blow

Less common meanings

12. 12
    waste moneyverbslangtransitive

    To spend or waste money or resources recklessly.

    She blew her entire bonus in a single weekend.

    Lottery winners often blow their fortunes within a few years.

    UsageUsually blow money on something: blew his bonus on a car.

    Similarsquander, waste, spend

    Oppositesave

    Note

    Slang for spending fast and badly takes money as its natural object: $1000 at blackjack, $35 thou on a car. It stretches to chances as well, as in blowing an opportunity, which brings it close to the "mess up" sense. Delos W. Lovelace's King Kong (1932) uses it reflexively: "we blew ourselves for that outfit," meaning they spent lavishly. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Delos W. Lovelace wrote King Kong, first published in 1932. en.wikipedia.org
    • King Kong contains the quoted reflexive expression, referring to lavish spending. upload.wikimedia.org
13. 13
    be awfulverbslangintransitive

    To be extremely undesirable or disappointing.

    Long commutes blow, especially in bad weather.

    The new schedule blows for anyone with kids.

    UsageWorks like sucks: this blows; some listeners hear it as vulgar.

    Similarsuck, stink, bite

    Oppositerock, rule

14. 14
    give oral sexverbvulgartransitive

    In vulgar slang, to perform oral sex on someone, especially to fellate a man.

    The coworkers sneered, asking who the new hire had to blow to land the corner office.

    He told everyone, falsely, that his date had blown him in the parking lot after the movie.

    UsageCommon in the sneer who did you have to blow, implying a prize won by sex, not merit.

    Note

    A vulgar verb whose object is usually the person, as in blow him, and sometimes the body part, but never the act itself: for that, English says give a blowjob. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The object can also be a penis. theopiatemagazine.com
15. 15
    oral sexnounvulgarcolloquialcountable or uncountable

    A vulgar slang term for an act of fellatio, meaning oral sex performed on the penis.

    Similarhead, dome, brain

    Note

    Crude slang related to blowjob, which remains the more common word. It turns up mostly in the phrases give someone a blow and get a blow, and the register warnings of the verb apply in full. The same noun also means a hit and, in drug slang, cocaine, so it leans heavily on context.

16. 16
    pantverbintransitive

    To breathe heavily and rapidly, gasping or puffing for air.

    The old dog blew and wheezed after the long walk.

    Horses blow loudly when they finish a gallop.

    UsageOften blowing hard, or puffing and blowing, after effort.

    Similarpant, puff, gasp

    Note

    Effort is always in the background: horses blow after a gallop, and runners blow at the finish. Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor has Mistress Page at the door "sweating, and blowing, and looking wildly." The verb shares this ground with the noun for a breather, since whoever has been blowing needs a blow. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • William Shakespeare wrote The Merry Wives of Windsor. en.wiktionary.org
    • The play describes Mistress Page at the door as sweating, blowing and looking wildly; Robin speaks the words. folger.edu
    • The noun blow can mean a breather or opportunity to catch one's breath. en.wiktionary.org
17. 17
    leave fastverbslangtransitive

    To depart from somewhere, usually abruptly or in a rush.

    We should blow this joint before the manager notices.

    She blew town the moment she heard the news.

    UsageNo from before the place: blow town, let's blow this joint.

    Similarleave, ditch, quit, skip, flee

    Note

    Sam Cooke's Another Saturday Night (1963) has the singer warning that he will have to leave town, with the town as the object of blow. The fugitive's "I'm blowing town" turns up in Walk Hard (2007). The phrase often hints at a hurried or slightly shady departure.

18. 18
    galenouncountable or uncountable

    A strong, powerful wind.

    The fishermen stayed in port during the heavy blow.

    A three-day blow battered the coastline with gusts and rain.

    UsageOften with a size or direction: a northerly blow, a bit of a blow.

    Similargale, storm, windstorm, squall

    Oppositecalm

    Note

    A weather noun made straight from the verb: Old English blāwan, "to blow, breathe". Do not confuse it with the striking blow. That word comes from a separate root meaning "to beat", so the two only look alike. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • The weather noun derives from the verb. en.wiktionary.org
    • The verb descends from Old English blāwan, meaning “to blow, breathe”. en.wiktionary.org
    • The striking noun has a separate root meaning “to beat”. en.wiktionary.org
19. 19
    breathernouncolloquialcountable or uncountable

    A short pause to rest and catch one's breath.

    The hikers stopped for a blow at the summit.

    Give the horses a blow before the final stretch.

    UsageUsually have a blow, stop for a blow or give someone a blow.

    Similarbreather, rest, break

20. 20
    spoutverbintransitive

    Of a whale, to exhale forcefully through its blowhole, sending up a visible spout of water and vapor.

    The humpback surfaced and blew, misting the watchers on deck.

    Whales blow loudly enough to be heard across the bay.

    Similarspout

    Note

    The whaler's verb lies behind the lookout's cry "There she blows!", which announces a whale sighted spouting. It covers other cetaceans too. In Peter Christen Asbjørnsen's Folk and Fairy Tales (translated by H. L. Brækstad), a porpoise surfaces "blowing very hard." The animal is always the subject: a watcher sees a whale blow but never blows it. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Whaling lookouts used “There she blows!” to announce a whale sighting. home.nps.gov
    • Peter Christen Asbjørnsen wrote the collection, translated by H. L. Brækstad. en.wikisource.org
    • 1886 cannot be the first-publication year: an earlier Folk and Fairy Tales edition is catalogued as 1883. The translation also appeared as Round the Yule Log in 1881. The first-edition title page could not be inspected, so the fix removes the date. archive.org
    • The text describes a porpoise surfacing with the exact words “blowing very hard”. fiftywordsforsnow.com
21. 21
    cocainenounslangUSuncountable

    Cocaine, especially in its illicit powdered form.

