| 释义 |
▪ I. blow, v.1|bləʊ|
Pa. tense blew. Pa. pple. blown (also in sense 29 blowed). Forms: 1 bláwan, 2–3 blawen, (2 blauwen), blouwen, 3 bloawen, 5 blowen, blowyn, 3–7 blowe, 5– blow; (north.) 3–4 blau, 4–6 blawe, 3– blaw. pa. tense 1 bleów, bléw, 2–3 bleu, 4 blwe, bleeȝ, bleȝ, 3–5 blu, 5 blue, 4–6 blewe, 4– blew. Also 4 blowide, 7 blowd, blowede, 6– blowed. pa. pple. 1 bláwen, blouen, 4–7 blowen, 6–7 blowne, 7– blown; also 4 y-blowe, blowun, blowe, 4–6 i-blowe, 7 bloun; north. 3 blaun, 4 blawun, 4–5 blawen, 6 blawne, blawin, blauen, blaw, 6– blawn. Also 6– blowed.
[OE. bláwan, pa. tense bléow, pple. bláwen, elsewhere as a strong vb. only in OHG. blâ(h)an (pa. pple. blâhan, blân):—Goth. type *blaian, *baiblô, OTeut. ? *blæ̂jan, cogn. w. L. flā-re to blow. (In OHG. this, like other verbs with ai in Gothic, passed into the weak conj. blâen, blâhen, blâjen, blâwen, blân, MHG. blæjen, blæwen, blæn, Ger. blähen.) In OE. only in a few senses: see 1, 2, 14; but an immense development of sense and constructions has taken place in middle and modern Eng., and in later times distinct senses have influenced each other, or run together, in a manner difficult to exhibit in a linear series.]
I. properly. To produce a current of air; to set in motion with a current of air.
* intransitively.
1. a. intr. The proper verb naming the motion or action of the wind, or of an aerial current. Sometimes with subject it, as ‘it blows hard’, and often with complement, as ‘it blew a gale, a hurricane’. to blow great guns: to blow a violent gale. to blow up: to rise, increase in force of blowing.
c1000Ags. Gosp. Luke xii. 55 Þonne ᵹe ᵹeseoð suðan blawan. c1175Lamb. Hom. 167 Lutel he hit scaweð..hu biter wind þer blaweð. a1225Ancr. R. 124 Ȝif a wind bloweð a lutel touward us. a1300Cursor M. 532 Wynd þat blaws o loft. 1382Wyclif Ecclus. xliii. 22 The cold northerne wind bleeȝ [1388 blew]. 1530Palsgr. 130 Il uente, it bloweth. 1580Baret Alv. B 829, I turne sayle that way as the winde bloweth. 1653Walton Angler 208 Heark how it rains and blows. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 549 All the Weste Allies of stormy Boreas blow. 1785Burns Cotter's Sat. Nt. ii, November chill blaws loud wi' angry sugh. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §313 It blowed very hard, especially on the night of lighting. 1802Gouv. Morris in Sparks Life & Writ. (1832) III. 166 Straws and feathers..show which way the wind blows. 1840Marryat Poor Jack x, The gale had blown up again. 1854H. Miller Sch. & Schm. (1858) 14 It soon began to blow great guns.
b. Phr. blow high, blow low: whatever may happen. U.S.
1774P. V. Fithian Jrnl. (1900) 235 Ben is in a wonderful Fluster lest he shall have no company to-morrow at the Dance—But blow high, blow low, he need not be afraid; Virginians..will dance or die! [1776C. Dibdin Seraglio i. 11 Blow high, blow low, let tempests tear The mainmast by the board.] a1861T. Winthrop John Brent (1883) vi. 52 I've booked Brother John fur Paradise; Brother Joseph's got a white robe fur him, blow high, blow low! 1923R. D. Paine Comr. Rolling Ocean x. 171 There were three musketeers..who were blithely resolved to stand by each other through thick and thin, blow high, blow low.
2. a. To send from the mouth a current of air (stronger than that produced by ordinary breathing); to produce a current of air in any way, e.g. said of bellows. (Cf. sense 7.)
c1000Ags. Gosp. John xx. 22 Þa bleow he on hi and cwæð to him under-foð haline gast. a1300Cursor M. 12540 He..hent his hand and bleu þar-in. 1382Wyclif Ezek. xxi. 31 In fier of my wodnes Y shal blowe in thee. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 263 b, She waueth with her wynges and so bloweth, that by her mouynge she engendreth an hete in them. 1572Gascoigne Wks. (1587) 1 My lights and lungs like bellows blow. a1620J. Dyke Sel. Serm. (1640) 63 When the word is preached, then the Bellowes blowes to kindle the fire. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 176 Serrous or jarring motion like that which happeneth while we blow on the teeth of a combe through paper. 1715Desaguliers Fires Impr. 42, I blowed upon the Thermometer. a1856Longfellow Vill. Blacksmith 14 You can hear his bellows blow.
b. to blow hot and cold: (fig.) to be or to do one thing at one time, another at another; to be inconsistent or vacillating. (In reference to one of æsop's Fables.)
1577tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 176 One which out of one mouth, doeth blowe both hoat and colde. 1638Chillingw. Relig. Prot. i. ii. §113. 95 These men can blow hot and cold out of the same mouth to serve severall purposes. 1690W. Walker Idiom. Anglo-Lat. 61 With the same breath to blow hot and cold. [1694R. Lestrange Fables (J.) Says the satyr, ‘If you have gotten a trick of blowing hot and cold out of the same mouth, I've e'en done with ye.] 1866Motley Dutch Rep. v. v. 750 Being constantly ordered ‘to blow hot and cold with the same breath.’
†3. To make a blowing sound; to hiss, whistle.
1340Ayenb. 32 Þe childe þet ne dar guo his way vor þe guos þet blauþ. c1420Avow. Arth. 64 Alle wrothe wex that sqwyne, Blu, and brayd vppe his bryne. 1535Coverdale Zech. x. 8, I wil blowe [1611 hisse] for them & gather them together.
4. a. To breathe hard, pant, puff. to blow out: to be winded. (Cf. sense 8.)
c1440Erle Tolous 442 in Ritson Met. Rom. III. 111 The thrydd fledd, and blewe owt faste, The erle ovyrtoke hym at the laste. 1513Douglas æneis xii. xii. 234 At sic debait that bayth thai pant and blaw. 1530Palsgr. 458/2 He bloweth lyke a horse that came newe from galoppyng. 1608R. Armin Nest Ninn. (1842) 23 They puft and they blowede, they ran as swifte as a pudding would creepe. 1718Pope Iliad ii. 465 Each spent courser at the chariot blow. 1847Tennyson Princ. v. 20 The huge bush-bearded Barons heaved and blew.
b. To breathe; to take breath. dial. to blow short: (of a horse) to be broken-winded.
c1440York Myst. xxxi. 142 Nowe gois a-bakke both, and late þe boy blowe. 1523Fitzherb. Husb. §84 Pursy is a disease in an horses bodye, and maketh hym to blowe shorte. 1647Ward Simp. Cobler 36 They gave him such straynes as made him blow short ever since. 1786Burns To Auld Mare Thou never lap, and sten't an' breastit, Then stood to blaw. 1860Holland Miss Gilbert ii. 29 I'll sit here and blow, till he comes around.
5. Of whales, etc.: To eject water and air from the ‘blow-holes’, before taking in fresh air; to spout.
1725Dudley in Phil. Trans. XXXIII. 261 Once in a Quarter of an Hour..they are observed to rise and blow, spouting out Water and Wind, and to draw in fresh Air. 1779Forrest Voy. N. Guinea 128 Many porpoises blowing near us. 1851H. Melville Whale xlvii. 239 The Sperm Whale blows as a clock ticks.
6. To utter loud or noisy breath, to bluster:
a. To boast, brag (chiefly regional).
b. To fume, storm, speak angrily (chiefly colloq.).
c1400Apol. Loll. 97 Blouing veynly wiþ fleschli wit. c1420Avow. Arth. xxiii, I, Kay, that thou knawes, That owte of tyme bostus and blawus. 1519Four Elements in Hazl. Dodsley I. 41 Why, man, what aileth thee so to blow? 1789Burns Tam Glen iii, He brags and he blaws o' his siller. 1863Mrs. C. Clarke Shaks. Char. x. (1876) 270 He has been blowing and storming about this drum. 1873Trollope Australia xxv, In the colonies..when a gentleman sounds his own trumpet he ‘blows.’ 1873M. A. Barker Station Amusements in N.Z. xiv. 237, I..mention this, not out of any desire to ‘blow’ about our sheep. 1878Cornh. Mag. June 680 ‘My sister ain't the best,’ the child declared, ‘she's always blowing at me.’ 1885Mrs. Praed Austral. Life ii. 45 He was famous for ‘blowing’, in Australian parlance,..of his exploits. 1896H. A. Bryden Tales S. Afr. iii. 68 You know I don't ‘blow’, Jim, or spout tall yarns. 1917N.Z.E.F. Chrons. 5 Sept. 35/2, I don't care about blowin' about it.
¶ dial. To smoke a pipe: see 9 b.
** causal uses of the preceding.
7. a. Beside the expressions to blow with bellows, and the bellows blow (see 2), one is said to blow the bellows, i.e. to work them so as to make them blow.
c1440Leg. Rood (1871) 85 Scho blew þe belise ferly fast. 1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xxxvi. xxiii, Afrycus Auster made surreccion, Blowyng his bellowes by great occasion. 1577J. Northbrooke Dicing (1843) 81 Many which lacke armes may worke with their feete, to blowe smithes bellowes. 1880Grove Dict. Mus. II. 577 The four bellows are blown in a manner which we here meet with for the first time.
†b. fig. to blow the bellows: to stir up passion, strife, etc. Obs. (Cf. to blow the coals, 17 b.)
1596Spenser F.Q. ii. iii. 9 He cast for to..blow the bellowes to his swelling vanity. a1657Sir J. Balfour Ann. Scotl. (1825) II. 263 The bischopes blouing the bellowes, and still craying fyre and suord.
8. (causal of 4.) To cause to pant, to put out of breath: usually of horses.
1651Davenant Gondibert ii. xliii, From thence, well blown, he [i.e. Stag] comes to the Relay. 1760Hist. Europe in Ann. Reg. 24/1 They came up five miles on a full trot without being blown. 1771P. Parsons Newmarket I. 108 How much water, given to a horse before he starts, will blow him. 1816Scott Old Mort. xii, Move steadily, and do not let the men blow the horses. 1859Blackw. Mag. Mar. 306/1 The Russians..were..pretty well blown in the pursuit.
