
A sudden or forcible act or effort; an assault.

A vigorous blow might win [Hanno's camp].
--T. Arnold.
The infliction of evil; a sudden calamity; something which produces mental, physical, or financial suffering or loss (esp. when sudden); a buffet.

A most poor man, made tame to fortune's blows.
--Shak.

At a blow, suddenly; at one effort; by a single vigorous act. ``They lose a province at a blow.''
--Dryden.

To come to blows, to engage in combat; to fight; -- said of individuals, armies, and nations.

Syn: Stroke; knock; shock; misfortune.

Blow

Blow \Blow\, n.

A blowing, esp., a violent blowing of the wind; a gale; as, a heavy blow came on, and the ship put back to port.
The act of forcing air from the mouth, or through or from some instrument; as, to give a hard blow on a whistle or horn; to give the fire a blow with the bellows.
The spouting of a whale.
(Metal.) A single heat or operation of the Bessemer converter.
--Raymond.
An egg, or a larva, deposited by a fly on or in flesh, or the act of depositing it.
--Chapman.

Blow

Blow \Blow\, v. t.

To force a current of air upon with the mouth, or by other means; as, to blow the fire.
To drive by a current air; to impel; as, the tempest blew the ship ashore.

Off at sea northeast winds blow Sabean odors from the spicy shore.
--Milton.
To cause air to pass through by the action of the mouth, or otherwise; to cause to sound, as a wind instrument; as, to blow a trumpet; to blow an organ; to blow a horn.

Hath she no husband That will take pains to blow a horn before her?
--Shak.

Boy, blow the pipe until the bubble rise, Then cast it off to float upon the skies.
--Parnell.
To clear of contents by forcing air through; as, to blow an egg; to blow one's nose.
To burst, shatter, or destroy by an explosion; -- usually with up, down, open, or similar adverb; as, to blow up a building.
To spread by report; to publish; to disclose; to reveal, intentionally or inadvertently; as, to blow an agent's cover.

Through the court his courtesy was blown.
--Dryden.

His language does his knowledge blow.
--Whiting.
To form by inflation; to swell by injecting air; as, to blow bubbles; to blow glass.
To inflate, as with pride; to puff up.

Look how imagination blows him.
--Shak.
To put out of breath; to cause to blow from fatigue; as, to blow a horse.
--Sir W. Scott.
To deposit eggs or larv[ae] upon, or in (meat, etc.).

To suffer The flesh fly blow my mouth.
--Shak.
To perform an act of fellatio on; to stimulate another's penis with one's mouth; -- usually considered vulgar.
to smoke (e. g. marijuana); to blow pot. [colloq.]
to botch; to bungle; as, he blew his chance at a good job by showing up late for the interview. [colloq.]
to leave; to depart from; as, to blow town. [slang]
to squander; as, he blew his inheritance gambling. To blow great guns, to blow furiously and with roaring blasts; -- said of the wind at sea or along the coast. To blow off, to empty (a boiler) of water through the blow-off pipe, while under steam pressure; also, to eject (steam, water, sediment, etc.) from a boiler. To blow one's own trumpet, to vaunt one's own exploits, or sound one's own praises. To blow out, to extinguish by a current of air, as a candle. To blow up.
1. To fill with air; to swell; as, to blow up a bladder or bubble.
2. To inflate, as with pride, self-conceit, etc.; to puff up; as, to blow one up with flattery. ``Blown up with high conceits engendering pride.''
  --Milton.
3. To excite; as, to blow up a contention.
4. To burst, to raise into the air, or to scatter, by an explosion; as, to blow up a fort.
5. To scold violently; as, to blow up a person for some offense. [Colloq.] I have blown him up well -- nobody can say I wink at what he does. --G. Eliot. To blow upon.
  1. To blast; to taint; to bring into discredit; to render stale, unsavory, or worthless.
  2. To inform against. [Colloq.]
    
    How far the very custom of hearing anything spouted withers and blows upon a fine passage, may be seen in those speeches from [Shakespeare's] Henry V. which are current in the mouths of schoolboys.
    --C. Lamb.
    
