blow

English Online Dictionary. What means blow‎? What does blow mean?

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /bləʊ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /bloʊ/
• Rhymes: -əʊ

Etymology 1

From Middle English blowen, from Old English blāwan (“to blow, breathe, inflate, sound”), from Proto-West Germanic *blāan, from Proto-Germanic *blēaną (“to blow”) (compare German blähen), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁- (“to swell, blow up”) (compare Latin flō (“to blow”) and Old Armenian բեղուն (bełun, “fertile”)).

Verb

blow (third-person singular simple present blows, present participle blowing, simple past blew, past participle blown)

1. (intransitive) To produce an air current.
2. (transitive) To propel by an air current (or, if under water, a water current), usually with the mouth.
3. (intransitive) To be propelled by an air current.

4. (transitive, figurative) To direct or move, usually of a person to a particular location.
5. (transitive) To create or shape by blowing.

6. (transitive) To force a current of air upon with the mouth, or by other means.

7. (transitive) To clear of contents by forcing air through.

8. (transitive) To cause to make sound by blowing, as a musical instrument.
9. (intransitive) To make a sound as the result of being blown.
10. (intransitive, of a cetacean) To exhale visibly through the spout the seawater which it has taken in while feeding.
11. (intransitive) To burst or explode; to occur suddenly
12. (transitive, with "up" or with prep phrase headed by "to") To cause to explode, shatter, or be utterly destroyed.
13. (transitive, historical, military, of a person) To blow from a gun.
14. (transitive) To cause the sudden destruction of.

15. (intransitive) To suddenly fail destructively.
16. (transitive, slang) To recklessly squander.
17. (transitive, informal, idiomatic) To fail at something; to mess up; to make a mistake.
18. (intransitive, stative, slang, sometimes considered vulgar) To be very undesirable.

    Synonym: suck

19. (transitive, vulgar) To perform oral sex on (someone); to fellate.

    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:perform oral sex
20. (transitive, slang) To leave, especially suddenly or in a hurry.
21. (transitive) To make flyblown, to defile, especially with fly eggs.
22. (intransitive) (of a fly) To lay eggs; to breed.
23. (obsolete) To spread by report; to publish; to disclose.
24. (obsolete) To inflate, as with pride; to puff up.
25. (intransitive) To breathe hard or quick; to pant; to puff.
26. (transitive) To put out of breath; to cause to blow from fatigue.
28. (dated) To talk loudly; boast; brag.
29. (slang, dated, transitive) To slander, insult, critique or discredit (someone); to reprimand or scold (someone).
30. (UK, slang, archaic) To expose, or inform on.

    Synonym: grass up
31. (slang, informal, African-American Vernacular) To sing.

32. (Scientology, intransitive) To leave the Church of Scientology in an unauthorized manner.
33. (slang, colloquial) To flatulate or defecate.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

blow (countable and uncountable, plural blows)

1. A strong wind.

2. (informal) A chance to catch one's breath.

3. (uncountable, US, slang) Cocaine.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:cocaine
4. (uncountable, UK, slang) Cannabis.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:marijuana

5. (uncountable, US Chicago dialectal, slang) Heroin.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:heroin

6. (informal, vulgar) A blowjob; fellatio.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:oral sex

7. (nautical) An instance of using high-pressure air to empty water from the ballast tanks of a submarine, increasing the submarine's buoyancy and causing it to surface.

Derived terms

Translations

Interjection

blow

1. (intransitive) Used to express displeasure or frustration.

Etymology 2

From Middle English blo, bloo, from Old English blāw (“blue”), from Proto-Germanic *blēwaz (“blue, dark blue, grey, black”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlēw- (“yellow, blond, grey”). Cognate with Latin flavus (“yellow”). Doublet of blue.

Adjective

blow (comparative blower or more blow, superlative blowest or most blow)

2. (now chiefly puristic, dialectal, Northern England) Blue.

Related terms

• black and blue

Etymology 3

From Middle English blowe, blaw, northern variant of blēwe, from Proto-Germanic *blewwaną (“to beat”) (compare Old Norse blegði (“wedge”), German einbläuen, Middle Dutch blouwen). Related to block.

Noun

blow (plural blows)

1. An instance of the act of striking or hitting.

   Synonyms: bace, strike, hit, punch

2. A sudden or forcible act or effort; an assault.
3. A damaging occurrence.

   Synonyms: disaster, calamity
4. (Australia, shearing, historical) A cut made to a sheep's fleece by a shearer using hand-shears.
5. (Australia, New Zealand) An outcrop of quartz from surrounding rock, thought to indicate mineral deposits below.
6. (television) Synonym of button (“the punchy or suspenseful line of dialogue that concludes a scene”)

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 4

From Middle English blowen, from Old English blōwan, from Proto-Germanic *blōaną (compare Dutch bloeien, German blühen), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (compare Latin florēre (“to bloom”)).

Verb

blow (third-person singular simple present blows, present participle blowing, simple past blew, past participle blown)

2. To blossom; to cause to bloom or blossom.

Derived terms

• full-blown

Translations

Noun

blow (plural blows)

1. A mass or display of flowers; a yield.
2. A display of anything brilliant or bright.
3. A bloom, state of flowering.

Related terms

• ablow
• elder-blow

Translations

Further reading

• “blow n.³”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present

Anagrams

• bowl

Middle English

Etymology 1

From blowen.

Alternative forms

• blaw

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blɔu̯/, /blau̯/

Noun

blow (plural blowes)

1. A blast (of wind)
2. A blow (with the fist)

Descendants

• English: blow
• Yola: blowe

References

• “blou, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

Verb

blow

1. Alternative form of blowen (“to blow”)