*** trans. (with the air, breath, etc., as obj.)
9. a. trans. To breathe out, emit, produce (a current of air, breath, etc.) with the mouth; to give forth by breathing; also to force or cause to pass (a current of air) through, into, upon, by other means. Also fig.
c1175Lamb. Hom. 75 Þan deþliche atter · þet þe alde deouel blou on adam. Ibid. 99 [Crist ableow þana halȝa gast ofer þa apostlas]. c1375Wyclif Antecrist (Todd) 148 Þei blowen on hem a stynkand breþe. 1382― Wisd. xv. 11 That bleȝ [1388 blowide] in to hym a lifli spirit. 1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xxxvi. iii, A fende..Blowyng out fyre. 1591Spenser Bellay's Ruines Rome xxvi, Where colde Boreas blowes his bitter stormes. 1651Hobbes Leviath. vi. i. ii, Good thoughts are blown into a man by God. 1784J. Adams Diary Wks. 1851 III. 388 If inflammable air were blown through the pipe. 1842Longfellow Wreck Hesp. 19 He blew a whiff from his pipe. 1866Huxley Phys. iv. (1869) 96 If a pipe be now fitted into the bronchus, and air blown through it.
b. To smoke (tobacco); also intr. (dial.) But to blow a cloud is a common figurative expression for to smoke a pipe. See also cloud n. 5 b.
1808in Jamieson, To blaw Tobacco; to blaw. 1848Sessions Mar. 847, I could sit down and blow my 'bacco. c1855Hawthorne Mother Rigby's Pipe i, Smoke, puff, blow thy cloud. 1856Mayhew Great World of London 5 Smoke a pipe of baccer..blow your yard of tripe of nosey-me-knacker.
c. To lay out or get through (money) in a lavish manner; to squander; = blue v.2 1. slang. Also refl. (U.S. dial.): see quot. 1896.
1874Hotten Slang Dict., Blew, or blow,..to lose or spend money. 1892Daily News 5 Sept. 6/3 Sometimes you'll blow a little money..but another week you may make a lot. 1896Dialect Notes I. 412 ‘To blow oneself’, to spend money freely. 1904W. H. Smith Promoters v. 100 The Church people in England were the folks that had the money to blow. 1932H. Simpson Boomerang x. 244 A thousand pounds, which she proposed..to blow in a couple of months' high living. 1957Economist 21 Dec. 1030/1 He will probably feel able to blow with a clear conscience the {pstlg}2,000.
d. to blow in: to spend, squander. Also absol. slang (chiefly U.S.).
1886in Amer. Speech (1950) XXV. 30/2 When Davis has a dollar he's dead bent on blowing it all in. 1887F. Francis Jr. Saddle & Mocassin 144 ‘Sam went off on a bend.’ ‘To blow in?’ Jake laughed assent. 1903Outlook 7 Nov. 586 He had blown in all his earnings in a grand frolic. 1934J. T. Farrell Young Manhood (1936) i. 163 Last winter I got sixty bucks from him for tuition and books and blew it in. 1938R. Finlayson Brown Man's Burden 24 After breakfast I'll borrow Henare's car and we'll blow in the cash. 1946F. Sargeson That Summer 35 Then he'd go to town and blow his money in, usually at the races.
e. To lose or bungle (an opportunity, etc.); to mishandle (a situation); to ruin, spoil. Freq. with it. slang (orig. U.S.).
1943W. R. Burnett Nobody lives Forever i. x. 60 He'll probably blow it. He's beginning to look old. 1950H. E. Goldin Dict. Amer. Underworld Lingo 30/1 Blow, v... 3. To lose; to bungle. ‘Don't blow that piece (revolver); it cost me a double sawbuck (twenty dollars).’ 1967Boston Herald 1 Apr. 16/4 There wasn't anyone in the Boston contingent who could recall him ever blowing three layups in a game before. 1971It 9–23 Sept. 19/1 This could have been a wonderful record but they blew it. 1977Tennis World Sept. 17/1 If a player is nervous he ‘muffs’, ‘flubs’ or ‘blows’ his shots. 1983Times 22 Jan. 1/2 Let's go in June, and win, rather than blow it in March, 1984.
10. to blow off: (trans.) to allow (steam or the like) to escape forcibly with a blowing noise; also fig. to get rid of (superfluous energy, emotion, etc.) in a noisy way; intr. (for refl.) of steam, gas, etc.: to escape forcibly.
1837Marryat Dog-Fiend xi, The widow..sat..fuming and blowing off her steam. 1865Jevons Coal Quest. (ed. 2) 65 Carburetted gas..is liable to blow off and endanger the lives of hundreds of persons. 1884Chr. Commonw. 24 Jan. 348/1 Blowing off their superfluous energy in singing and shouting.
†11. To utter: also with out. Most frequently in a bad sense: To utter boastfully, angrily, etc. to blow into one's ear: to whisper privily. Obs.
1375Barbour Bruce iv. 122 The gret bost that it [pryde] blawis. c1380Wyclif Three Tracts i. 69 Censuris þat þe fend bloweþ (as ben suspendis and interdicyngis). c1380Sir Ferumb. 5421 Þan wax þe Amyral glad..& gan to blowe bost. c1440Hylton Scala Perf. (W. de W. 1494) ii. xlii, Blowynge psalmes & louynges to Jhesu. 1549Compl. Scot. vi. 38 That samyn sound as thay beystis hed blauen. a1563Becon New Catech. Wks. (1844) 344 He blowed out many furious and unseemly words. 1642T. Taylor God's Judgem. i. i. xii. 35 Threats were blowne out on every side against the Faithful. 1652Sir C. Cotterell Cassandra (1676) iv. 61 These things which malitious Roxana blew into Statira's ears.
**** trans. To drive or transport by blowing.
12. a. trans. To drive or carry (things) by means of a current of air; also fig. Const. simply, or with preps. or adverbs of direction, as away, down, from, off, to, etc.
a1300Cursor M. 22922 Þof his bodi al war brint, And blaun ouer al þe puder tint. c1300K. Alis. 5630 The wynde you may theder blawen, In lesse than in twenty dawen. 1382Wyclif Mal. i. 13 Ȝe han blowe it awey. c1400Destr. Troy 1982 [Þai] were blouen to þe brode se in a bir swithe. 1577Hanmer Anc. Eccles. Hist. (1619) 174 The heate of persecution was blowne against vs. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iii. i. 84 Looke, as I blow this Feather from my Face, And as the Ayre blowes it to me againe. 1597― 2 Hen. IV, v. iii. 90 Fal. What winde blew you hither, Pistoll? Pist. Not the ill winde which blowes none to good. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 217 Winnow'd Chaff by Western Winds is blown. 1712Addison Spect. No. 269 ⁋7 The Wind..blew down the End of one of his Barns. 1865Tylor Early Hist. Man. iii. 38 What children call ‘blowing a kiss.’ 1870F. Wilson Ch. Lindisf. 68 The roof was blown off.
b. intr. (for refl.) To be driven or carried by the wind; to move before the wind. Same const. Also (U.S. colloq.), to move as if carried or impelled by the wind.
1842Tennyson Goose 51 Her cap blew off, her gown blew up. 1842― Day-Dream 141 The hedge broke in, the banner blew. 1844Knickerbocker XXIII. 51, I was half awake..when Bob came in, blew about the room for a while, and cried out. 1868S. Hale Lett. (1919) 42 She is a picturesque looking creature... Why she blows up and down the Nile year in and year out,.. I dunno.
c. to blow over (formerly in perf. to be blown over): (of storms or storm-clouds) to pass over a place without descending upon it; to pass away, come to an end; also fig. of misfortune, danger, etc. Also to blow off in same sense.
1617J. Fosbroke Englands Warn. (1633) 25 When the storm is blown over, they return to their old bias again. 1641Smectymnuus Vind. Answ. §13. 131 This cloud will soone blow over. 1692South 12 Serm. (1697) I. 564 Do they think that..this dreadfull Sentence [shall] blow off without Execution? 1794Gouv. Morris in Sparks Life & Writ. (1832) II. 399 The affair is blown over. 1850Alison Hist. Europe VIII. liv. §18 The danger had blown over.
d. to blow in: to appear or turn up unexpectedly; to drop in. colloq. (orig. U.S.).
1895F. Remington Pony Tracks 104 We were all very busy when William ‘blew in’ with a great sputtering. 1904G. H. Lorimer Old Gorgon Graham 47 Yesterday our old college friend, Clarence, blew in from Monte Carlo. 1913R. Brooke Let. 6 Sept. (1968) 505, I ‘blew in’ here yesterday, & found about nine letters from you. 1940War Illustr. 16 Feb. ii/3 He just blew in out of the black-out and asked if he might use the telephone.
e. To go away, to leave hurriedly. slang (orig. U.S.).
[1902B. Burgundy's Lett. 50 Then we had another and blew the joint.] 1912Ade Knocking the Neighbors 93 She..tied up the Geranium and took the unfinished Tatting and Blew. 1936J. Curtis Gilt Kid 130 Sorry and all that, but I'm afraid I must blow now. 1937E. Linklater Juan in China xxv. 315 ‘And what's happened to Rocco?’..‘He's blown. He's gone up north.’ 1961J. I. M. Stewart Man who won Pools iii. 38 All I want is that all these people should blow.
f. To depart (esp. suddenly) from; to vacate or quit. U.S. slang.
1902[see blow v.1 12 e]. 1926Flynn's 16 Jan. 640/1 Knock-'em Loose, the Bull, was on the razee an' I got trun out, so I blew de joint. 1949in Wentworth & Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang (1960) 45/2 Alive, you're ready to blow town. 1971‘R. Macdonald’ Underground Man iv. 28 I'm blowing this town tonight and taking the money with me. 1984J. Davis Garfield: Who's Talking? 75 ‘Let's blow this joint, Garfield.’ ‘Hang on!’
13. trans. (fig.) To proclaim, publish, blaze, spread abroad, about, (out obs.), etc.
c1205Lay. 27021 Þæ king of Peytouwe, har[d] mon iblowen. c1384Chaucer H. Fame 1139 And her fames wide yblowe. 1513Douglas æneis (ad fin.) Direction 129 Thy fame is blaw, thy prowes and renoun Dyvulgat ar. 1541Act 33 Hen. VIII, xxi, They shal not openly blow it abrode. 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 429 These news..being blown out of the campe into the citie. 1819Scott Ivanhoe II. xi. 199 As soon as Richard's return is blown abroad. 1859Tennyson Guinevere 151 A rumour wildly blown about.
II. To act upon an object, by blowing air into, upon, or at it.
* To blow a musical instrument.
