blow out
1. To extinguish something (typically a flame) with some form of air, such as breath or wind. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "blow" and "out." Make a wish and blow out your birthday candles! That huge gust of wind blew out all our tiki torches. I'm trying light this thing, but the wind keeps blowing out my lighter!
2. To break or burst suddenly. I almost lost control of the car when one of the tires blew out on the highway. We believe an engine blew out and caused the plane to crash. Your car's engine blew out on you? Well, I won't know for sure what caused it until I can get under the hood.
3. verb, slang To kill someone, typically with gunfire. Ray blew out the informant, just as the boss told him to. By shooting at each other in such a crowded area, those thugs could have easily blown out an innocent bystander. I did hire someone to blow out that guy, but there was a scuffle, and he was able to get away.
4. To defeat an opponent easily or by a wide margin. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "blow" and "out." The final score was 17–1? Wow, we really blew that team out! I have a feeling the top-ranked team is just going to blow out any opponent they face. As predicted, that candidate dominated in the election and blew out her opponent.
5. To return to a state of calm after turmoil by something's own workings. Don't worry, the storm will blow out eventually. When do you think the tension between Mom and Grandma will blow out? I can't wait till the drama with this merger finally blows out.
6. To break or explode due to excessive pressure or force. The vibration of that opera singer's high note blew out a window! I bet that rube overinflated the air mattress. I mean, why else would it just blow out like that? You need to let some of the air out of this tire, or it could blow out on you.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.