Found 1 items, similar to To blow up.
English → English (gcide)
Definition: To blow up
Up
\Up\ ([u^]p), adv. [AS. up, upp, [=u]p; akin to OFries. up,
op, D. op, OS. [=u]p, OHG. [=u]f, G. auf, Icel. & Sw. upp,
Dan. op, Goth. iup, and probably to E. over. See
Over.]
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1. Aloft; on high; in a direction contrary to that of
gravity; toward or in a higher place or position; above;
-- the opposite of
down.
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But up or down,
By center or eccentric, hard to tell. --Milton.
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2. Hence, in many derived uses, specifically:
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(a) From a lower to a higher position, literally or
figuratively; as, from a recumbent or sitting
position; from the mouth, toward the source, of a
river; from a dependent or inferior condition; from
concealment; from younger age; from a quiet state, or
the like; -- used with verbs of motion expressed or
implied.
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But they presumed to go up unto the hilltop.
--Num. xiv.
44.
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I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth
up. --Ps.
lxxxviii. 15.
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Up rose the sun, and up rose Emelye. --Chaucer.
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We have wrought ourselves up into this degree of
Christian indifference. --Atterbury.
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(b) In a higher place or position, literally or
figuratively; in the state of having arisen; in an
upright, or nearly upright, position; standing;
mounted on a horse; in a condition of elevation,
prominence, advance, proficiency, excitement,
insurrection, or the like; -- used with verbs of rest,
situation, condition, and the like; as, to be up on a
hill; the lid of the box was up; prices are up.
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And when the sun was up, they were scorched.
--Matt. xiii.
6.
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Those that were up themselves kept others low.
--Spenser.
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Helen was up -- was she? --Shak.
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Rebels there are up,
And put the Englishmen unto the sword. --Shak.
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His name was up through all the adjoining
provinces, even to Italy and Rome; many desiring
to see who he was that could withstand so many
years the Roman puissance. --Milton.
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Thou hast fired me; my soul's up in arms.
--Dryden.
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Grief and passion are like floods raised in
little brooks by a sudden rain; they are quickly
up. --Dryden.
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A general whisper ran among the country people,
that Sir Roger was up. --Addison.
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Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate. --Longfellow.
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(c) To or in a position of equal advance or equality; not
short of, back of, less advanced than, away from, or
the like; -- usually followed by to or with; as, to be
up to the chin in water; to come up with one's
companions; to come up with the enemy; to live up to
engagements.
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As a boar was whetting his teeth, up comes a fox
to him. --L'Estrange.
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(d) To or in a state of completion; completely; wholly;
quite; as, in the phrases to eat up; to drink up; to
burn up; to sum up; etc.; to shut up the eyes or the
mouth; to sew up a rent.
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Note: Some phrases of this kind are now obsolete; as, to
spend up (--Prov. xxi. 20); to kill up (--B. Jonson).
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(e) Aside, so as not to be in use; as, to lay up riches;
put up your weapons.
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Note: Up is used elliptically for get up, rouse up, etc.,
expressing a command or exhortation.
“Up, and let us
be going.” --Judg. xix. 28.
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Up, up, my friend! and quit your books,
Or surely you 'll grow double. --Wordsworth.
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It is all up with him, it is all over with him; he is lost.
The time is up, the allotted time is past.
To be up in, to be informed about; to be versed in.
“Anxious that their sons should be well up in the
superstitions of two thousand years ago.” --H. Spencer.
To be up to.
(a) To be equal to, or prepared for; as, he is up to the
business, or the emergency. [Colloq.]
(b) To be engaged in; to purpose, with the idea of doing
ill or mischief; as, I don't know what he's up to.
[Colloq.]
To blow up.
(a) To inflate; to distend.
(b) To destroy by an explosion from beneath.
(c) To explode; as, the boiler blew up.
(d) To reprove angrily; to scold. [Slang]
To bring up. See under
Bring, v. t.
To come up with. See under
Come, v. i.
To cut up. See under
Cut, v. t. & i.
To draw up. See under
Draw, v. t.
To grow up, to grow to maturity.
Up anchor (Naut.), the order to man the windlass
preparatory to hauling up the anchor.
Up and down.
(a) First up, and then down; from one state or position to
another. See under
Down, adv.
Fortune . . . led him up and down. --Chaucer.
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(b) (Naut.) Vertical; perpendicular; -- said of the cable
when the anchor is under, or nearly under, the hawse
hole, and the cable is taut. --Totten.
Up helm (Naut.), the order given to move the tiller toward
the upper, or windward, side of a vessel.
Up to snuff. See under
Snuff. [Slang]
What is up? What is going on? [Slang]
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Blow
\Blow\, v. i. [imp.
Blew (bl[=u]); p. p.
Blown
(bl[=o]n); p. pr. & vb. n.
Blowing.] [OE. blawen, blowen,
AS. bl[=a]wan to blow, as wind; akin to OHG. pl[=a]jan, G.
bl["a]hen, to blow up, swell, L. flare to blow, Gr.