14. a. trans. To make (a wind-instrument) sound. (Formerly also with up, out.) to blow one's own trumpet: (fig.) to sound one's own praises, to brag. b. To sound (a note or blast) on or with an instrument. c. To sound the signal of (an alarm, advance, retreat, etc.) on an instrument. d. Predicated of the instrument.
c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. vi. 2 Ne blawe man byman beforan þe. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 115 Þe bemene drem þe þe engles blewen. c1384Chaucer H. Fame 774 Whan a pipe is blowen sharpe The aire ys twyst with violence. c1450Lydg. Mer. Missæ 171 Pryd gothe beforen And schame comythe aftyr, and blawythe horne. 1490Caxton Eneydos xlvi. 139 They..blew vp their trompettes for to gyue a sharpe sawte. 1535Coverdale 1 Macc. iii. 54 They blewe out the trompettes. 1611Bible Psalm lxxxi. 3 Blow vp the trumpet in the new Moone. Ibid. Hosea v. 8 Blow yee the cornet in Gibeah. 1842Tennyson Pal. Art 63 The belted hunter blew His wreathed bugle-horn.
b.c1340Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1141 Blwe bygly in bugler þre bare mote. 1486Bk. St. Albans E v b, Iij. motis shall ye blaw booth lowde and shill. c1600Rob. Hood (Ritson) ii. ix. 60 Let me have my beugle horn, And blow but blasts three. 1793Burns Soldier's Ret. i, When wild war's deadly blast was blawn. 1843C. Fox Jrnls. II. 12 Though he has blown so loud a blast.
c.c1320Sir Tristr. i. xlviii, Þe tokening when þai blewe. c1420Anturs of Arthure v. 10 The king blue a rechase. 1552Huloet, Blowe the Retreate in battayle. 1561J. Daus tr. Bullinger on Apoc. (1573) Pref. 5 The Deuill..bloweth the onset. 1634Malory's Arthur (1816) I. 112 Then king Arthur blew the prize, and dight the hart there. 1621Bp. R. Montagu Diatribæ 398 Wee must goe blow the Seeke, and cast about againe. a1641― Acts & Mon. (1642) 385 He tels they were Grecians born..where, when, upon what termes, you must, if you will, goe blow the seek. 1805Southey Madoc in Azt. xviii, Ye blow the fall too soon!
d.1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, v. ii. 43 Let the generall Trumpet blow his blast. 1667Milton P.L. i. 540 Sonorous mettal blowing Martial sounds. 1761Beattie Ode to Peace ii. 3 The hoarse alarms Her trump terrific blows.
e. To play jazz on (any instrument). Also intr. colloq. (orig. U.S.).
1949L. Feather Inside Be-Bop ii. 72 Nobody ever gave Diz or Bird a lesson in the art of blowing a jazz chorus. 1962John o' London's 3 May 433/1 A blowin' session is a general term used to describe that form of jazz where men get together for the pleasure of making free and spontaneous music. 1962Radio Times 17 May 43/3 A jazz musician never plays an instrument—he blows it, whether it be drums, piano, bass, or horn. Should he ‘blow’ with feeling, or great excitement (‘like wild’) he is either ‘way out’ or ‘wailing’. 1966Crescendo Sept. 27/1 The not-so-advanced suffered from insufficient outlet, and opportunity to blow and to improve. 1966Melody Maker 15 Oct. 6 Dave Gelly is a school librarian who also blows jazz tenor with the New Jazz Orchestra. 1968Jazz Monthly Apr. 23/2 His style was hard to fit into the standards of hard bop blowing sessions.
15. intr.
a. Of a wind-instrument: To give forth a sound by being blown. Also with up (obs.).
a1225Ancr. R. 210 Þe englene bemen..þet schulen..biuoren þe grureful dome grisliche bloawen. a1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 4677 Þe beme þat blaw sal on domsday. c1430Syr Tryam. 1092 The kyng..herde a bewgulle blowe! 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 181 All the trumpettis blawand vp in tune. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 256 Trumpet, blow loud, Send thy Brasse voyce through all these lazie Tents. 1647Fanshawe Pastor Fido (1676) 52 But list a little, doth not a Horn blow? 1875O. W. Holmes Old Camb. Poems (1884) 306 Our trumpets needs must blow.
b. Of the blower: To sound a blast. to blow up: to sound a whistle (as a signal).
c1205Lay. 8054 Þe king lette blawen & bonnien his ferden. 1375Barbour Bruce iii. 484 Quhen he hard sa blaw and cry. c1400Destr. Troy 1308 Þe kyng..henttes his horne and hastily blawes. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. 410 At the houre of ix. theyr mynstrels blewe vp on highe. 1530Palsgr. 459/1 He bloweth in a trompet. 1602Return fr. Parnass. ii. v. (Arb.) 29 There is an excellent skill in blowing for the terriers. 1611Bible Judg. vii. 18, I blow with a trumpet. a1882Longfellow M. Angelo, Blow, ye bright angels, on your golden trumpets. 1889Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang 135/2 To blow up (i.e., to sound the whistle), is to call the men to work; used by foremen and ga[n]gers. 1954J. B. G. Thomas On Tour vi. 65 The referee blew up to see who was actually lying on the ball.
c. Of the blast or note: To sound.
1599Shakes. Hen. V, iii. i. 5 When the blast of Warre blowes in our eares. 1852Tennyson Ode Wellington iii, Let the mournful martial music blow.
** To blow a fire, and the like.
16. trans. To direct a current of air against (anything) so as to cool, warm, or dry it. Sometimes with complemental words expressing the effect of the action, as to blow (something) dry.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xv. cxxxviii. (1495) 539 Stones ben dygged and ben strongly blowen wyth fyre and torne to brasse and metall. 1566Drant Horace Sat. ix. E iij, All the reaste might blow their nayles. 1592Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 52 To fan and blow them dry again she seeks. a1659Cleveland News fr. Newcastle 120 And in embroidered Buck-skins blows his Nails. 1841Marryat Poacher xxiv. The winter was cold..and he blew his fingers. 1850Tennyson In Mem. lxxii, Blasts that blow the poplar white.
17. a. esp. To direct a current of air into (a fire), in order to make it burn more brightly. Also with up.
a1300Havelok 913 Y wile..The fir blowe, an ful wele maken. 1530Palsgr. 458/2 Where be the bellowes, I praye the, blowe the fyre. 1611Bible Isa. liv. 16 The smith that bloweth the coales in the fire. 1631Gouge God's Arrows iv. xiii. 391 Yet were..the sparkes of that fire so blowne up, as dazled the eyes. 1677Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 7 The Phrase Smiths use..is, Blow up the Fire, or sometimes, Blow up the Coals. 1781Hayley Tri. Temper i. 374 Chemic fires, that patient labour blows. 1830tr. Aristophanes' Acharn. 29 The sparks, blowed with a favourable puff of the bellows, leap aloft.
b. fig. to blow the coals or blow the fire: to stir up or promote strife; to fan the flame of discord.
1581Let. in Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) IV. 41 After every effort to ‘blow the coals,’ as he [Bowes] expressed it. 1670Cotton Espernon ii. vii. 309 The Chancellor..had also help'd to blow the fire. 1725Ramsay Gent. Sheph. iv. i, To thole An ethercap like him to blaw the coal.
c. to blow out: (a) trans. to extinguish (a flame) by a current of air; (b) intr. to be extinguished by a current of air.
1377Langl. P. Plow. B. xvii. 212 As þow seest some tyme sodeynliche a torche, The blase þere-of yblowe out. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. ii. i. 136 Though little fire growes great with little winde, yet extreme gusts will blow out fire. 1617P. Bayne in Spurgeon Treas. David Ps. cxix. 29 As candles new bloun out are soon bloun in again. 1665Boyle Occas. Refl. (1675) 353 A Candle..inclos'd in a Lanthorn..is in less danger to be blown out. 1839Dickens Nich. Nick. viii, Squeers..opened the shutters and blew the candle out. 1842Tennyson Goose 49 The glass blew in, the fire blew out.
†18. fig. To excite, inflame, arouse, fan (feeling, passion, discord, etc.; rarely, a person to some feeling or action). Usually with up. Obs.
a1225Ancr. R. 256 Ȝif þe ueond bloweð bitweonen ou eni wreððe. 1654G. Goddard in Burton Diary (1828) I. 93 These two interests..being constantly blown up by the enemies beyond the seas. 1677A. Yarranton Engl. Improv. To Rdr., They..blow up a War betwixt England and Holland. 1720Ozell Vertot's Rom. Rep. I. ii. 118 Finding the People were blown up again to their former Animosity. 1776Gibbon Decl. & F. I. vi. 127 Some trifling accident blew up their discontent into a furious mutiny.
19. a. In Metallurgy. to blow in: (trans.) to put a blast furnace in operation. to blow out: to put a blast furnace out of blast, by ceasing to charge it with fresh materials, and by continuing the blast, until all the contents have been smelted. Also said intr. of the furnace.
1864Daily Tel. 26 Oct., It was a question..of allowing half the furnaces in the district to blow out. 1881Sat. Rev. 1 May 565, 127 new furnaces have now been blown in. 1885Law Times LXXIX. 188/2 A few workmen only were kept on until the furnaces could be blown out.
b. to blow on: (trans.) to solder on by means of the blow-lamp.
1893Spons' Mechanics' Own Bk. (ed. 4) 641 Lead the pipe away to the main supply, and ‘blow’ it on by means of a union suited to the case.
c. Electr. (intr.) Of a fuse: to melt under an abnormally high electric current; to fuse. Also with out. Also trans., to cause (a fuse) to melt. Hence fig. (colloq.).
1902in Webster Suppl. 1908Installation News II. 86/1 A fuse has blown owing to a fault on the circuit. 1925Wodehouse Carry On, Jeeves! viii. 188 However firmly and confidently he started off, somewhere around the third bar a fuse would blow out. 1949S. J. Perelman Listen to Mocking Bird x. 120 Relax..or you'll blow a fuse. 1962A. Battersby Guide to Stock Control ix. 81 If a fuse blows at home, the effect is immediate—the lights go out. 1969Woman's Own 1 Nov. 15/1 This means plugging all three appliances into one 13 amp. socket. Are you likely to blow a fuse?
†20. trans. To cast (of molten metal). Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 6503 A goldin calf þar-of þai blu. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 61/3 They haue made to them a Calf blowen and haue worshyped it.
