English Explanatory Dictionary

blow up

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see blow, up.
  2. To explode or be destroyed by explosion.
  3. To cause (something or someone) to explode, or to destroy (something) or maim or kill (someone) by means of an explosion.
  4. To inflate or fill with air, either by literally blowing or by using a pump.
  5. To represent something as being more important or serious than it actually is; to inflate; to exaggerate.
  6. To enlarge or zoom in on.
  7. To fail disastrously.
  8. To increase without bound as a function argument or parameter approaches a certain value; to tend toward infinity; to approach infinity as a limit.
  9. To become popular very quickly.
  10. To suddenly get very angry, to lose one's temper.
  11. To become much more fat or rotund in a short space of time.
  12. To inflate, as with pride, self-conceit, etc.; to puff up.

Pronunciation

En-au-blow up.ogg

Word forms

blow up blows up blowing up blew up blown up

Etymology

From Middle English blow up, blowe up, dissimilated forms of earlier Middle English upblowen (> English upblow), equivalent to blow + up. Compare West Frisian opblaze (“to blow up, inflate”), Dutch opblazen (“to blow up, inflate”), German aufblähen and aufblasen (“to blow up, inflate”), Swedish blåsa upp (“to blow up, inflate”), Icelandic blása upp (“to blow up, inflate”), Gothic 𐌿𐍆𐌱𐌻𐌴𐍃𐌰𐌽 (ufblēsan, “to blow or puff up”).

Synonyms

break deadlock knock over kill overload max out take down take out bomb

Derived words

blowing up blow me up blow someone's skirt up blow-up blow up in one's face blow up one's spot blow up someone's spot blow up the spot blow up the tote

Translations

Armenian: պայթեցնել Armenian: տրաքացնել Armenian: գմփցնել Armenian: պայթել Armenian: տրաքել Armenian: գմփալ Azerbaijani: partlatmaq Azerbaijani: partlamaq Cherokee: ᎠᏔᏍᎩᏍᏗᎭ Chinese Mandarin: 炸掉 Chinese Mandarin: 爆破 Danish: sprænge i luften Danish: springe i luften Danish: eksplodere Esperanto: eksplodigi Esperanto: eksplodi Finnish: räjäyttää Finnish: räjähtää Finnish: posahtaa French: faire sauter Georgian: აფეთქება German: sprengen German: explodieren Greek: ανατινάζω Hebrew: פוצץ Hebrew: התפוצץ Hungarian: felrobbant Hungarian: felrobban Ingrian: revittää Ingrian: reppiä Irish: pléasc Italian: saltare in aria Italian: esplodere Japanese: 爆破する Japanese: 爆発する Korean: 폭파하다 Mongolian: дэлбэлэх Mongolian: тэсрэх Polish: wysadzać Polish: wybuchać Portuguese: explodir Romanian: arunca în aer Romanian: exploda Romanian: detona Romanian: sări în aer Russian: взрыва́ть Russian: взорва́ть Russian: взрыва́ться Russian: взорва́ться Swedish: spränga Swedish: explodera Turkish: havaya uçurmak Turkish: havaya uçmak Ukrainian: підрива́ти Ukrainian: підірва́ти Ukrainian: виса́джувати в пові́тря Ukrainian: ви́садити в пові́тря Ukrainian: вибуха́ти Ukrainian: ви́бухнути Vietnamese: nổ Spanish: explotar Spanish: saltar por los aires Spanish: petar Spanish: desenmascarar
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