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blow up

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also:blowupandblow-up

English

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Etymology

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FromMiddle Englishblow up,blowe up,dissimilated forms of earlierMiddle Englishupblowen(>Englishupblow), equivalent toblow+‎up.CompareWest Frisianopblaze(“to blow up, inflate”),Dutchopblazen(“to blow up, inflate”),Germanaufblähenandaufblasen(“to blow up, inflate”),Swedishblåsa upp(“to blow up, inflate”),Icelandicblása upp(“to blow up, inflate”),Gothic𐌿𐍆𐌱𐌻𐌴𐍃𐌰𐌽(ufblēsan,“to blow or puff up”).

Pronunciation

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Verb

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blowup(third-person singular simple presentblows up,present participleblowing up,simple pastblew up,past participleblown up)

  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically:seeblow,‎up.
    See if you canblowthe bubblesupthe staircase.
    Tryingblowing upit at an angle instead of directly across it.
  3. (intransitive,alsofiguratively)Toexplodeor bedestroyedbyexplosion.
    Why do cars in movies alwaysblow upwhen they fall off a cliff?
    • 1961January, “Talking of Trains: The Severn Bridge disaster”, inTrains Illustrated,pages3, 5:
      In dense fog at about 10.25 p.m. on the night of October 25, two tank barges carrying petroleum [...] missed the entrance to the docks at Sharpness and were carried up the River Severn by the incoming tide. They collided with one of the piers of the Severn Bridge, carrying the Berkeley Road-Lydney branch of the Western Region, and as a result of the collision both tankersblew up.
    • 1967,Barbara Sleigh,Jessamy,Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published1993,→ISBN,page109:
      There were so many things she wanted to know so desperately that Jessamy began to feel she would burst if she did not find out at once. At last, throwing caution to the winds, she put down the basket with a bump. “Kitto, I must ask you or I shallblow up.[…]”
  4. (transitive,alsofiguratively)To cause (something or someone) toexplode,or todestroy(something) ormaimorkill(someone) by means of anexplosion.
    We had toblow upthe bridge before the enemy army arrived.
    More civilians than soldiers have beenblown upby anti-personnel mines.
    • 1947January and February, Gerald Druce (Jun.), “A Journey on the" Slovak Arrow "”, inRailway Magazine,page16:
      Temporary bridges are now common in Moravia and Slovakia as so many permanent structures wereblown upduring the last phase of the war.
    • 2011,Cochrane, John H., “Determinacy and Identification with Taylor Rules”, inJournal of Political Economy,volume119,number 3, page606:
      The attempts to rule out multiple equilibria basically state that the government willblow upthe economy should accelerating inflation or deflation occur.
    • 2023May 17, Paul Clifton, “Building bridges to Ukraine...”, inRAIL,number983,page31:
      "But we wanted to be more ambitious. We had established contacts with the Ukrainian railways, and they had all sorts of needs. Bridgesblown upby the Russians, but also bridgesblown upby themselves in tactical battlefield operations. "
  5. (transitive)Toinflateorfillwithair,either by literallyblowingor by using apump.
    For the school science project, each student willblow upa balloon and then tie it closed.
  6. (transitive)Toenlargeorzoom inon.
    Blow upthe picture to get a better look at their faces.
  7. (intransitive)Tofaildisastrously.
    • 2002,Joan Barfoot,Critical injuries,page118:
      So I wish you luck, but don't come crying to me when itblows upin your face.
  8. (intransitive,mathematics,said of afunction)To increase withoutboundas a functionargumentorparameterapproaches a certain value; to tend towardinfinity;to approach infinity as alimit.
    The quantity 1/xblows upas x approaches zero.
    • 2016,Gavin Hesketh,The Particle Zoo: The Search for the Fundamental Nature of Reality,Quercus Editions Ltd, pages222–223:
      And these loops have a tendency toblow up,to borrow more and more energy by becoming smaller and smaller, eventually borrowing an infinite amount of energy. When a calculation returns an infinite answer, this usually means something has gone badly wrong.
  9. (slang,intransitive)To becomepopularveryquickly.
    This album is about toblow up;they’re being promoted on MTV.
    • 1999,Eminem,My Name Is(song)
      You know youblew upwhen the women rush your stands
      And try to touch your hands like some screaming Usher fans[…]
  10. (intransitive,slang)Tosuddenlyget veryangry,to lose one'stemper.
    Dadblew upat me when I told him I was pregnant.
  11. (intransitive,slang)To become much morefatorrotundin a short space of time.
  12. (transitive,dated)Toinflate,as withpride,self-conceit,etc.; topuff up.
    toblow someone upwith flattery