*** To clear (a pipe, etc.) by blowing.
21. trans. To clear from mucus or other adherent matter by sending a current of air through; as, to blow the nose, to blow eggs, blow gas or water pipes.
c1532G. Du Wes in Palsgr. 906 To blowe the nose, le moucher. a1613Overbury Char. Wks. (1856) 129 He hath learnt to cough and spit, and blow his nose. 1795Wolcott (P. Pindar) Pindar. Wks. 1812 IV. 209 He blows his mean pug-nose. 1828W. Sewell Oxf. Prize Ess. 80 Socrates..had done what he rarely did, washed, put on a pair of shoes, and blown his nose. 1880Wood in Boy's Own Paper 24 Apr., Do not worry yourself about blowing the eggs at the time. Mod. The plumber will try whether the obstruction can be removed by blowing the pipe.
**** To inflate by blowing.
22. a. trans. To swell (up or out) by sending a current of air into; to inflate, puff up.
c1420Liber Cocorum (1862) 26 Þe skyn þou opon..blaw hym with penne; Þenne ryses þo skyn before. c1425Seven Sag. (P.) 1523 Hys body was al to-blaw. c1550Balfour Practicks 379 Challenge of Fleshouris..That they blaw the flesh, and cause it seme fat and fair. 1674Ray N.C. Wds. 48 Tharm..guts prepared, cleansed and blown up for to receive puddings. 1770A. Young Tour N. Eng. I. 65 Boys blowing bladders. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 38 Because a man has blown himself out like a bladder.
b. To form or shape by means of inflation, as to blow bubbles, blow glass. Const. simply, or up, out.
1589Pappe w. Hatchet D iiij, Not like to glasse mettal, to be blowne in..fashion of euerie mans breath. 1660Boyle New Exp. Phys.-Mech. ii. 40 Glass bubles, such as are wont to be blown at the flame of a Lamp. 1869Tyndall Light ii. (1873) 66 Spending his days in blowing soap-bubbles. 1875Ure Dict. Arts II. 659 The bulb of glass being put into the mould, and blown while very hot.
c. Vet. Path. To cause (the stomach of an animal) to swell. (Cf. blowing vbl. n.1 2 d.) Also refl.
1778W. H. Marshall Minutes Agric. 16 Jan., sig. Z2 verso, Perhaps it was the core of a cabbage which blowed the cow. 1893Dartnell & Goddard Gloss. Wilts. 14 Sheep and cattle ‘blow’ themselves, or get ‘blowed’, from overeating when turned out into very heavy grass or clover, the fermentation of which often kills them on the spot, their bodies becoming terribly inflated with wind.
23.
†a. fig. To inflate or puff up (a person) with pride or vanity. Also absol. Obs.
1388Wyclif 1 Cor. iv. 19 The word of hem that ben blowun with pride. Ibid. viii. 1 Kunnynge blowith, charite edifieth. c1430Hymns Virg. (1867) 115 Charite..Ne blowen is with pride. 1594T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. 147 Crœsus..he perceived to be blowen and puft up with pride. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxv. 135 When they blow one another with Orations. 1715Burnet Own Time (1766) II. 78 Blown vp with popularity. 1718Hickes & Nelson J. Kettlewell iii. §110. 462 Never Capable of Blowing up his Mind with the least Vanity.
†b. fig. To inflate, enlarge, magnify; to make (a thing) appear greater or grander than it really is. Also, To invent a report of. Usually with up. Obs.
1536Starkey Let. in England (1871) Life 37 Blowyng vp that authoryte wyth such arrogancy. 1666Pepys Diary (1879) IV. 198 That we at Court do blow up a design of invading us. 1699Bentley Phal. Pref. 6, I had no apprehension..that the Business could have been blown to this Hight. 1711Addison Spect. No. 39 ⁋6 A vulgar [sentiment] that is blown up with all the sound and energy of expression.
c. In Photogr., to blow up: to enlarge (a photograph, etc.). colloq.
1930Popular Sci. Jan. 27/3 The little sixteen-millimeter film of such cameras is too small for projection..and when it is ‘blown up’ to standard size, the images often blur. 1959Punch 21 Oct. 337/3, I blew up the two faces on an epidiascope. 1961G. Millerson Telev. Production iii. 29 Reducing the lens angle ‘blows up’ a proportionately smaller area of the centre of the shot, to fill the whole screen.
***** To explode by blowing.
24. a. trans. To shatter, destroy, or otherwise act upon by means of explosion. Const. with various adverbs of direction, esp. up; also with such phrases as to atoms and to bits; in technical use often simply to blow, like ‘to blast’.
1599Sandys Europæ Spec. (1632) 76 They may..blow uppe the mines of their adversaries. 1602Shakes. Ham. iii. iv. 209, I will delve one yard below their mines And blow them at the moon. 1605Act 3 Jas. I, iv, That more than barbarous and horrible attempt to have blowuen up with Gunpowder the Kinge Queene Prince Lordes and Commons. 1679–88Secr. Serv. Moneys Chas. & Jas. (1851) 50 To Thomas Silver, Gunner, for a reward..in blowing up several buildings, and suppressing the late fire. 1709Steele Tatler No. 80 ⁋9 One of our Bombs fell into a Magazine..and blew it up. 1799J. Robertson Agric. Perth 366 The small expence of blowing a few yards of rock. 1801Wellington in Gurw. Disp. I. 361 After blowing open the gates. 1802Monthly Mag. XIV. 31/1 [Robert Fulton] proposes to blow men of war to atoms. c1880Grant Hist. India I. lxxv. 399/1 The breaching guns..were blown in the touch-hole. 1936Discovery July 229/1 The old..story that Fulton was the father of the steamboat, blown to bits in favour of the cruelly forgotten John Fitch.
b. to blow any one's brains out: to shoot him through the head (with fire-arms). Cf. brain n. 1 b.
1816Scott Old Mort. xiv, If they attempt an escape, blow their brains out.
c. to blow from (the mouth of) a gun, etc.: to execute summary justice on (a traitor, etc.) by binding him to the muzzle of a gun and firing the piece.
[1776Monthly Rev. LV. 276, I ordered..the artillery officers to prepare to blow them away.] 1857Blackw. Mag. Sept. 389/1 That if there be 10,000 who refuse to use them, they are to be blown away from cannon. 1885Century Mag. Jan. 411/2 That Black Idol..Was..Blown hellward from the cannon's mouth. 1893W. S. Gilbert Rosencrantz & Guild. 11, The Bench of Bishops seize you..And blow you from a gun.
d. Sporting. To shatter (a game bird) in shooting; more explicitly to blow to pieces. So (U.S. slang) to blow apart.
1892W. W. Greener Breech-Loader 275, I defy any one, after a day's shooting, to point out a single bird that has been ‘blown’. My experience has proved beyond doubt that the choke-bore does not blow pheasants or any other game to pieces at 20 yards. 1920Mulford J. Nelson iv. 45 ‘Squint,’ said his captor in a hard, level voice, ‘if you give me th' least excuse I'll blow you apart.’
e. To remove by the force of an explosion; with advbs. away, back, off.
1899Westm. Gaz. 13 July 7/2 Cartridges in which the caps have been blown back when the rifle was discharged.
f. to blow the lid off (fig.): to expose (a state of affairs). orig. U.S.
1928Daily Tel. 1 May 9/5 He ‘blew the lid’ off a notorious national condition of affairs.
g. to blow out: (of a cock, valve, etc.) to be driven out by the expansive force of gas or vapour.
1909in Webster.
h. To produce by blowing or shooting.
1871B. Harte East & West: Poems 18 Walker of Murphy's blew a hole through Peters For telling him that he lied. 1891C. Roberts Adrift Amer. 153 If you talk to me like that I'll blow a hole through you.
i. to blow one's top (less commonly topper): to lose control of oneself through anger, excitement, etc. (see also quot. 1938).
1928R. J. Tasker Grimhaven iii. 28 Unless you say ‘blew his top’ or ‘blow his topper’; then it means to go crazy. 1938New Yorker 12 Mar. 47/2 If he smokes to excess, he blows his top; that is, he gets sick. 1941Amer. Speech XVI. 163/2 To blow your top: vocal loss of temper. 1947Steinbeck Wayward Bus 90 He blew his top and lost his job and came bellyaching to Loraine. 1958Economist 1 Nov. 387/2 This was not just a newly retired officer blowing his top after years of enforced silence.
j. to blow (a person's) mind, to induce hallucinatory experiences (in a person) by means of drugs, esp. LSD; hence transf., to produce (in a person) a pleasurable (or shocking) sensation.
[1966San Francisco Examiner & Chron. 12 June 33/3 The Barry Goldberg Blues Band..does an LP called ‘Blowin' My Mind’.] 1967San Francisco Examiner 12 Sept. 26/3 On a hip acid (LSD) trip you can blow your mind sky-high. 1967San Francisco Chron. 2 Oct. 49/3 Because when the Red Sox rallied to beat the Minneapolis Twins..Boston fans blew their minds. 1968J. D. MacDonald Pale Grey for Guilt (1969) xii. 152 They had some new short acid from the Coast that never gives you a down trip and blows your mind for an hour only. 1970Rolling Stone 30 Jan. 1/2 Blue blazer, grey flannel pants, shirt and a beautiful scarf with a chunky Mexican turquoise/silver bracelet and ring which blew the white-shirted jury's minds.
25. fig. to blow up:
†a. to destroy, put an end to; to ruin. Obs.
1660Sir H. Finch in Cobbett Parl. Hist. (1808) IV. 146 He could not think any thing more dangerous than the writing this Book..it blew up this parliament totally, and damned the Act of Oblivion. 1746Chesterfield Lett. II. cciii. 270 A despatch with less than half these faults would blow you up for ever. 1791J. Hampson Mem. Wesley I. 105 It was reported, that the college censors were going to blow up the Godly Club.
b. To scold, rail at. colloq.
1710Duchess of Marlborough Let. in A. T. Thomson Mem. (1839) II. viii. 173 This plainly showed that the cabal had been blowing her up, but that she could not, however, contradict her own order. 1807Geo. Colman Let. 10 Dec. in J. C. Young Mem. C. M. Young (1871) I. ii. 47 Now for this I will blow you up! 1827Lytton Pelham lv. (L.) Lord Gravelton..was blowing up the waiters. 1882B. Ramsay Recoll. Mil. Serv. I. iii. 55 He began to blow me up for not having provided quarters for his men and horses.
c. To go to pieces, give out, fail. Chiefly U.S. slang.
1934in Webster. 1957N. Frye Anat. Criticism iii. 178 An epilogue in Plautus informs us that the slave-actor who has blown up in his lines will now be flogged.
26. a. intr. To undergo explosion; to go to pieces by explosion; to erupt. Usually with up. †b. transf. To give way, collapse.