    Dealers cut the blow with cheaper powders to boost profits.

    She swore off blow after the arrest.

    Similarcoke, snow, powder, charlie, flake

    Note

    Film and song carry it, from Liquid Sky (1982) and Grandmaster Melle Mel's White Lines (1983) to the 2001 film named Blow. The same word has also named cannabis and heroin, so context decides. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

    • Liquid Sky is a 1982 film. en.wikipedia.org
    • White Lines is a Melle Mel recording released in 1983. en.wikipedia.org
    • White Lines uses blow as drug slang. en.wiktionary.org
    • Blow is a 2001 film about cocaine trafficking. en.wikipedia.org
    • Blow also denotes cannabis and heroin. en.wiktionary.org
22. 22
    verbcolloquialtransitive

    To expose someone's secret identity or role, as in blow someone's cover. In old thieves' slang it also meant to inform on someone.

    One photo in the newspaper blew the agent's cover after ten years undercover.

    'As for that,' says Will, 'I could tell it well enough, if I had it, but I must not be seen anywhere among my old acquaintances, for I am blown, and they will all betray me.'

    1722, Daniel Defoe, Colonel Jack

    UsageAlso passive: an exposed agent or operation has been blown.

    Similarexpose, betray

    Note

    Informing on someone is the old thieves' use, now archaic. In Daniel Defoe's Colonel Jack (1722), Will dare not show himself among his old acquaintances, "for I am blown, and they will all betray me." Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • Blow formerly meant to inform on someone in thieves' slang; this sense is now archaic. en.wiktionary.org
    • Daniel Defoe wrote Colonel Jack. en.wikipedia.org
    • Colonel Jack was first published in 1722. gutenberg.org
    • Will is the speaker, fears appearing among his old acquaintances, and says the quoted words exactly. gutenberg.org
23. 23
    interjectiondatedUK

    Said as an exclamation to show that one is annoyed or frustrated by something.

    Oh, blow! The printer has jammed again, five minutes before the meeting.

    [H]e suddenly flung down his brush on the floor, said 'Bother!' and 'Oh blow!' and also 'Hang spring-cleaning!' and bolted out of the house without even waiting to put on his coat.

    1908, Kenneth Grahame, “The River Bank”

    UsageOften after oh: Oh, blow!; about as mild as bother.

    Similardrat, bother, blast, darn

    Note

    Kenneth Grahame's Mole uses it in The Wind in the Willows (1908) when spring-cleaning gets the better of him, flinging down his brush with "Bother!" and "O blow!" in one breath. That company tells you its weight: it sits with bother, not with anything stronger. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Kenneth Grahame wrote The Wind in the Willows. en.wikisource.org
    • The Wind in the Willows was first published in 1908. en.wikipedia.org
    • Mole is spring-cleaning when he flings down his brush and exclaims. en.wikisource.org
24. 24
    verbliterary

    To blossom, or to cause a plant to come into bloom.

    How blows the citron grove.

    1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost
25. 25
    nounliterary

    The condition of being in flower; a bloom.
26. 26
    verb

    To execute someone by tying them to the mouth of a cannon and firing it.
27. 27
    verb

    To walk out of Scientology without the church's approval, a term used by its members.
28. 28
    verb

    Of a fly, to deposit its eggs, especially in meat or a carcass.
29. 29
    verbobsolete

    To make news or a rumor widely known by telling it around.

    Through the court his courtesy was blown.

    1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”
30. 30
    verbobsolete

    To swell someone up with self-importance or vanity.

    O peace, now he's deepely in: looke how imagination blowes him.

    c. 1601, William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”
31. 31
    verb

    To leave a person or horse panting and exhausted through hard effort.
32. 32
    verbdated

    To speak boastfully and noisily about oneself.

    He didn't just set around and try to out sweettalk^([sic]) somebody; he got out and out-fit somebody. He wouldn't be blowing when he told his boys how he fit for the woman he got.

    a. 1940, Mildred Haun, “Shin-Bone Rocks”
33. 33
    verbdated

    To attack someone's reputation with insults or harsh criticism, or to give them a severe telling-off.
34. 34
    verbslang

    To perform a song with one's voice.
35. 35
    verbslang

    To pass gas from the bowels, or to empty them.
36. 36
    nounslangUK

    Marijuana, considered as a drug for smoking.
37. 37
    nounslang

    Heroin, a powerful opioid drug.
38. 38
    noun

    The act of forcing compressed air into a submarine's ballast tanks to push out the water, so that the vessel rises to the surface.
39. 39
    adjective

    Of the color blue, or bluish in tone.
40. 40
    nounAustralia

    A single stroke of the hand shears through a sheep's wool during shearing.

    Click goes his shears; click, click, click. / Wide are the blows, and his hand is moving quick, / The ringer looks round, for he lost it by a blow, / And he curses that old shearer with the bare belled ewe.

    1891, The Bacchus Marsh Express, Victoria
41. 41
    nounAustraliaNew Zealand

    A visible mass of quartz sticking out of the rock around it, taken by prospectors as a sign of ore underneath.
42. 42
    noun

    The sharp or tense closing line of a scene in a script, also called a button.
43. 43
    noun

    A mass or bright show of flowers in bloom, or the blossoms a plant yields.
44. 44
    noun

    Any brilliant or showy display of color or light.