blow.
To produce an air current.
Meaning & usage
To produce an air current.
To propel by an air current (or, if under water, a water current), usually with the mouth.
Blow the dust off that book and open it up.
To be propelled by an air current.
The leaves blow through the streets in the fall.
What stormy weather —the roofs are blowing off!
To direct or move, usually of a person to a particular location.
To create or shape by blowing.
to blow bubbles
to blow glass
To force a current of air upon with the mouth, or by other means.
to blow the fire
To clear of contents by forcing air through.
to blow an egg
to blow one’s nose
To cause to make sound by blowing (as a musical instrument).
Blow your horn! That car is about to hit us!
To make a sound as a result of being blown.
In the harbor, the ships’ horns blew.
To exhale visibly through the spout the seawater which it has taken in while feeding.
There’s nothing more thrilling to the whale watcher than to see a whale surface and blow.
There she blows! (i.e. “I see a whale spouting!”)
To burst or explode; to occur suddenly
Get away from that burning gas tank! It’s about to blow!
To cause to explode, shatter, or be utterly destroyed.
The demolition squad neatly blew the old hotel up.
The aerosol can was blown to bits.
To cause the sudden destruction of.
He blew the tires and the engine.
To blow from a gun (method of executing a person).
To suddenly fail or give way destructively.
He tried to sprint, but his ligaments blew and he was barely able to walk to the finish line.
Of a vein, to suffer a rupture or puncture in the wall as a result of an injection or cannula, causing fluid (blood, medication, or saline) to leak into the surrounding tissue.
To melt away because of overcurrent, creating a gap in a wire, thus stopping a circuit from operating.
To recklessly squander.
I managed to blow $1000 at blackjack in under an hour.
I blew $35 thou on a car.
To fail at; to mess up; to make a mistake in.
I blew it and forgot to start the spaghetti, so I had plenty of sauce and no pasta.
Good luck, and don’t blow it!
To be very undesirable.
This blows!
To perform oral sex on (someone); to fellate.
Who did you have to blow to get those backstage passes?
To leave, especially suddenly or in a hurry.
Let’s blow this joint.
To leave the Church of Scientology in an unauthorized manner.
To make flyblown; to defile or spoil, especially with fly eggs.
(of a fly) To lay eggs; to breed (in flesh or meat).
To spread by report; to publish; to disclose.
To inflate, as with pride; to puff up.
To breathe hard or quick; to pant; to puff.
To put out of breath; to cause to blow from fatigue.
To talk loudly; boast; brag.
To slander, insult, critique or discredit (someone); to reprimand or scold (someone).
To expose, or inform on.
To sing.
That girl has a wonderful voice; just listen to her blow!
To flatulate or defecate.
Uh, oh! I gotta blow!
To generate (a reading) on a breath alcohol meter.
I blew a zero, so the cop let me drive on.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- Proto-Indo-European *-eh₁- Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁-der. Proto-Germanic *blēaną Proto-West Germanic *blāan Old English blāwan Middle English blowen English blow 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”)).
A strong wind.
We’re having a bit of a blow this afternoon.
A chance to catch one's breath.
The players were able to get a blow during the last timeout.
Powder cocaine.
Cannabis.
Heroin.
A blowjob; fellatio.
His girlfriend gave him a blow.
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.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- Proto-Indo-European *-eh₁- Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁-der. Proto-Germanic *blēaną Proto-West Germanic *blāan Old English blāwan Middle English blowen English blow 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”)).
Used to express displeasure or frustration.
Blow the expense!
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- Proto-Indo-European *-eh₁- Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁-der. Proto-Germanic *blēaną Proto-West Germanic *blāan Old English blāwan Middle English blowen English blow 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”)).
Blue.
Where this word comes from
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.
An instance of the act of striking or hitting.
A fabricator is used to direct a sharp blow to the surface of the stone.
During an exchange to end round 13, Duran landed a blow to the midsection.
A sudden or forcible act or effort; an assault.
A damaging occurrence.
A further blow to the group came in 1917 when Thomson died while canoeing in Algonquin Park.
A cut made to a sheep's fleece by a shearer using hand-shears.
An outcrop of quartz from surrounding rock, thought to indicate mineral deposits below.
Synonym of button (“the punchy or suspenseful line of dialogue that concludes a scene”).
Where this word comes from
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.
To blossom; to cause to bloom or blossom.
Where this word comes from
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”)).
A state of flowering; a bloom.
roses in full blow
A display or mass of flowers; a yield.
A display of anything bright or brilliant.
Where this word comes from
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”)).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.