1694Lond. Gaz. No. 2994/3 Two Magazines blew up. 1783Page in Phil. Trans. LXXIV. 13 The work..from the weight upon one part only, might have blown. 1863Kingsley Water-bab. vi. 242 The mountain had blown up like a barrel of gunpowder.
c. to blow out (see quot.). Said also of veins of metals; and fig.
1857Trans. Ill. Agric. Soc. II. 364 Quantities of the public lands were entered to cover the supposed copper mines. It has all blown out. 1873J. H. Beadle Undevel. West xviii. 333 The fluid turned aside to existing crevices, or ‘blew out’ through hollow chambers. 1881Raymond Mining Gloss., Blow-out..a shot or blast is said to blow out when it goes off like a gun and does not shatter the rock.
d. With up. To lose one's temper; to ‘explode’. Cf. sense 24 i. colloq.
1871‘Mark Twain’ Lett. (1917) I. x. 189 Redpath tells me to blow up. Here goes! 1935A. J. Cronin Stars look Down iii. iii. 497 ‘Good God, Harry,’ Joe blew up dramatically... ‘D'you mean to say it was as bad as that?’ 1979N. Mailer Executioner's Song (1980) ii. x. 652 At this point, Gary blew up, ‘Those sons of bitches, those sons of bitches,’ he kept saying.
III. Senses of doubtful position.
27. a. trans. To expose, betray, inform upon. (Formerly sometimes blow up.) Now slang. Cf. 30. Also to blow the gab or gaff (see gab n.2 2, gaff n.2 2).
1575Appius & Virg. in Hazl. Dodsley IV. 136 Was all well agreed? did nobody blow ye? 1702Vanbrugh False Fr. iv. ii, So! she's here!..Now we are blown up! 1742Richardson Pamela IV. 275 Thou deservest to be blown up, and to have thy Plot spoiled. 1770Langhorne Plutarch (1879) II. 1035/1 So near was the great secret being blown. c1805M. Edgeworth Wks. (Rtldg.) I. 185 He was afraid that the mulatto woman should recollect either his face or voice, and should blow him. 1821Lockhart Valerino I. xi. 202 The time is not yet come to blow his private doings. 1833Marryat P. Simple xliii, I wasn't going to blow the gaff [= let out the secret]. 1925E. Wallace Mind of Mr. J. G. Reeder v. 165 This officer ‘blew’ the raid to Tommy. 1958G. Greene Our Man in Havana ii. 99 We can't risk blowing him now. Ibid. iii. i. 111 They're anxious you should take no risk of being blown. It doesn't matter so much if I'm blown. 1961‘B. Wells’ Day Earth caught Fire vii. 114 You can't go on blaming him for blowing the story you gave him.
b. absol. To tell tales, ‘peach’. (See also 30.)
1848E. Judson Mysteries N.Y. ii. 48 To ‘blow’ would be to tell of some of my stealing. a1859L. Hunt Country Lodging in Casquet Lit. (1877) I. 42/1 D―n me, if I don't blow..I'll tell Tom Neville. 1928E. Wallace Gunner xxxiii. 281 If..Mr. Morell..has blown— has told the story of Taffany's, every boat will be watched. 1967C. Drummond Death at Furlong Post xii. 154 If Ada blows she gets life, they don't like Crown Evidence these days.
28. Said of flies and other insects: To deposit their eggs. [This sense is apparently connected with old notions of natural history. It has nothing to do with the notion of blowing or inflating meat.]
†a. trans. (with ‘blotes’ or eggs as obj.) Obs.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts 49 Worms..which are not bigger then such as flyes blow in rotten flesh. 1657S. Purchas Pol. Flying-Ins. 44 They [bees] then blow in it [a cell of the comb] a thing less then, or as little as a flye-blote.
†b. absol. or intr. Obs.
1604Shakes. Oth. iv. ii. 67 As Sommer Flyes..that quicken euen with blowing. 1657S. Purchas Pol. Flying-Ins. 44 The matter in which they [bees] blow or breed is something that they gather of the flowers. 1692T. Wagstaffe Vind. Chas. I, xii. 83 It is the Nature of Flies to be ever buzzing, and blowing upon any thing that is raw. 1771Gullet in Phil. Trans. LXII. 350 This blows in the ear of the corn, and produces a worm.
c. trans. To deposit eggs on or in (a place); to fill with eggs. Cf. fly-blown.
1588Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 409 These summer flies Haue blowne me full of maggot ostentation. 1610― Temp. iii. i. 63 To suffer The flesh-flie blow my mouth. 1650B. Discollim. 50 When Eagles are deplum'd, the flyes will blow their breech.
†d. with up. rare. Obs.
1650Fuller Pisgah ii. viii. 172 No wonder if Worms quickly devoured him [Herod], whom those flesh-flies had blown up before. [A word-play on sense 23.]
29. Used in imprecations: To curse, ‘confound’, ‘hang’. vulgar. (The pa. pple. is blowed.) Also with the implication of ignoring or disregarding; blow!: used absol. as an exclamation of anger or vexation; blow me tight! (cf. sense 22).
1781G. Parker View of Society I. 48 Blow me up (says he) if I have had a fellow with such rum toggys cross my company these many a day. 1819T. Moore Tom Crib's Mem. to Congress 46 Says Bill, ‘there's nothing like a Bull: And blow me tight.’ 1821P. Egan Life in London iii. 225 Blow me tight if ever I saw such a thing in my life before. 1827J. Wight More Mornings at Bow St. 55 Blow me if I do! 1835Marryat Olla Podr., If I do, blow me! 1836Dickens Sk. Boz. in Morning Chron. 11 Oct. 3/4 The said Thomas Sludberry repeated the aforesaid expression, ‘You be blowed!’ 1859― T. Two Cities ii. i. 36 One blowed thing and another. 1865― Mut. Fr. II. iv. xv. 287 Blowed if I shouldn't have left out lakes. 1871Blackw. Mag. May 551/2 Oh, blow it, governor. 1881Daily Tel. 28 Jan., ‘Isn't it rather risky?’ I asked. ‘Blow risks,’ he answered. 1882Three in Norway xxiv. 207 Retributive justice be blowed! 1922F. Hamilton P.J., Secret Service Boy ii. 70 I'm absolutely blowed if I know what to do. Ibid. 84 Oh, blow! And I go back to school in ten days. 1933P. MacDonald Myst. Dead Police i. 6 ‘Blow me tight!’ said Sergeant Guilfoil. For things were certainly happening in Farnley. 1957I. Cross God Boy (1958) xv. 124 Then blow me if Dr Hutchinson..didn't come padding round the post office corner. 1963Listener 28 Mar. 540/1 It is no longer proper to use as our second national motto in education ‘Blow you, Jack, our top five per cent. are absolutely splendid’.
30. to blow up(on) (a person or thing) has been used in various senses (see a); among others: To take the bloom off; to make stale or hackneyed; to bring into discredit, defame; also, to tell tales of, inform upon, expose (cf. 27). With indirect passive, to be blown upon (see b). In this latter sense the simple blow also occurs trans. (see c).
a.a1400Morte Arth. (1819) 47 A monge hem all be fore the dese He bloweth oute vppon the quene, To haue hys ryght. 1634Malory's Arthur (1816) II. 438 Then Sir Gawaine made many men to blow upon Sir Launcelot, and all at once they called him ‘False recreant Knight!’ 1808Jamieson Dict. s.v. Blaw, To Blaw out on one, formally to denounce one as a rebel by three blasts of the king's horn at the market-cross of the head-borough of the shire; an old forensic phrase. 1844Spirit of Times 20 Jan. 557/2 Go! Get off; I'll not blow on you. 1876J. Weiss Wit, Hum. Shaks. ii. 51 Why..does she not blow upon the doctor? 1877J. Greenwood Dick Temple II. i. 10 She ain't got nobody but me to keep a secret for her, and I've been and blowed on her. 1916E. Wallace Clue Twisted Candle (1918) xvii. 197, I'm not going to blow on it, if it's going to get me into trouble, but if you'll promise me that it won't, I'll tell you the whole story. 1960W. Haggard Closed Circuit viii. 94 There could be only one explanation: Menderez had blown on him.
b.c1645Howell Lett. i. §6 (1726) 277, I thank you for the good opinion you..have of my fancy of Trees: It is a maiden one, and not blown upon by any one yet. 1678Norris Misc. (1699) 325, I wave these, and fix upon another account less Blown upon. 1679Penn Addr. Prot. App. 246 A Man of Wisdom, Sobriety and Ability..if a Dissenter, must be blown upon for a Phanatick. 1708S. Centlivre Busie Body ii. ii. (1749) 36 If I can but keep my Daughter from being blown upon 'till Signior Babinetto arrives. 1711Addison Spect. No. 105 ⁋5 He will..whisper an Intrigue that is not yet blown upon by common Fame. 1712Ibid. No. 464 ⁋1, I am wonderfully pleased when I meet with any Passage in an old Greek or Latin Author, that is not blown upon. 1749Fielding Tom Jones x. ii, The reputation of her house, which was never blown upon before, was utterly destroyed. 1845Ford Handbk. Spain i. 7 If once blown upon, no one would employ them. 1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 48 The credit of the false witnesses had been blown upon. 1877A. M. Sullivan New Ireland xxiii. 276 They had got word that the plot was ‘blown upon’ by some traitor.
c.1864Duke of Manchester Crt. & Soc. Eliz. to Anne I. 80 Puebla's character had been somewhat blown.
†31. to blow a bowl or blow in a bowl: to tipple, to be a habitual drunkard. Obs.
c1500Blowbol's Test. in Halliw. Nugæ P. 1 Many a throw Of good ale bolys that he had i-blowe. 1515Barclay Eglog. i. (1570) A iv/3 To blowe in a bowle, and for to pill a platter.
32. To treat (someone) to. U.S. slang. Also refl. (See also quot. 1889.)
1889Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang I. 134/1 To blow off, to treat to drinks. 1896Ade Artie xvii. 155 ‘I noticed that you'd been talking bicycle lately, but I didn't know you were going to get one.’ ‘..I'm goin' to do the sucker act and blow myself.’ 1903C. L. Burnham Jewel 97 Father took me to the horse show... He told mother he was going to blow me to it. 1949A. Miller Death of Salesman 11, Tell Dad, we want to blow him to a good meal.
33. coarse slang. To fellate. Also intr., to practise fellatio.