    A lady's maid whose character had been blown upon.
    --Macaulay.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary

blow

"to bloom, blossom" (intransitive), from Old English blowan "to flower, blossom, flourish," from Proto-Germanic *blæ- (cognates: Old Saxon bloian, Old Frisian bloia, Middle Dutch and Dutch bloeien, Old High German bluoen, German blühen), from PIE *bhle-, extended form of *bhel- (2) "to blow, inflate, swell" (see bole). This word is the source of the blown in full-blown.

blow

"hard hit," mid-15c., blowe, from northern and East Midlands dialects, perhaps from Middle Dutch blouwen "to beat," a common Germanic word of unknown origin (compare German bleuen, Gothic bliggwan "to strike"). Influenced in English by blow (v.1). In reference to descriptions or accounts, blow-by-blow is recorded from 1921, American English, originally of prize-fight broadcasts.\n\nLIKE a hungry kitten loves its saucer of warm milk, so do radio fans joyfully listen to the blow-by-blow broadcast description of a boxing bout. ["The Wireless Age," December 1922]

blow

"a blowing, a blast," 1650s, from blow (v.1).

blow

"move air," Old English blawan "blow, breathe, make an air current; kindle; inflate; sound a wind instrument" (class VII strong verb; past tense bleow, past participle blawen), from Proto-Germanic *blæ-anan (source of Old High German blaen, German blähen), from PIE *bhle- "to swell, blow up" (source of Latin flare "to blow"), an extended form, possibly identical with *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell" (see bole).\n

\nMeaning "to squander" (of money) is from 1874. Sense of "depart suddenly" is from 1902. Slang "do fellatio on" sense is from 1933, as blow (someone) off, originally among prostitutes (compare blow job). This usage probably is not connected to the colloquial imprecation (1781, associated with sailors, as in Popeye's "well, blow me down!"), which has past participle blowed. Meaning "to spend (money) foolishly and all at once" is 1890s; that of "bungle an opportunity" is from 1943. To blow over "pass" is from 1610s, originally of storms. To blow (someone's) mind was in use by 1967; there is a song title "Blow Your Mind" released in a 1965 Mirawood recording by a group called The Gas Company.

Wiktionary

blow

Etymology 1

(context now chiefly dialectal Northern England English) blue. Etymology 2

n. 1 A strong wind. 2 (context informal English) A chance to catch one’s breath. 3 (context uncountable US slang English) cocaine. 4 (context uncountable UK slang English) cannabis. 5 (context uncountable US Chicago Regional slang English) heroin. v
1 (context intransitive English) To produce an air current. 2 (context transitive English) To propel by an air current. 3 (context intransitive English) To be propelled by an air current. 4 (context transitive English) To create or shape by blowing; as in ''to blow bubbles'', ''to blow glass''. 5 To force a current of air upon with the mouth, or by other means. 6 To clear of contents by forcing air through. 7 (context transitive English) To cause to make sound by blowing, as a musical instrument. 8 (context intransitive English) To make a sound as the result of being blown. 9 (context intransitive of a cetacean English) To exhale visibly through the spout the seawater which it has taken in while feeding. 10 (context intransitive English) To explode. 11 (context transitive with "up" or with prep phrase headed by "to" English) To cause to explode, shatter, or be utterly destroyed. 12 (context transitive English) To cause sudden destruction of. 13 (context intransitive English) To suddenly fail destructively. 14 (context intransitive slang English) To be very undesirable (see also suck). 15 (context transitive slang English) To recklessly squander. 16 (context transitive vulgar English) To fellate. 17 (context transitive English) To leave. 18 To make flyblown, to defile, especially with fly eggs. 19 (context obsolete English) To spread by report; to publish; to disclose. 20 (context obsolete English) To inflate, as with pride; to puff up. 21 (context intransitive English) To breathe hard or quick; to pant; to puff. 22 (context transitive English) To put out of breath; to cause to blow from fatigue. 23 (context obsolete English) To talk loudly; to boast; to storm. Etymology 3

n. 1 The act of striking or hitting. 2 A sudden or forcible act or effort; an assault. 3 A damaging occurrence. Etymology 4

n. 1 A mass or display of flowers; a yield. 2 A display of anything brilliant or bright. 3 A bloom, state of flowering. vb. To blossom; to cause to bloom or blossom.

WordNet

blow

n. a powerful stroke with the fist or a weapon; "a blow on the head"
an impact (as from a collision); "the bump threw him off the bicycle" [syn: bump]
an unfortunate happening that hinders of impedes; something that is thwarting or frustrating [syn: reverse, reversal, setback, black eye]
an unpleasant or disappointing surprise; "it came as a shock to learn that he was injured" [syn: shock]
a strong current of air; "the tree was bent almost double by the gust" [syn: gust, blast]
street names for cocaine [syn: coke, nose candy, snow, C]
forceful exhalation through the nose or mouth; "he gave his nose a loud blow"; "he blew out all the candles with a single puff" [syn: puff]
[also: blown, blew]

