Definitions
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.
- See
blasto- . - To blow; puff; breathe hard; pant.
- To smoke tobacco.
- To boast; brag; speak ostentatiously.
- To wither; be blighted.
- To burst as by an explosion; blow up.
- To blow forth or abroad; hence, to utter loudly; proclaim.
- To break or tear to pieces (rocks or similar materials) by the agency of gunpowder or other explosive.
- To confound or stun by a loud blast or din; split; burst.
- To blow or breathe on so as to injure, as a sudden gust or destructive wind; cause to fade, shrivel, or wither; check the growth of and prevent from coming to maturity and producing fruit; blight, as trees or plants.
- To blight or cause to come to nothing, as by some pernicious influence; bring destruction, calamity, or infamy upon; ruin: as, to
blast pride, hopes, reputation, happiness. - To curse; strike with the wrath of heaven.
- 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.
- noun In zoology, one of the spindle-shaped, spore-like bodies in the life-cycle of certain Sporozoa, such as the malarial parasite.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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IV. vii.155 (308,9) blast in proof] This, I believe, is a metaphor taken from a mine, which, in the proof or execution, sometimes breaks out with an ineffectual _blast_.
Notes to Shakespeare, Volume III: The Tragedies Samuel Johnson 1746
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I grew up on a diet of stock-car racing at the long-defunct Walthamstow Stadium in the Sixties, and the term "blast from the past" could not be more apt.
Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph Telegraph Staff 2011
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People here say that the -- what they call blast walls, which are basically large concrete barriers, or large containers filled with dirt, had been erected in front of the embassy, and that those blast walls probably absorbed about 90 percent of the explosive impact of that suicide bomb.
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It had been moved over the Great Lakes and the rails to what they call a blast furnace, the technological name of which being The College of Needful Knocks for Red Mud.
The University of Hard Knocks Ralph Parlette 1900
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But then the urge to take cheap shots and let rip an ad hominem blast is too much to resist:
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But then the urge to take cheap shots and let rip an ad hominem blast is too much to resist:
Pope John Paul II 2009
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The blast is the deadliest such incident since a series of blasts killed three people in Bangkok on New Year's Eve in 2006.
Thais Suspect Red Shirts In Deadly Explosion James Hookway 2010
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But then the urge to take cheap shots and let rip an ad hominem blast is too much to resist:
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In December last year, at the Nagano World Cup, I had a blast from the past moment and pulled out a terrific 1000m and won!
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Kristin, thanks for bringing us this blast from the past.
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