1933Brevities 12 Oct. 1 (heading) Sexy sailors blow! Bawdy boys run riot on high seas as fags stir emotions of rollicking rovers. 1941G. Legman in G. W. Henry Sex Variants ii. 1158 Blow, to fellate or cunnilingue, the object being the person, and not the genital organ. 1959W. Burroughs Naked Lunch 86 ‘Darling, I want to blow you,’ she whispers. 1968J. Updike Couples ii. 148 The bitch won't blow unless she's really looped. What did the Bard say? To fuck is human; to be blown, divine. 1969P. Roth Portnoy's Complaint 191 ‘I want you to come in my mouth,’ and so she blew me. 1978M. Puzo Fools Die vi. 82 There was a whole regiment of floozy Nightingales passing through his hotel room, washing him, feeding him and, as they tucked him in, blowing him to make sure he was relaxed enough to get a good night's sleep.
☛Phrase-key. b abroad, about 13; b away 12, 24 e; b back 24 e; b bellows 7; b brains out 24 b; b bowl 31; b bubbles 22 b; b coals 17; b down 12; b eggs 21; b fire 17; b flies' eggs 28; b from 12; b from (mouth of) guns 24 c; b gab, gaff 27; b glass 22 b; b great guns 1; b high, low 1 b; b hot and cold 2 b; b in 9 d, 12 d, (furnace) 19; b into 9; b into one's ear 11; b lid off 24 f; b me tight 29; b mind 24 j; b nose 21; b off 10, 12, 12 c, 24 e; b on 19 b, 30; b one's top(per) 24 i; b out 4, 11, 13, 14, 17 c (= extinguish), 19 (furnace), 19 c, 22 (= inflate), 24 g, 26 c; b over 12 c; b short 4 b; b through 9; b to 12, 32; b to atoms 24; b to bits 24 a; b to pieces 24 d; b trumpet 14; b up 1, 14, 15, 18, 22–3 (= inflate, enlarge), 24–6 (= explode), 25 b (= scold), 27, 28 d; b upon 9, 30.
blow- in Comb. as blow-tube, blow-bowl, blow-coal, etc.: see after blow n.2
▸ to blow away v. 1. trans. To destroy or obliterate in an explosion, or with a firearm; to subject to an explosion, to blow up; (in extended use) to ruin, devastate. Also (now chiefly U.S. slang): to shoot dead. Freq. in pass.
1523J. Skelton Goodly Garlande of Laurell sig. Cii, The blaste of ye byrnston blew away his brayne. a1586Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) f. 351v, I heard of my friendes being besieged, and so came to blowe away the wretches that troubled him. 1627W. Hawkins Apollo Shroving ii. iii. 27 Blow away your enemy out of the field with one blast. 1679F. Beaumont Knight of Burning Pestle v. i. 65 Ralph.: What's become o'th' nose of your flaske? 1 Sold.: Indeed law Captain, 'twas blown away with powder. 1778F. Pilon Invasion ii. 33 If the enemy have any artillery, all the under part of the house will be blown away at the first discharge. 1831J. Wilson Unimore v, in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Aug. 156 Generations have been blown away By war in foreign lands. 1900H. D. Rawnsley Ballads of War 5 His whole right hand had been blown away. 1939in A. Banks First-person Amer. (1981) 251 A bunch of them wops showed up in a car n tried to blow him away. 1994Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey) 24 Apr. iii 5/3 HYM was blown away by a sudden drop in the price of several investments derived on Wall Street from the imaginative selling and reselling of common homeowner mortgages. 2001People (Electronic ed.) 1 July He stood over his kneeling victim and listened to his frantic pleas before blowing him away.
2. trans. slang (orig. U.S.). To disprove or demolish (an argument, etc.) forcefully and emphatically; to show to be false or unfounded, to discredit.
1959R. Heywood Sixth Sense 103 But the epiphenomenalistic bosh..that's simply blown away. It's one of the blind alleys of human thought. 1966R. Giallombardo Society of Women App. B. (Gloss.) 201 Blow away, to silence by forceful argument, to talk belligerently. 1987Skin Diver Aug. 131/1 That sort of blows away all their theories on growth rates of black coral. 1992Enroute (Air Canada) Sept. 8/2 (advt.) Sony Compact Audio Systems. With one press of the remote, you'll quickly and soundly blow away the myth that bigger is better.
3. trans. slang (orig. U.S.). To defeat convincingly (esp. at sport); to surpass (a rival or competitor); (Jazz) to outperform (a fellow musician). Cf. earlier to blow out at 4a.
The use among jazz musicians, though most obviously derived from sense 14e, shows the influence of other uses (sense 12a and to blow away v.). Although attested later here, it has been suggested that this use in Jazz is the origin of the more general sense: see Comments on Etymol. (1989) Jan. 9.
1974Washington Post 1 July d6/2 The classic matchup—the king of sport against the unknown kid—was settled quickly. ‘The kid knocked me right off. He blew me away.’ 1976C. Calloway & B. Rollins Of Minnie the Moocher & Me 73 Each band would play a couple of sets, trying to blow the other band away. 1986World Boxing Sept. 54/2 Bruno blew away journeyman Larry Frazier in less than two rounds. 1990Videographic Apr. 29/1 Obviously it is far slower than something like Paintbox, but its versatility blows Paintbox away. 1999BBC Top Gear Mag. June 43/1 For the first time since they blew away the opposition in 1937–39, the awesome Mercedes W154 GP cars are returning to Donington.
4. trans. slang (orig. U.S.). To astonish, delight, or thrill; to impress extremely, to overwhelm. Cf. to blow (a person's) mind at 24j.
Perhaps related to the slightly earlier blown away ‘intoxicated with drink or drugs’: see blown adj.1
1975Washington Post 24 May e32/4 (cartoon caption) Days like this just blow me away—seems like all the world's at peace with itself. 1988G. Lees Meet me at Jim & Andy's viii. 135 They were hot. They blew the Monterey Festival away that year. 1995Q June 102/3 You Really Got Me by The Kinks. I heard it when I was at school and it really blew me away.
▸ to blow a kiss and variants: to gesture as if to kiss someone at a remove but within one's view, esp. to kiss the tips of one's fingers and blow across them towards the recipient(s) as a gesture of affection or farewell. Also fig.
Freq. with recipient as indirect object.
1611L. Emley in T. Coryate Crudities sig. iv, And Germany, since thee she needs must misse, In kind remembrance blowes thee a full kisse. 1677A. Behn Rover ii. i. 21 (stage direct.) Antonio..bows and blows up kisses. 1765I. Bickerstaffe Maid of Mill ii. viii. 38 Blow me a kiss, In pledge-promis'd truth, that's all. Farewell! 1812H. Smith & J. Smith Rejected Addr. 10 If you'll blow to me a kiss, I'll blow a kiss to you. 1891T. Hardy Tess II. xxi. 9 They all three blew him a silent kiss. 1908L. M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables viii. 87 Anne blew a couple of airy kisses from her fingertips past the cherry blossoms. 1969Sunday Times 9 Nov. 24/8 A personable girl was waving to me, blowing kisses. 1991Rolling Stone 21 Feb. 33 The Caribbean breeze meets the native funk, and together they blow a big kiss at the turistas.
▸ trans.to blow off: (a) (now U.S. slang) to rebuff, to reject the advances of (a person); to ignore, disregard, dismiss; (b) U.S. slang, to shirk or evade (a job or duty), to stay away from (school or work) without permission or good reason.
1631B. Jonson New Inne ii. vi. sig. D2, Blow him off good Pru, they'l mar all else. 1668E. Howard Usurper iv. 54 Clean.: Remember he's your Son. Dam.: Thus I blow off that name. 1856W. S. Landor Anthony & Octavius viii. 74 Let him brush kings away and blow off queens. 1947B. Schulberg Harder they Fall xv. 253, I was just thinking like a moon-struck freshman when I was..deciding to blow Nick off. 1968F. M. Spillane Killer Mine 14 I'm a cop, plain and simple. But I'm just cop enough to blow off a job I don't want to get fixed into. 1975S. Bellow Humboldt's Gift (1976) 440 ‘And where is she?’ I didn't answer. ‘She blew you off. I see.’ 1988J. McInerney Story of my Life ii. 29 Did you blow off work, I ask, and he says he called in and said he was taking the day off, he had one coming. 1993Coloradoan (Fort Collins) 30 May c4/2 Don't obsess, but don't blow it off as useless information, say health professionals.
▸ trans.to blow out of the water: (a) lit. to propel out of water by the force of an explosion; (b) fig. (colloq.) to expose ruinously, to show (a person, idea, or scheme) to lack all credibility or potential; to bring about the downfall of, esp. by sudden, drastic, decisive action.
1748T. Smollett Roderick Random II. lxv. 321 This discovery had an evident effect upon the sailors, who did not scruple to say, that we should be tore to pieces, and blown out of the water. 1785F. Pilon Fair Amer. iii. 58 I'll send him a challenge, and make him eat his words; or he shall blow old Cable out of the water. 1803G. Huddesford Bonaparte xii. 20 When Nelson with Brueys And his ships play'd the deuce, Burnt, captur'd, or sunk, or blown out of the water. 1860H. R. Shipley Privateer's Cruise ii. 22 Why that craft can blow us out of the water in a couple of broadsides; she throws a weight of metal treble our own. 1888G. W. Lovell Look before you Leap v. ii. 25 Tom: Oh, there is such a row! Spriggs: I've blown him out of the water. Fanny: Oh, Jack, you have ruined him. 1959S. H. Adams Tenderloin xxxix. 330 If I can find a way I'll blow the whole damned investigation right out of the water. 1979J. Cassidy Station in Delta vi. 77 You do everything by the book, or..I'll blow you right out of the water! 1984J. Bedford Titron Madness xiv. 122 There aren't enough of us to search the ship... We could still be looking for it when they blow us out of the water. 1997Daily Mail 15 Jan. 52/5 Things finally seem to be looking up for Kelly—which is more than can be said for Biff, whose romantic plans are blown out of the water by Linda.
▸ to blow out v. 1. trans. slang (chiefly U.S.). To defeat convincingly (esp. at sport); (Jazz) to outperform (a fellow musician).
The use among jazz musicians may have arisen independently, perhaps influenced by sense 14e: see Comments on Etymol. (1989) Jan. 9–10.
1892W. J. Florence Handbk. Poker 91 When a big bet is made which drives out the other players, they are sometimes said to be ‘blown out’. 1956B. Holiday Lady sings Blues iv. 56 Chu was sitting there and everybody started arguing as to who could blow out whom, trying to promote a [saxophone-playing] competition between Lester and Chu. 1978Washington Post 11 June d6/6 Before the injuries, we were getting to a point where we were feeling we could blow out anyone. 1980N.Y. Times 3 June b2/1 ‘We'll blow them out,’ said Mr. Shiel, who has already said he intends to run for Mayor. 1991Sports Illustr. 4 Mar. 58/2 They're blowing out everybody. They are as good a women's college team as I've ever seen. 1998Boxing Monthly Apr. 45/2 Mercer easily blows out New Jersey bodybuilder.