blow

v. exhale hard; "blow on the soup to cool it down"
be blowing or storming; "The wind blew from the West"
free of obstruction by blowing air through; "blow one's nose"
be in motion due to some air or water current; "The leaves were blowing in the wind"; "the boat drifted on the lake"; "The sailboat was adrift on the open sea"; "the shipwrecked boat drifted away from the shore" [syn: float, drift, be adrift]
make a sound as if blown; "The whistle blew"
shape by blowing; "Blow a glass vase"
make a mess of, destroy or ruin; "I botched the dinner and we had to eat out"; "the pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movement" [syn: botch, bumble, fumble, botch up, muff, flub, screw up, ball up, spoil, muck up, bungle, fluff, bollix, bollix up, bollocks, bollocks up, bobble, mishandle, louse up, foul up, mess up, fuck up]
spend thoughtlessly; throw away; "He wasted his inheritance on his insincere friends"; "You squandered the opportunity to get and advanced degree" [syn: waste, squander] [ant: conserve]
spend lavishly or wastefully on; "He blew a lot of money on his new home theater"
sound by having air expelled through a tube; "The trumpets blew"
play or sound a wind instrument; "She blew the horn"
provide sexual gratification through oral stimulation [syn: fellate, go down on]
cause air to go in, on, or through; "Blow my hair dry"
cause to move by means of an air current; "The wind blew the leaves around in the yard"
spout moist air from the blowhole; "The whales blew"
leave; informal or rude; "shove off!"; "The children shoved along"; "Blow now!" [syn: shove off, shove along]
lay eggs; "certain insects are said to blow"
cause to be revealed and jeopardized; "The story blew their cover"; "The double agent was blown by the other side"
show off [syn: boast, tout, swash, shoot a line, brag, gas, bluster, vaunt, gasconade]
allow to regain its breath; "blow a horse"
melt, break, or become otherwise unusable; "The lightbulbs blew out"; "The fuse blew" [syn: blow out, burn out]
burst suddenly; "The tire blew"; "We blew a tire"
[also: blown, blew]

Gazetteer

Wikipedia

Blow

Blow may refer to:

Strike (attack)
Cocaine
Exhalation

Blow (Heather Nova album)

Blow is a live album by indie rocker Heather Nova, released in 1993 (see 1993 in music).

Blow (Messy Marv and Berner album)

Blow is collaboration album between American rappers Messy Marv and Berner. The album includes guest appearances from B-Legit, Yukmouth and C-Bo. Blow peaked at #87 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, #31 on the Heatseekers Albums chart, and #6 on the Top Heatseekers West North Central chart.

Blow (Foetus album)

Blow is a Foetus remix album, released on September 18, 2001, through Thirsty Ear. European label nois-o-lution issued a 2LP version in November of the same year. Blow contains remixes from Foetus' Flow.

Blow (Martin Solveig song)

"Blow" is a song by French DJ and record producer Martin Solveig and Filipino-Dutch DJ and producer Laidback Luke. The song was released in France as a digital download on 6 January 2014. The song was written and produced by Martin Solveig and Julio Mejia and Laidback Luke.

Blow (film)

Blow is a 2001 American biographical crime film about the American cocaine smuggler George Jung, directed by Ted Demme. David McKenna and Nick Cassavetes adapted Bruce Porter's 1993 book Blow: How a Small Town Boy Made $100 Million with the Medellín Cocaine Cartel and Lost It All for the screenplay. It is based on the real-life stories of George Jung, Pablo Escobar, Carlos Lehder Rivas (portrayed in the film as Diego Delgado), and the Medellín Cartel. The film's title comes from a slang term for cocaine.

Blow was the final theatrical film directed by Demme to be released in his lifetime.

Blow (Red Lorry Yellow Lorry album)

Blow is Red Lorry Yellow Lorry's fourth album, released in 1989, and their last LP on the Beggars Banquet offshoot label, Situation Two, in the UK. In the US it was released by Beggars Banquet/ RCA.

The album was a slight change in direction for the band. While it still had the band's customary swirling rush of guitars, pounding drums, loud bass and Chris Reed's deep growling vocals, the songs were a little slower, with stronger, more conventional melodies sweetened by occasional female backing vocals. Reed's lyrics were less downbeat, almost optimistic. As critics noted, overall Blow is a warmer album than the band's previous, somewhat dour offerings; the Lorries left their specious gothic rock trappings behind for good. Chicago Tribune noted: "There is a strong pop element in the songs` melodies and structures, a danceable energy in faster numbers and some crisp, ringing guitar work in slower tunes. The material, including Reed`s flat, low vocals, is still moody, but there is a separation between instruments-and between instruments and vocals-that steers the proceedings well clear of anything that could be labeled wall-of-gloom." Trouser Press agreed, stating that "Blow takes the band a giant step forward in terms of melodicism and diversity of sound. Staying clear of the old monochromatic wall of noise, the production gives them plenty of punch and much more warmth..." The change may have resulted in better reviews but the sales were not impressive; Beggars Banquet dropped the band the following year.

