air blastn.
/ˈɛː blɑːst/, /ˈɛː blast/, U.S. /ˈɛr ˌblæst/ 1. A blast of air; esp. a powerful stream of air under pressure used for various technical purposes. Frequently attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > gas > air > moving air > [noun] > a movement of air > a blast or puff of air > artificially produced
buba1500
wind1553
blasta1618
air blast1825
1825 R. S. Meikleham Theory & Pract. Warming & Ventilating Public Buildings 337 The force of the air-blast may also be regulated at pleasure, as well as its duration, by this very elegant contrivance.
1883 J. Nasmyth Autobiogr. xvii. 305 Improved ranges of smiths' forge hearths, blown by an air blast supplied by fans of the best construction.
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 422/1 In..air-blast transformers, apertures are left in the core by means of which the cooling air can reach the interior portions.
1946 H. P. Young Electr. Power Syst. Control (ed. 2) vii. 194 Air-blast breakers can be classified into three main types depending upon the manner in which the compressed air is directed at the arc.
1990 R. Staines Market Gardening vi. 82 On my own holding I used..a motorised air-blast knapsack sprayer for all crop protection work.
1994 Air & Space Technol. Nov. 13/1 I released my belt, popped the canopy, and stood up, and the air blast just sucked me out.
2. The shock wave of an exploding bomb, meteorite, etc., esp. one that detonates while still in the air. Cf. air-burst n. at air n.1 Compounds 2.Quot. 1983 refers to an explosive volcanic eruption.
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the world > matter > gas > air > [noun] > air-wave > large pressure wave
shock wave1907
blast1923
air blast1940
1940 Chicago Tribune 20 Aug. 2/1 Altho the amount [of uranium explosive] detonated was so small,..the resultant air blast shook a tower a mile away.
1944 C. H. Robinson Explosions iv. 22 At the same time that this..air blast is starting forth, there appears a sudden shock wave.
1955 C. M. Green et al. Ordnance Departm. xvii. 458 The diaphragm fuze that operated by blast to explode the bomb above ground..was copied from a British fuze that utilized the air blast from a preceding bomb or an air cushion effect from the ground.
1983 J. McPhee In Suspect Terrain 41 Among the dead were some who died of the air blast [from Mount St Helens], after flapping like flags as they clung to trees.
1992 New Scientist 4 Apr. 18/3 ‘Some meteorites explode because of frictional heating,’ says Zahnle... Magellan has found about 400 of these young ‘airblast’ craters.
2003 G. C. Buchan et al. Future Roles U.S. Nucl. Forces iv. 49 Although the PVH considered the effects of airblast in damaging tanks, it is primarily the radiation that results in fatal casualties among the tank crews.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1825