2. intr. slang. Of a person: to be unsuccessful, fail; to perform badly. Of a situation, plan, etc.: to fall through, go wrong; to come to nothing.
1939H. Hodge Cab, Sir? xv. 221 When a cabman puts on a theatre or restaurant rank, and gets first just as the lights go out and the door shuts, he has ‘blown out’. a1969J. Kerouac Visions of Cody (1972) 374 Everything blew out on that Cadillac trip East, there's nothing left. 1970P. Laurie Scotland Yard (App.), Blow out, to, for a case, theory, accusation, to fall down. 1992Atlantic Sept. 50/2 Many of these families had biological children who were doing very well. But these adopted kids seemed to be blowing out left and right.
3. N. Amer. Sport slang. (a) intr., (of a part of one's body) to become ineffective through injury; (b) trans., to injure (a part of one's body).
1984G. Nettles & P. Golenbock Balls vii. 92 His back blew out on him. 1984Sports Illustr. 30 Apr. 63/2 Fingers..blew out his arm in September 1982 during Milwaukee's drive to the American League pennant. 1992Golf Monthly May 174/1 Mediate grew up as a baseball pitcher, but turned to golf when he blew out his arm trying to snap a curve ball. 2000U.S. News & World Rep. 24 Jan. 56/2 He blew out his knee playing basketball.
4. trans. Chiefly Brit. To let (a person) down or shut (a person) out; to rebuff, reject the advances of (a person). Also: to fail to keep (an appointment), esp. deliberately, to jilt; to shirk. Cf. earlier to blow off at Additions.
1987Classic Racer Summer 60/1 Then at the last minute Florian's wife..nipped over to the factory, swung the deal in favour of Florian and blew me out. 1989Melody Maker 25 Nov. 7/4 After blowing out shows at Hammersmith Odeon by missing his Concorde flight, Jerry called up his PR people in London to say..he'd missed two more planes. 1991J. Phillips You'll never eat Lunch in this Town Again 90 We have a brief conference and blow out the meeting anyway. 1996V. Walters Rude Girls xiii. 273 His face had a blank expression. Shree had just blown him out in a big way, but no one would be able to tell. 1999J. Lloyd & E. Rees Come Together iii. 68, I was drunk and I'd been blown out so many times in the last hour that I'd dismissed the idea of pulling from my mind.
▸ trans.to blow a gasket. a. lit. To have a gasket (gasket n. 2b) come loose due to excess pressure.
[1907Michigan Reports 149373 He was cleaning out some beer tanks in the cellar when a rubber gasket blew out from between the flanges.] 1928Federal Reporter (U.S.) (2nd Ser.) 27 891/2 [He] lost his lift because of the blowing out of a gasket, resulting in the ignition of gases or crude oil from the engine. 1944Q. Reynolds Curtain Rises iv. 94 This car needs to have its valves ground... Its gears are stripped and we are a cinch to blow a gasket. 1969Surf Internat. (Austral.) I. xi. 13 Nat and Paul push the woodie, it's stoked too, an' finally blows its gasket. 1991R. R. McCammon Boy's Life i. vi. 81 Old Moses made a noise like a locomotive about to blow its gaskets.
b. fig. (colloq.). (a) (Of a person) to become ill, collapse; (of an organization, situation, etc.) to break down, go wrong (rare); (b) to lose one's temper or self-control, to become uncontrollably angry; cf. to blow a fuse, sense 19c.
1946Liberty 1 June 36/3 Better slow down, old man, or you'll blow a gasket. 1959Jrnl. Higher Educ. 30 449, I am against trustee control of the curriculum... Even if they give it back graciously..to such a ‘new mechanism’ as a ‘rededicated, revitalized and strengthened Committee of the Faculty’... I have seen too many dedicated and vitalized mechanisms blow a gasket to feel otherwise. 1975Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 22 May 2 No matter how many times you've blown a gasket about a speeding ticket or some other minor infraction, the policeman is still your friend. 1995Sun 26 Apr. (TV Suppl.) 4/3 Lilly's big romantic evening blows a gasket. 1999Yahoo! Internet Life Dec. 89 There is one sure way to make great science fiction writers blow a gasket..: Ask them to predict the future.
▸ trans. orig. U.S. To cause (the engine of a motor vehicle, esp. a racing car) to break down, esp. through overloading or overheating. Also intr., of an engine: to break down.
1960Guide to Drag Racing (Fremont Drag Strip) 11/1 Blew, engine trouble of various types, ‘He blew’. 1962Washington Daily News 30 July 43/3 Dick Brannan, South Bend, Ind., turned 112.92 with his '62 Ford in the warm-ups but blew his engine in the Bond runs. 1978Detroit Free Press 5 Mar. c2 Ricardo Patrese..seized the lead on the 29th lap, built a sizable edge and blew his engine on the 63d lap. 1986Grand Prix Internat. July 46/3 The session was interrupted again after Palmer's engine had blown, setting fire to the rear of his Zakspeed. 1998Indianapolis Star 25 Jan. b9/1 Last year's disappointing run, where he led 131 of 149 laps before blowing an engine just before the race was red-flagged by rain.
▪ II. blow, v.2|bləʊ|
Pa. tense blew |bl(j)uː|. Pa. pple. blown |bləʊn|. Forms: 1 blówan, 2–5 blowen, 3–7 blowe, 6– blow. pa. tense 1 bléow, 3 bleou, (bloude). pa. pple. 1 (ᵹe)blówen, (3–4 blowe), 6– blown.
[OE. blówan, 3rd sing. bléwp, pa. tense bléow, pa. pple. blówen, represented in the other W.Ger. langs. by weak vbs., OS. blôjan (MDu. and Du. bloeien), OHG. bluojan (MHG. blüejen, blüen, mod.G. blühen), pointing to an OTeut. str. vb. *blôjan, from root blō̆-, cogn. with L. flōs, flōrem flower, flōrēre to bloom; cf. bloom, blossom, blade, blede. Already in OE. the pa. tense coincided with that of bláwan, blow v.1, and in ME. the two verbs ran together in form.]
1. intr. To burst into flower; to blossom, bloom.
c1000Sax. Leechd. I. 98 Ðonne heo grewð & blewð. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 177 Trewes growen, blouwen and bereð blostmen. c1205Lay. 2013 Bi-heold he þene wode hu he bleou [1250 bloude]. c1400in Househ. Ord. (1790) 472 April, May, and June, while that trees blowen. 1578Lyte Dodoens v. xxi. 578. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 249, I know a banke where the wilde time blows. 1667Milton P.L. vii. 319 These scarce blown, Forth flourish't thick the clustring Vine. 1697Dryden Virg. Past. iii. 83 The Blossoms blow; the Birds on Bushes sing. 1855Tennyson Daisy 16 Here and there..A milky-bell'd amaryllis blew.
b. transf.
c1430Hymns Virg. (1867) 69 Now seiþ he, he loued me to longe, For myn heer bigynneþ to blowe.
2. fig. To flourish, bloom; to attain perfection.
1610J. Guillim Heraldry iii. ix. 110 Our flowry youth..It growes, it blowes, it spreds—it sheds her beauty in one day. 1675Dryden Aurengz. Prol. 33 Wit in Northern Climates will not blow. 1830Tennyson Talking Oak 76 In these latter springs I saw Your own Olivia blow.
3. trans. To cause to blossom. lit. or fig. ? Obs.
a1645Habington Elegie viii, The enamour'd Spring by kissing blows Soft blushes on her [the rose's] cheek. 1745–6Mrs. Delany Autobiog. (1861) II. 417 Houses built up for blowing auriculas. 1801M. Edgeworth Early Less., Rosamond (1827) 158 Directions for blowing bulbous-rooted flowers.
▪ III. blow, n.1|bləʊ|
Forms: 5 Sc. and north. blaw, 6 bloe, 6–7 blowe, 6– blow.
[First found in 15th c., the earliest instances being Sc. and north. Eng. with form blaw. Origin doubtful.
(The etymology of blow has been naturally sought in the stem of the OTeut. vb. *bleuwan, Goth. bliggwan to beat (which is not related to L. fligĕre), in OHG. bliuwan, MHG. bliuwen, mod.G. bläuen ‘to beetle, batter, beat, drub’ (whence bläuel a beetle), MDu. and mod.Du. blouwen ‘to beat, thrash, drub’, now esp. ‘to brake or swingle flax or hemp’ (whence blouwel a brake for flax). The OE. cognate would have been *bléowan, but of this no trace is found, and it is not easy on any theory to understand its giving rise to a substantive in the 15th c. without ever appearing itself. It is still less likely that an English substantive could be formed from the Du. blouwen or its Ger. equivalent, when there is no such substantive in these langs. (‘Du. blowe’ in J. is a figment.)
Another suggestion which suits the form and accounts also for the early Sc. and north. English variant blaw, is that this is the same word as blow n.2, or at least, like it, derived from blow v.1 The difficulty is, that, as to the sense, early uses of the word do not indicate any such origin, while historically, blow n.2 (in its own undoubted senses) is of later appearance. The analogy of Fr. soufflet, also, in which a word for ‘a blow with the flat of the hand’ arises out of the vb. souffler ‘to blow wind’, though striking at first sight, proves on examination of the history of soufflet to be merely superficial.)]
1. a. A stroke, esp. a firm stroke; a violent application of the fist or of any instrument to an object.
c1460Towneley Myst. 195 Bot I gif hym a blaw my hart wille brist. c1470Henry Wallace i. 348 He gat a blaw, thocht he war lad or lord, That proferryt hym ony lychtlynes. 1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xxxiii. xviii, Upon the side I gave him such a blow That I right nere did him overthrow. 1555Fardle Facions ii. xii. 279 The Bishoppe [in confirming]..giueth hym a blowe on the lefte chieke. 1590Shakes. Com. Err. iii. i. 56 Well strooke, there was blow for blow. 1611Bible Ps. xxxix. 10, I am consumed by the blowe of thine hand. 1643J. Burroughes Exp. Hosea iv. (1652) 66 It is not the last blow of the axe that fells the oak. 1754Richardson Grandison IV. iv. 28 Before hard blows are struck, that will leave marks. 1860Tyndall Glac. ii. §17. 317 A loud dull sound, like that produced by a heavy blow. 1866Kingsley Herew. xiii. 178 He felled him with one blow.
b. fig. Cf. ‘stroke’.