Blow (Straitjacket Fits album)

Blow is the third album released in 1993 by New Zealand band, Straitjacket Fits. The album has a harder, less melodic sound than the band's previous albums. This reflects the change of line-up, with Andrew Brough having left the band prior to this album's recording, to be replaced by Mark Petersen. It also reflect's the band's change of recording method (for this album the tracks were recorded live) and a change of producer. The album was described by one contemporary reviewer as "...twisted rhythms, see-sawing guitars, and brash intensity... Straitjacket Fits at their least user-friendly and most challenging."

All the songs on this album are credited to Shayne Carter/ John Collie/Straitjacket Fits.

Two of the tracks from the album ("Done" and "Spacing") had previously been released in New Zealand on the Done EP in 1992, though both were re-recorded for the album. The American release includes one extra track, "Sycamore", which was released in New Zealand as a B-side of the first single from the album, "Cat Inna Can". The album's other single was "If I Were You".

Blow (surname)

Blow is the surname of several people:

David Mervyn Blow (born 1931), an influential British biophysicist
Detmar Blow (born 1867), a British architect of the early 20th century
Godfrey Blow (born 1948), an artist based in Kalamunda, Western Australia
Henry Taylor Blow (born 1817), a U.S. Representative and Ambassador from Missouri
Isabella Blow (1958 - 2007), a British magazine editor and international style icon
John Blow (born 1649), an English composer and organist
Jonathan Blow, a video game programmer and designer
Kurtis Blow, an American rapper
Sandra Blow (born 1925), an English painter
Susan Blow (born 1843), an American educator
Thomas Blow, a provincial level politician from Alberta, Canada

Blow (drink)

Blow is a controversial energy drink notable for its use of drug culture in its marketing, such as the name of the drink itself, which is a slang term for cocaine. Rather than being sold in liquid form, it was distributed as vials of white powder similar in appearance to cocaine, which were to be mixed with water or any other beverage, and can be bought in large Styrofoam containers made to resemble cocaine bricks. Additional packages on the drink's website were referred to by names such as "The Recreational User Pack" or "The Fiender's Hook-Up" for various quantities. Cases on the website also included free stickers, tattoos, or shirts sporting the brand's logo. The powder has also been distributed along with a mirror and imitation credit card to simulate the "cutting" of cocaine.

Blow's producers have come under fire from parents and other concerned parties, who allege that its marketing targets adolescents and glorifies illegal drug abuse, citing the use of rock music and women in seductive poses on the drink's website, as well as the inclusion of a Myspace link.

Blow (Ghinzu album)

Blow is the second album by Belgian rock group Ghinzu released in 2004. It features the single, "Do You Read Me?", and the song "The Dragster Wave" which was used in the 2008 film Taken and is included in its original soundtrack.

The album was first released on Dragoon, the label owned by the band (and distributed by the indie label Bang!) in February 2004 in Benelux. It was released in France six months later via Atmosphérique/Universal and then in Germany, Switzerland and Sweden via V2. The album cover art for the European release is different from the Belgian version. The Belgian cover shows singer John Stargasm holding his own cut-off head while singing. This was judged too aggressive by their French label (the band was under license of the major Universal via Atmosphérique) especially at a time where American hostage in Iraq, Nick Berg, just had been beheaded. The international album cover shows a negative image of two horses.

Blow was particularly successful in the French-speaking parts of Europe, where the single "Do You Read Me?" became a hit. This allowed Ghinzu to play big summer festivals, like the Eurockéennes de Belfort on July 2, 2005, where the band did a noticed performance on the Main Stage. Blow sold about 100,000 copies worldwide.

Blow (Kesha song)

"Blow" is a song by American recording artist and songwriter Kesha from her first extended play (EP), Cannibal (2010). The song was released on February 8, 2011. It was written by Kesha, along with Klas Åhlund, Lukasz Gottwald, Allan Grigg, Benjamin Levin and Max Martin, with production done by Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Benny Blanco and Kool Kojak. According to Kesha the song's lyrics are representative of herself and her fans. "Blow" is dominantly an electropop and dance-pop song and is described as a party anthem as it portrays a simple message of having a desire to have a good time at a club.

