blowhole

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The spiracle, on the top of the head, through which cetaceans breathe.
  2. A hole in sea ice where cetaceans and pinnipeds come to breathe.
  3. A top-facing opening to a cavity in the ground very near an ocean's shore, leading to a marine cave from which wave water or bursts of air are expelled.
  4. A vent for the escape of steam or other gas.
  5. An unintended cavity filled with air in a casting product.
  6. A vertical opening in the top of a computer case that lets hot air (primarily from the CPU heat sink) escape quickly.
verb
  1. To fill or be filled with air in an unintended cavity.

Pronunciation

/ˈbləʊhəʊl/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-blowhole.wav

Word forms

blowhole blowholes blowholing blowholed

Etymology

From blow + hole.

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.