blast

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A very strong gust of wind or air.
• noun The effect of such a gust.
• noun A forcible stream of air, gas, or steam from an opening, especially one in a blast furnace to aid combustion.
• noun A sudden loud sound, especially one produced by a stream of forced air.
• noun The act of producing such a sound.
• noun A violent explosion, as of dynamite or a bomb.
• noun The violent effect of such an explosion, consisting of a wave of increased atmospheric pressure followed immediately by a wave of decreased pressure.
• noun An explosive charge.
• noun Botany Any of several plant diseases of diverse causes, resulting in sudden death of buds, flowers, foliage, or young fruits.
• noun A destructive or damaging influence.
• noun A powerful hit, blow, or shot.
• noun A violent verbal assault or outburst.
• noun Slang A highly exciting or pleasurable experience or event, such as a big party.
• intransitive verb To knock down or shatter by explosion; smash.
• intransitive verb To play or sound loudly.
• intransitive verb To cause to move with great force; hurl.
• intransitive verb To make or open by explosion.
• intransitive verb To shoot or destroy by shooting.
• intransitive verb Sports To hit, kick, or shoot (a ball or puck) with great force.
• intransitive verb To have a harmful or destructive effect on.
• intransitive verb To criticize or attack vigorously.
• intransitive verb To cause to shrivel, wither, or mature imperfectly by blast or blight.
• intransitive verb To use or detonate explosives.
• intransitive verb To emit a loud, intense sound; blare.
• intransitive verb To discharge a weapon. especially repeatedly; shoot.
• intransitive verb To attack someone or something verbally; criticize.
• intransitive verb To move with great speed or power.
• intransitive verb Electronics To distort sound recording or transmission by overloading a microphone or loudspeaker.
• intransitive verb To wither or shrivel or mature imperfectly.
• idiom (full blast) At full speed, volume, or capacity.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A subtle kind of matter supposed by Van Helmont, a Dutch mystic philosopher, to be radiated from the stars and to produce effects opposite to those of heat.
• See blasto-.
• noun In mining, a fall of water down a mine-shaft designed to produce or quicken ventilation.
• noun In the West Indies, a disease of the sugar-cane, probably caused by an acarid now known as the sugar-cane mite. The species is still unde-scribed.
• noun In zoology, one of the spindle-shaped, spore-like bodies in the life-cycle of certain Sporozoa, such as the malarial parasite.
• noun A blowing; a gust or puff of wind; especially, a strong and sudden gust.
• noun A forcible stream of air from the mouth, from bellows, or the like.
• noun Hence A jet of exhaust-steam thrown into a smoke-stack to assist the draft.
• noun In metallurgy, the air forced into a furnace for the purpose of accelerating combustion. A furnace is said to be in blast when it is in operation, out of blast when stopped, either temporarily or permanently.
• noun The sound made by blowing a wind-instrument, as a horn or trumpet; strictly, the sound produced by one breath.
• noun Any sudden, pernicious, or destructive influence upon animals or plants; the infection of anything pestilential; a blight.
• noun Hence—7. Any withering or destructive influence; a curse.
• noun The product of a blast or blight; a bud which never blossoms.
• noun The charge of gunpowder or other explosive used at one firing in blasting operations.