'ekflai`nein to spout out, and to E. bladder, blast, inflate,
etc., and perh. blow to bloom.]
1. To produce a current of air; to move, as air, esp. to move
rapidly or with power; as, the wind blows.
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Hark how it rains and blows ! --Walton.
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2. To send forth a forcible current of air, as from the mouth
or from a pair of bellows.
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3. To breathe hard or quick; to pant; to puff.
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Here is Mistress Page at the door, sweating and
blowing. --Shak.
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4. To sound on being blown into, as a trumpet.
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There let the pealing organ blow. --Milton.
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5. To spout water, etc., from the blowholes, as a whale.
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6. To be carried or moved by the wind; as, the dust blows in
from the street.
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The grass blows from their graves to thy own. --M.
Arnold.
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7. To talk loudly; to boast; to storm. [Colloq.]
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You blow behind my back, but dare not say anything
to my face. --Bartlett.
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8. To stop functioning due to a failure in an electrical
circuit, especially on which breaks the circuit; sometimes
used with out; -- used of light bulbs, electronic
components, fuses; as, the dome light in the car blew out.
[PJC]
9. To deflate by sudden loss of air; usually used with out;
-- of inflatable tires.
[PJC]
To blow hot and cold (a saying derived from a fable of
[AE]sop's), to favor a thing at one time and treat it
coldly at another; or to appear both to favor and to
oppose.
To blow off, to let steam escape through a passage provided
for the purpose; as, the engine or steamer is blowing off.
To blow out.
(a) To be driven out by the expansive force of a gas or
vapor; as, a steam cock or valve sometimes blows out.
(b) To talk violently or abusively. [Low]
To blow over, to pass away without effect; to cease, or be
dissipated; as, the storm and the clouds have blown over.
To blow up, to be torn to pieces and thrown into the air as
by an explosion of powder or gas or the expansive force of
steam; to burst; to explode; as, a powder mill or steam
boiler blows up.
“The enemy's magazines blew up.”
--Tatler.
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Blow
\Blow\, v. t.
1. To force a current of air upon with the mouth, or by other
means; as, to blow the fire.
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2. To drive by a current air; to impel; as, the tempest blew
the ship ashore.
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Off at sea northeast winds blow
Sabean odors from the spicy shore. --Milton.
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3. To cause air to pass through by the action of the mouth,
or otherwise; to cause to sound, as a wind instrument; as,
to blow a trumpet; to blow an organ; to blow a horn.
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Hath she no husband
That will take pains to blow a horn before her?
--Shak.
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Boy, blow the pipe until the bubble rise,
Then cast it off to float upon the skies. --Parnell.
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4. To clear of contents by forcing air through; as, to blow
an egg; to blow one's nose.
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5. To burst, shatter, or destroy by an explosion; -- usually
with up, down, open, or similar adverb; as, to blow up a
building.
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6. To spread by report; to publish; to disclose; to reveal,
intentionally or inadvertently; as, to blow an agent's
cover.
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Through the court his courtesy was blown. --Dryden.
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His language does his knowledge blow. --Whiting.
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7. To form by inflation; to swell by injecting air; as, to
blow bubbles; to blow glass.
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8. To inflate, as with pride; to puff up.
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Look how imagination blows him. --Shak.
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9. To put out of breath; to cause to blow from fatigue; as,
to blow a horse. --Sir W. Scott.
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10. To deposit eggs or larv[ae] upon, or in (meat, etc.).
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To suffer
The flesh fly blow my mouth. --Shak.
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11. To perform an act of fellatio on; to stimulate another's
penis with one's mouth; -- usually considered vulgar.
[slang]
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12. to smoke (e. g. marijuana); to blow pot. [colloq.]
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13. to botch; to bungle; as, he blew his chance at a good job
by showing up late for the interview. [colloq.]
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14. to leave; to depart from; as, to blow town. [slang]
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15. to squander; as, he blew his inheritance gambling.
[colloq.]
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To blow great guns, to blow furiously and with roaring
blasts; -- said of the wind at sea or along the coast.
To blow off, to empty (a boiler) of water through the
blow-off pipe, while under steam pressure; also, to eject
(steam, water, sediment, etc.) from a boiler.
To blow one's own trumpet, to vaunt one's own exploits, or
sound one's own praises.
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 bubble.
(b) To inflate, as with pride, self-conceit, etc.; to
puff up; as, to blow one up with flattery.
“Blown up
with high conceits engendering pride.” --Milton.
(c) To excite; as, to blow up a contention.
(d) To burst, to raise into the air, or to scatter, by an
explosion; as, to blow up a fort.
(e) To scold violently; as, to blow up a person for some
offense. [Colloq.]
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I have blown him up well -- nobody can say I
wink at what he does. --G. Eliot.
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To blow upon.
(a) To blast; to taint; to bring into discredit; to
render stale, unsavory, or worthless.
(b) To inform against. [Colloq.]
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How far the very custom of hearing anything
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.
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A lady's maid whose character had been blown
upon. --Macaulay.
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