blow
/blou/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun:
- A hard hit with a hand, fist, or weapon: A forceful impact delivered as a strike.
- A sudden shock or disappointment: An unexpected and unpleasant event that causes emotional distress.
- A strong gust of wind: A powerful current of moving air.
- The act of expelling air from the mouth or nose: A forceful exhalation.
Verb:
- To move or be moved by air: To be in motion due to wind or air currents.
- To expel air forcefully from the mouth or nose: To exhale with force.
- To produce sound from a wind instrument or whistle: To cause air to pass through an instrument to create sound.
- To burst or explode suddenly: To break apart or fail, often due to pressure.
- To spend money recklessly: To waste money in a lavish or thoughtless manner.
- To reveal or expose a secret: To cause confidential information to become known.
- To shape glass by blowing air into it: To form molten glass by forcing air through a tube.
Usage Examples
Noun:
- He received a heavy blow to the head during the fight.
- The news of the company's failure was a severe blow to the employees.
- A cold blow from the north brought winter temperatures.
- He gave the candles a strong blow to extinguish them.
Verb:
- The wind began to blow fiercely.
- Please blow on the soup to cool it down.
- She learned to blow the trumpet in school.
- The old tire might blow if we drive too fast.
- He managed to blow his entire savings in one weekend.
- The journalist's article could blow the politician's cover.
- Artisans blow glass to create beautiful vases.
Advanced Usage
"to blow hot and cold": To be inconsistent or changeable in one's opinions or feelings.
- He keeps blowing hot and cold about the project; one day he's enthusiastic, the next he's against it.
"to blow one's own trumpet/horn": To boast about one's own achievements.
- He's always blowing his own trumpet about his sales record.
"to blow the whistle (on someone/something)": To report illegal or unethical activities to authorities.
- An employee decided to blow the whistle on the company's fraudulent practices.
Variants and Related Words
- Blower (n): A person or device that blows air (e.g., a leaf blower).
- Blowy (adj): Describing a windy condition (e.g., a blowy day).
- Blowout (n): A sudden bursting (e.g., a tire blowout) or a large, lavish party.
- Blow-up (n): A sudden outburst of anger or an enlargement of a photograph.
Synonyms
- Noun (hit): Strike, punch, knock.
- Noun (shock): Setback, disaster, misfortune.
- Verb (move air): Gust, waft, flutter.
- Verb (waste): Squander, waste, fritter away.
Related Phrasal Verbs
Blow away:
- To be extremely impressed. The performance just blew me away.
- To be carried away by the wind. The papers were blown away in the storm.
Blow down:
- To knock something over with wind. The hurricane blew down several trees.
Blow in:
- To arrive casually or unexpectedly. He just blew in from New York.
Blow off:
- To ignore or fail to attend. He decided to blow off the meeting.
- To release steam or pressure. The safety valve blew off.
Blow out:
- To extinguish by blowing. Blow out the candles.
- To burst suddenly. A tire blew out on the highway.
Blow over:
- To pass by or subside (used for storms or troubles). The scandal will eventually blow over.
Blow up:
- To explode. The old building was blown up.
- To inflate. He helped blow up the balloons.
- To enlarge (a photograph). Can you blow up this picture?
- To become very angry. She blew up when she heard the news.
Related Idioms
A body blow: A severe setback or shock.
- The loss of funding was a body blow to the research team.
Blow-by-blow: Describing a detailed, moment-by-moment account.
- He gave us a blow-by-blow description of the entire match.
Blow the gaff (British): To reveal a secret.
- Someone blew the gaff and now everyone knows about the surprise party.
It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good: A saying meaning that even bad events usually benefit someone.
- The store closed, but it's an ill wind—now I have a new parking spot.
Noun
- forceful exhalation through the nose or mouth
- he gave his nose a loud blow
- he blew out all the candles with a single puff
- street names for cocaine
- a strong current of air
- the tree was bent almost double by the gust
- an unpleasant or disappointing surprise
- it came as a shock to learn that he was injured
- an unfortunate happening that hinders or impedes; something that is thwarting or frustrating
- an impact (as from a collision)
- the bump threw him off the bicycle
- a powerful stroke with the fist or a weapon
- a blow on the head
Verb
- burst suddenly
- The tire blew
- We blew a tire
- melt, break, or become otherwise unusable
- The lightbulbs blew out
- The fuse blew
- allow to regain its breath
- blow a horse
- show off
- cause to be revealed and jeopardized
- The story blew their cover
- The double agent was blown by the other side
- lay eggs
- certain insects are said to blow
- leave; informal or rude
- shove off!
- The children shoved along
- Blow now!
- spout moist air from the blowhole
- The whales blew
- cause to move by means of an air current
- The wind blew the leaves around in the yard
- cause air to go in, on, or through
- Blow my hair dry
- provide sexual gratification through oral stimulation
- play or sound a wind instrument
- She blew the horn
- sound by having air expelled through a tube
- The trumpets blew
- spend lavishly or wastefully on
- He blew a lot of money on his new home theater
- spend thoughtlessly; throw away
- He wasted his inheritance on his insincere friends
- You squandered the opportunity to get and advanced degree
- make a mess of, destroy or ruin
- I botched the dinner and we had to eat out
- the pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movement
- shape by blowing
- Blow a glass vase
- make a sound as if blown
- The whistle blew
- be in motion due to some air or water current
- The leaves were blowing in the wind
- the boat drifted on the lake
- The sailboat was adrift on the open sea
- the shipwrecked boat drifted away from the shore
- free of obstruction by blowing air through
- blow one's nose
- be blowing or storming
- The wind blew from the West
- exhale hard
- blow on the soup to cool it down