Critical reception of "Blow" has been generally positive, with most critics praising the song's hook, opening, and party anthem vibe, though some found the chorus uninspiring and ordinary. Kesha's vocal work throughout the song was met with mixed reaction: some critics felt that she was both sassy and brash, while other critics felt that her personality was missing from the song. Commercially, "Blow" reached the top ten in the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States and Australia, becoming her sixth consecutive top-ten hit in both countries as a solo artist. The song also reached the top ten in New Zealand, and the top 20 in Canadian Hot 100 in Canada.

The song's accompanying music video was directed by Chris Marrs Piliero and was released February 25, 2011. The video co-stars actor James Van Der Beek, who plays Kesha's nemesis. Piliero and Kesha came up with the video's concept and is intended to be simplistic, a video that is cool and random. Reception of the video by critics were positive, with the mid-video dialogue scene's humor being highlighted.

Blow (Beyoncé song)

"Blow" is a song recorded by American recording artist Beyoncé from her self-titled fifth studio album (2013). It was written by Beyoncé, Pharrell Williams, Timbaland, J-Roc, James Fauntleroy and Justin Timberlake, and produced by the former four. It was set to be released as one of the lead singles following the release of the album along with " Drunk in Love", however, its release was scrapped in favor of " XO".

"Blow" is a disco-influenced R&B and funk song which has several other musical influences and elements featured in it. It received comparison to songs from the 1970s and 1980s mostly by Prince and Janet Jackson. Lyrically it talks explicitly about oral sex and cunnilingus through heavy innuendo in line with Beyoncés sexual tone. Due to several promotional remixes of the song, "Blow" managed to peak at number one on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart.

An accompanying music video for the song was directed by Hype Williams and released on the album on December 13, 2013. It was filmed at a roller skating rink in Houston and it features Beyoncé's sister Solange Knowles, her background dancers and her female band. The singer's style received comparisons to 1980s fashion and music videos in a similar way to the song itself. "Blow" was included on the set list of the European leg of Beyoncé's The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour (2014) and The Formation World Tour (2016). It was also performed during the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards as part of a medley of Beyoncé's self-titled album. A remix version featuring Pharrell Williams was included on the platinum reissue of Beyoncé in 2014.

Usage examples of "blow".

The dust thus blown, from a desert region may, when it attains a country covered with vegetation, gradually accumulate on its surface, forming very thick deposits.

An affray was actually in progress between the Italian Ripaldi and the incriminated man Quadling, but the witness arrived as the last fatal blow was struck by the latter.

Ged veered the boat once more, thinking he had run his enemy to ground: in that instant it vanished, and it was his boat that ran aground, smashing up on shoal rocks that the blowing mist had hidden from his sight.

In their different ways, the French, Aley and Corry, and Faust and Gabrielli and Rob Burns had been set to blow the deal.

Percussion gives a dull sound or if there are large cavities, it is hollow, and auscultation elicits the amphoric sound, as of blowing into a bottle.

But her brother, to whom the blow was new, and the consequences were still impending, was struck with extreme anguish, that while thus every possible hope was extinguished with regard to his love, he must suddenly apply himself to some business, or be reduced to the most obscure poverty.

Susan bending over her fire, blowing at it with expanded cheeks and, between her puffs, scolding at her father, first, for having got wet, then for having stayed wet, and now for being still wet, was to David just as charming as any of the other and milder apotheoses of the Susan he had come to know so well.

Then, thanks to me, the needle in the compass took its true direction again, and the ship, blown to the northeast by that frightful hurricane, has just been cast on the coast of Africa, just on this land of Angola which I wished to reach.

In the mysterious manner of explosions, it sucked the navigator downwards, while blowing the astrodome, and the wireless operator standing under it, out into the night unharmed.

Every blow produced a resounding thud and sent an Automaton to the ground.

The bus had blown up on the Autostrada, and they were rapidly moving away from it.

Pan had meant to kill him by blowing out the airlock in the bacterial separation lab.

This close, the nine-millimeter slugs would blow clean through his chest, splintering bone like balsa wood.

Fort Bannerman on a clear fresh morning when the sky was a pale Arctic blue, so pale as to be almost colourless, and a small cold wind, so tiny as to be little more than a shudder, blew from the north.

He strode towards Alyssa, intent on avenging his comrade, but as he did so his blade flew out to the side and caught Barca a sharp blow on his kneecap.

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blow

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

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WordNet

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Usage examples of "blow".

Find the word definition

What is "blow"

Crossword clues for blow

blow

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

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The Collaborative International Dictionary

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Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary

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Wiktionary

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WordNet

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Gazetteer

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Wikipedia

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Usage examples of "blow".