1605Shakes. Lear iv. vi. 225 A most poore man, made tame to Fortunes blows. 1609Ev. Wom. in Hum. ii. i. in Bullen O. Pl. IV, Y⊇ are a wag, Flavia, but talk and you must needes have a parting blowe. 1791Boswell Johnson 97 The hard blows which the great man had given me. 1883Froude Short Stud. IV. i. ix. 100 A direct blow at the authority of the young king.
c. A stroke of the shears in shearing sheep. Austral. and N.Z.
1878‘Ironbark’ Southerly Busters 180 If coves would let me ‘open out’, And take a bigger ‘blow’. 1890Melbourne Argus 20 Sept. 13/7 The shearers must make their clip clean and thorough. If..a ‘second blow’ is needed, the fleece is hacked. 1956G. Bowen Wool Away! (ed. 2) iii. 23 The first blow starts at the top of the brisket. 1959H. P. Tritton Time means Tucker 26/i Bill would shear to the whipping side, then pass the sheep to me, and..seven or eight blows would complete the job.
d. An outcrop of mineral. Austral. and N.Z.
1879W. J. Barry Up & Down xxii. 224, I then came to the conclusion that the lode was not a permanent one, but only what is called a ‘blow’ of quartz. 1922Chambers's Jrnl. Nov. 704/1 Silver-lead (galena) outcrops standing out in great ‘blows’. 1934Geogr. Jrnl. LXXXIV. 504 Quartz blows and ironstone reefs were noted. 1965G. J. Williams Econ. Geol. N.Z. iii. 29/2 A large blow of quartz was found on the surface of the Rainy Creek property in 1872.
2. fig. A severe disaster, a sudden and painful calamity; especially as sustained or felt by the sufferer, a sudden and severe shock.
1678N. Wanley Wonders v. i. §94. 467/2 The Hungarians..received from the Turks that terrible blow. 1841Macaulay in Trevelyan Life II. ix. 130 His death will be a terrible blow. 1847L. Hunt Jar Honey (1848) Pref. 10 They have never recovered the blow given them by the invidious heaviness of the Puritans.
3. ‘An act of hostility.’ (J.) Usually in pl. blows = ‘combat, fighting, war’, in the phrases to be at blows, come (or go), fall to blows, exchange blows.
1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, ii. iii. 81 Come, leaue your drinking, and fall to blowes. 1606― Ant. & Cl. ii. vi. 44 When Caesar and your Brother were at blowes. 1647W. Browne Polex. ii. 226 Wee..wished for nothing else then to be at blowes with our enemies. 1651Hobbes Leviath. i. v. 19 Their controversie must either come to blowes, or be undecided. 1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 322 Too young to have themselves exchanged blows with the cuirassiers of the Parliament. Ibid. 556 There was reason to fear that the two parties would come to blows.
4. Phrases.
a. at a blow, or at one blow: by one stroke; fig. by one vigorous act; suddenly; at once.
1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, v. i. 50, I had rather chop this Hand off at a blow. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 365 To redeem his Honour at a Blow. 1837Dickens Pickw. xi, What it is at one blow to be deserted by a lovely and fascinating creature. 1859Tennyson Elaine 42 Each had slain his brother at a blow.
b. fig. to strike a blow: to make an attack, take vigorous action. So, to strike the first blow. without striking a blow: without a struggle.
1790Beatson Nav. & Mil. Mem. II. 211 A good blow might be struck here. 1812Byron Ch. Har. ii. lxxvi, Who would be free, themselves must strike the blow. 1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 261 But neither side dared to strike the first blow. Ibid. 542 Deputies, without whose consent no great blow could be struck.
5. Comb., as blow-giver, blow-reach, blow-striking. blow-by-blow (orig. U.S.), used attrib. to designate a detailed account of the sequence of punches given in a boxing match; freq. transf.
1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. John xviii. (R.) Our Lord Jesus might..haue letted this blowgeuer. 1586T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. 54 To submit themselves willinglie..without blowe-striking. 1871Member for Paris II. 17 [He] was within blow-reach of them. 1933Amer. Speech Oct. 34/2 Radio announcers..describe the struggle as they see it, give the blow by blow account of its progress. 1939Time 23 Jan. 30/3 Joe Louis v. John Henry Lewis... Blow-by-blow report by Clem McCarthy and Edwin C. Hill. 1948H. Lawrence Death of Doll ix. 225 Maybe we'd better get together. Blow by blow description. 1962Times 7 June 17/3 Blow-by-blow descriptions of Jonson-Jones masques.
¶ This may have some association with blow n.2
1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. i. ii. 209 A womans tongue, That giues not halfe so great a blow to heare, As wil a Chessenut in a Farmers fire.
▪ IV. blow, n.2|bləʊ|
[f. blow v.1 Not certainly found bef. 17th c., which separates it from blow n.1]
1. A blowing; a blast.
a. of the wind. Also, a breath of fresh air; a ‘breather’ (sense 3); to get a blow: to expose oneself to the action of a fresh breeze (colloq.).
1660Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 8/1 The Etesian (yearly) winds..beginning the blow from the North. 1777W. Dalrymple Trav. Sp. & Port. xliv, Rain or blow. 1840R. Dana Bef. Mast iv. 8 The first blow that I had seen which could really be called a gale. 1849Theatrical Programme 9 July 48/2 A ‘blow’ upon the river. 1856Dickens Out of Season in Househ. Words 28 June 554/1, I really ought to go out and take a walk in the wind... I was under a moral obligation to have a blow. 1857R. Tomes Amer. in Japan i. 31 The ‘Mississippi’, in doubling the Cape of Good Hope..escaped any very heavy blow, altho' hardly a week passes without a gale from some quarter. a1887Mod. colloq. Went down to Gravesend by the steamer to get a blow. 1888C. M. Yonge Beechcroft at Rockstone II. xv. 40 ‘You must be tired out!’..‘Oh no, Aunt Ada! Quite freshened by that blow on the common.’ 1936R. Lehmann Weather in Streets iv. i. 386 Been for a blow?.. It freshens you up.
b. of whales.
a1851F. Cooper in Casquet Lit. (1877) V. 211/1 There is the blow of a whale. 1853Kane Grinnell Exp. xxxix. (1856) 359 It had more of voice mingled with its sibilant ‘blow’ than I had ever heard.
c. of a wind-instrument or other musical instrument; a musical session. Also, of the nose. Cf. blow v.1 14 e.
1723Steele Consc. Lovers i. i. (1735) 16 You went to dinner..when the great Blow was given in the Hall at the Pantry-door. 1835Marryat Jac. Faithf. iii, The astonishing effects of a blow from Domine Dobiensis's sonorous and peace-restoring nose. 1849Dickens Dav. Copp. v, ‘Have a blow at it [a flute]’, said the old woman coaxingly. 1962Sunday Times (Suppl.) 10 June 3 He is now rarely heard having a relaxed blow in the clubs. 1965G. Melly Owning-Up vii. 75 We played three one-hour sessions and relied on musicians who wanted a blow to fill in the gaps. 1966Crescendo Oct. 31/3 Ernie Garside scoured the city for a set of vibes, but he was unlucky! So Gary didn't get to have a ‘blow’. 1968Ibid. May 31/1 He told me that he was drastically curtailing the activities of his big band. The musicians might come together now and again for a blow, but to all intents and purposes it's finished as a regular aggregation.
†d. of gunpowder, or other explosive. Obs.
1694Lond. Gaz. No. 2994/3 Hearing some guns go off first, and presently after several Blows. 1720Stow's Surv. (ed. Strype 1754) I. ii. iii. 375/2 This Church was..ruined by a lamentable Blow of 27 Barrels of Gunpowder.
2. fig.
a. A boast; vaunting, boastfulness.
1684Roxb. Bal. (1885) V. 464 They followed their blows, In Musick and Gaming, and acting of Shows. 188319th Cent. Nov. 848 Colonial blow, bounce, and impudence.
b. A boaster, a blow-hard. U.S. dial.
1904J. C. Lincoln Cap'n Eri xviii. 329 ‘Cap'n Jonadab Wixon used to swear that his grandfather told him 'bout a gale that blew the hair all off a dog, and then the wind changed of a sudden, and blew it all on again.’ Elsie laughed. ‘That must have been a blow,’ she said. ‘Yes. Cap'n Jonadab's something of a blow himself, so he ought to be a good jedge.’ 1915Dialect Notes IV. 181 That feller is nothing but a big blow. 1968E. Kellner Devil & Aunt Serena 105 Willadene, whose father was the biggest Blow in Henry County.
3. The oviposition of flesh-flies or other insects.
Cf. fly-blow n.
1611Chapman Iliad xix. 24, I much fear lest with the blows of flies His brass-inflicted wounds are fil'd. 1875Houghton Sk. Brit. Insects 114 By depositing its eggs (fly-blows).
4. Metallurgy. ‘A single heat or operation of the Bessemer converter’ (Raymond Mining Gloss. 1881); also the quantity of metal dealt with at a single operation.
1883Daily News 20 Sept. 2/1 Instead of blows of three or four tons, we have now to deal with twelve to fifteen tons.
▪ V. blow, n.3|bləʊ|
[f. blow v.2: of recent origin.]
1. a. A state of blossoming; bloom; chiefly in phrases in blow, in full blow, etc.
1744in Amer. Speech (1940) XV. 226/2 The aple trees are full in the blow. 1759B. Stillingfl. in Misc. Tracts (1762) 149 The wood-anemone was in blow. 1799J. Robertson Agric. Perth 216 When the plants are in full blow, and before their flowers begin to fade. a1845Hood Two Peacocks of B. viii, I were sorely vext To..cut short the blow Of the last lily I may live to grow. 1866M. Arnold Thyrsis in New Poems (1867) 76 And stocks in fragrant blow. 1895Meredith Amazing Marr. I. iv. 45 Purple crocuses in bud and blow.
b. fig.
1753Richardson Grandison (1781) I. ii. 4 Her beauty hardly yet in its full blow. 1770Langhorne Plutarch (1879) II. 1031/1 This amour was in full blow about the time. 1834M. Edgeworth Helen 236 She is not out of blow yet, only too full blown rather for some tastes.
2. A display of blossoms; fig. a display of anything brilliant.
1710Addison Tatler No. 218 ⁋4 Such a blow of tulips, as was not to be matched. 1857H. Miller Test. Rocks i. 49 It exhibits no rich blow of colour.
3. Manner, style, or time of blossoming. Also fig.
1748Richardson Clarissa (1811) V. 285, I have..added to it all the flowers of the same blow. 1857H. Miller Test. Rocks xi. 500 Flowers of richer colour and blow.
4. Blossom.
1797Downing Disord. Horned Cattle 31 Take Fox-glove blows. 1866Morn. Star 2 Oct., The blow of the cotton⁓wood borne by the winds of spring. |