Blōw1, n.
(blō), n. [O. H. Ger. pluohi, M. H. Ger. blüethe, N. H. Ger. blü, blüh, blüe, blühe, flower.] (Bot.) (a.) A blossom; a flower. (b.) A mass, or bed of flowers. “A blow of tulips.”
5 entries under this word
Blow
Blōw2, n.
(blō), n. [Ger. bleuen, bläuen, to beat, M. H. Ger. blüuwen, O. H. Ger. bliuwan, pliuwan, Goth. blig(g)wan.]
Sense 1. The act of striking; more generally, the stroke; a violent application of the hand, fist, or an instrument, to an object.
Well struck: there was blow for blow. Shak.
That but this blow might be the be-all and the end-all here. Shak.
Sense 2. The infliction of evil; a sudden or severe calamity.
A most poor man, made tame by fortune’s blows. Shak.
Sense 3. An egg deposited by a fly in flesh, or the act of depositing it. Chapman.
Sense 4. (Naut.) A violent wind; a gale; as, we were scarcely out of port, when there came on a blow from the north-west.
A blow, or blow-out, a drunken frolic, or spree; as, to be on a blow; to have a blow-out. [Low.]—At a blow, suddenly; at one effort; by a single action. “They lose a province at a blow.” Dryden.—To come to blows, to engage in combat.
Blōw3, v. i.
v. i. [A.-S. blōwan, to blossom, O. S. blōian, blōan, D. bloeijen, O. H. Ger. pluohan, pluojan, pluon, M. H. Ger. blüojen, blüen, bluon, N. H. Ger. blühen.] 1. To flower; to blossom; to bloom; as plants. How blows the citron grove! Milton. 2. To sustain, produce, or cause to blossom. The odorous banks that blow Flowers of . . . mingled hue. Milton.
Blōw4, v. i.
v. i. [imp. BLEW; p. p. BLOWN; p. pr. & vb. n. BLOWING.] [A-S. blīvan, to blow, as wind, O. H. Ger. plâjan, blâhan, flare, N. H. Ger. blâhen, to blow up, swell.]
- To produce a current of air with the mouth; and hence, to move, as air; as, the wind blows.
- To breathe hard or quick; to pant; to puff.
Here is Mistress Page at the door, sweating and blowing. Shak. 3. To sound on being blown into, as a horn or trumpet; to sound. There let the pealing organ blow. Milton. 4. To boast; to brag. [U. S., Low.] “You blow behind my back, but dare not say any thing to my face.” Bartlett. To blow out, to talk violently or abusively. [Low.]—To blow over, to pass away without effect; to cease or be dissipated; as, the storm or the clouds have blown over.—To blow up, to rise in the air, to be broken and scattered by the explosion of gunpowder. “The enemy’s magazines blew up.” Tatler.
Blōw5, v. t.
(blō), v. t. 1. To throw or drive a current of air upon with the mouth, or by other means; as, to blow the fire.
Sense 2. To drive by a current of air; to impel; as, the tempest blew the ship ashore.
*Off at sea north-east winds blow Sabean odors from the spicy shore.* Milton.
Sense 3. To sound, as a wind instrument; as, blow the trumpet.
*Hath she no husband That will take pains to blow a horn before her?* Shak.
Sense 4. To spread by report; to publish; to betray.
Through the court his courtesy was blown. Dryden.
His language does his knowledge blow. Whiting.
Sense 5. To deposit, as eggs by flies.
Sense 6. To form by inflation; to swell by injecting air; to blow through; as, to blow bubbles; to blow glass.
*Boy, blow the pipe until the bubble rise, Then cast it off to float upon the skies.* Parnell.
To blow hot and cold, to favor a thing at one time and treat it coldly at another; or to appear to both favor and oppose.—To blow off, to let off, to suffer to escape, as steam; as, the steamer is blowing off.—To blow out, to extinguish by a current of air, as a candle.—To blow up, (a.) To fill with air; to swell; as, to blow up a bladder or a bubble. (b.) To inflate; to puff up; as, to blow up one with flattery. “Blown up with high conceits engendering pride.” Milton. (c.) To kindle; as, to blow up a contention. (d.) To burst, to raise into the air, or to scatter, by the explosion of gunpowder; as, to blow up a fort. (e.) To scatter or bring to naught suddenly; as, to blow up a scheme. (f.) To abuse or scold violently; as, to blow up a person for some offense. [Colloq.]—To blow upon, to blast; to taint; to bring into disfavor or discredit; to render stale, unsavory, or worthless.
How far the very custom of hearing any thing spouted withers and blows upon a fine passage, may be seen in those speeches from [Shakespeare’s] Henry V. which are current in the mouths of schoolboys. C. Lamb.
Happily for him, he was not put to the bar till the first burst of popular rage had spent itself, and till the credit of the false witnesses had been blown upon. Macaulay.