    • 1667,John Milton,“Book IV”, inParadise Lost.[…],London:[…][Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker[…];[a]nd by Robert Boulter[…];[a]nd Matthias Walker,[…],→OCLC;republished asParadise Lost in Ten Books:[…],London: Basil Montagu Pickering[…],1873,→OCLC:
      blown upwith high conceits engendering pride
  13. (transitive,dated)Toexcite.
    toblow upa contention
  14. (transitive,dated)Toscoldviolently,blow up at.
    • 1807,The Port Folio,page313:
      […]did not choose to comply with her wishes. Upon which Mrs. Basset, in the language of the Old Bailey,nabbed the rust;insisted upon some liquor, would not quit the house without it, and began toblow upthe hostess and blast the rose.
    • 1871,George Eliot[pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter 13, inMiddlemarch[…],volume I, Edinburgh, London:William Blackwood and Sons,→OCLC,book II:
      #*: I haveblownhimupwell — nobody can say I wink at what he does.
  15. (sports)Toblowthewhistle.
  16. (intransitive,cycling)Tosuccumbtooxygen debtand lose the ability to maintainpacein arace.
  17. (transitive,slang,said of a device or machine)Tooverwhelmthrough unexpectedly highdemand,activity,usage,trafficvolume,etc.
    Synonyms:break,deadlock,knock over,kill,overload,max out,take down,take out
    • 2024May, “AskProgramming”, inReddit‎[1]:
      I blew up another department's API servers – did I screw up or should they have more protections?
    1. (especially)(said of acell phone,pager,or other personalcommunicationdevice) Tobombardwith a large number ofcalls,texts,ornotifications,to the point of rendering temporarilyunusableorexasperatingthe recipient.
      • 2007,“Fucc & Git Up”, in DZ (lyrics),Sleepless City Livin,performed by DZ ft. Gangsta Nutt,from 1:59:
        I am the man
        So I’m sitting in the VIP
        with my mains
        We twisted up some Crip
        but I am ready to dip
        to the telly with my relly
        cuz these fuckin git up chicks keepblowin upmy celly.
      • 2009,RM Johnson,Why Men Fear Marriage: The Surprising Truth Behind Why So Many Men Can't Commit,→ISBN:
        Don't let them sabotage a possible good thing byblowing upyour phone while you're in the middle of a hot date with nonsense like, “Jason keeps asking for a Popsicle before bed. Do you think it's okay that I give him one?”
      • 2011,Jaime Reed,Living Violet,→ISBN,page67:
        Dad sure knew how to kill a mood. He hadblown upmy phone all day, ensuring that I didn't back out of our agreement.
      • 2012,Chris Hicks,Ebony Chronicles of Elevation,volume 1,→ISBN,page181:
        Not knowing the whereabouts of his daughter, Tavonblew upher phone without once getting a response.
      • 2013,Michelle McKinney Hammond,The Real Deal on Love and Men,→ISBN:
        He has never officially said that we are in a relationship, but heblows upmy phone night and day, always wanting to know where I am.
      • 2014September 11, Alexis Petridis, quoting Kelly Brook, “A freedom fighter for our time: Kelly Brook will not be silenced over Danny Cipriani”, inThe Guardian‎[2]:
        “Danny Cipriani isblowing upmy phone saying: ‘I’m going to sue you’,” she said, shortly before announcing her willingness to go to prison over the issue.
      • 2015,Kacey Musgraves,(Please provide the book title or journal name):
        They'reblowing upour phones, asking where we are / Just say we're almost there; we ain't even in the car
  18. (intransitive,slang,said of a device or machine)To beoverwhelmedby unexpectedly high demand, usage, activity, traffic volume, etc.
    Synonyms:break,deadlock,overload,max out
    There were so many incoming enemy planes that our monitoring and notification systemblew upbefore the base was even able to respond.
    1. (especially)(said of a cell phone, pager, or other personal communication device) To receive a large number of calls, texts, or notifications, to the point of being rendered temporarily unusable or exasperating the recipient.
      • 1992,Ice Cube (lyrics and music), “It Was A Good Day”, inThe Predator:
        Halfway home, and my pager's stillblowin' up
  19. (slang,colloquial)To cause amalodoroussmellbyflatulation,defecation,etc.
    Don't go in there...I reallyblewitup.
  20. (intransitive,of a storm)To begin; to gather; to form.
    A storm isblowing upin the north.
  21. (intransitive,slang,dated)To use anintoxicatingdrug; toget high.

Usage notes

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With almost any of the transitive senses exceptsense 1,the object may appear before or after the particle if the object is a noun or noun phrase:

Heblewthe roomupwithoutblowing upthe building.

If the object is a pronoun, then the pronoun must come before the particle:

Try not toblowitup.
(Puttingupbetween the verb and the pronoun, as in "blow up it", converts the particle into a preposition, and thus changes the meaning.)

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Anagrams

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