blow out

See also: blow-out and blowout

English

Etymology

From Middle English blow out, blowe out, dissimilated forms of earlier Middle English outblowen, ut-blawen (> English outblow), equivalent to blow +‎ out. Compare West Frisian útblaze (“to blow out”), Dutch uitblazen (“to blow out”), German ausblähen and ausblasen (“to blow out”), Danish blæse ud (“to blow out”), Swedish blåsa ut (“to blow out”).

Pronunciation

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Verb

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

1. (transitive) To extinguish something, especially a flame, especially by means of a strong current of air or another gas.

   He blows out the match.

   The wind blew the candle out.

2. (transitive) To destroy or degrade (something) quickly, especially inadvertently and prematurely; for example, to deflate (a tire) by puncturing it, to burn out a light bulb by overcurrent, or to injure a bodily joint.

   Coordinate terms: blow away, blow up, blow down

   I blew out a tire on some hard cornering.

   I blew out an LED when I cranked up the power.

   I blew out my shoulder when I grabbed a heavy box in a careless way.

3. (intransitive) To be destroyed or degraded quickly, especially inadvertently and prematurely.

   Coordinate terms: blow away, blow up, blow down

   The tire blew out on some hard cornering.

   An LED blew out when I cranked up the power.

   My shoulder blew out when I grabbed a heavy box in a careless way.

4. (sports, transitive) In a sporting contest, to dominate and defeat an opposing team, especially by a large scoring margin.

   The No. 1-rated football team proceeded to blow out its undermanned opponent.

5. (transitive) To exhaust; to physically tire.
   • 2011 December 29, Keith Jackson, “SPL: Celtic 1 Rangers 0”, in Daily Record‎:

     And although they were pushed harder than even Lennon might have expected on a night of galeforce winds, they clung on to the lead Ledley gave them for all they were worth until their rivals had blown themselves out and surrendered top spot.

6. (transitive) To force open or out by the expansive force of a gas or vapour.
   • 2013 April 18, “Dozens injured in Texas fertilizer plant explosion”, in NDTV‎, archived from the original on 2019-10-01:

     [T]he blast that followed knocked off his fire helmet and blew out the doors and windows of his home nearby.

7. (intransitive) To be driven out by the expansive force of a gas or vapour.

   A steam cock or valve sometimes blows out.

8. (slang, vulgar, archaic) To talk violently or abusively.
9. (slang) To sing out, sing out loud.
10. (slang) To spend a lot of money; to splurge.
    • 2014, Martha Stone, Oli Lynch, London: An Insiders Budget Guide:

      There's also an abundance of sky bars for an expensive drink with an awesome view. If you're looking to blow out in style then try one of them.

Derived terms

• blow-out (noun)
• blowout (noun)
• blow out of the water
• BTFO

 

Related terms

• [Term?]

Translations

extinguish

Catalan: apagar (ca) Finnish: sammuttaa (fi) French: éteindre (fr) German: ausblasen (de) Greek: σβήνω (el) (svíno) Polish: zdmuchnąć Russian: задуть (ru) (zadutʹ) Spanish: apagar (es) Swedish: blåsa ut

burst car tyre

Finnish: puhketa French: crever (fr) Greek: σκάω (el) (skáo) Spanish: reventar (es)

Anagrams

• bowl out, bowl-out, outblow, outbowl