Blast Meaning
/blɑːst/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA violent gust of wind (in windy weather) or apparent wind (around a moving vehicle).
nounA forcible stream of gas or liquid from an orifice, for example from a bellows, the tuyeres of a blast furnace, a person's mouth, etc.
Sentence Examples
You have to blast your way out.
A lot of people were killed by the blast.
All the windows broke with the force of the blast.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The demolition crew used a controlled ____ to bring down the old building.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The loud ____ of the whistle signaled the beginning of the race city.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English blast, blest, from Old English blǣst (“blowing, blast”), from Proto-West Germanic *blāstu, from Proto-Germanic *blēstuz (“blowing, blast”). Cognate with West Frisian blast (“blast”), dialectal Dutch blast (“stubborn intent, drumming”), obsolete German Blast (“wind, blowing”), German blasen (“to blow”), Dutch blazen (“to blow”), Danish blæst (“wind”), French blaser (“to blunt, dull”). More at blow.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"And see where surly Winter passes off, / Far to the north, and calls his ruffian blasts; / His blasts obey, and quit the howling hill."
— a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Spring”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, →OCLC:
"Their warm, thick under covering of fine wool protects them from the coldest blasts."
— 1915 April 26, Enos A. Mills, “Wild Mountain Sheep”, in The Rocky Mountain Wonderland, Houghton Mifflin, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 37:
"Blast was produced by bellows worked by four 'blowers', three of whom worked at a time while the fourth stood ready to replace one of the others."
— 1957, H.R. Schubert, History of the British Iron and Steel Industry, page 146:
"Blast after blast, fiery outbreak after fiery outbreak, like a flaming barrage from within,[…]most of Edison's grounds soon became an inferno. As though on an incendiary rampage, the fires systematically devoured the contents of Edison's headquarters and facilities."
— 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 1, in Internal Combustion:
"Signalman Bridges was killed by the blast, as was fireman Nightall. Amazingly, driver Gimbert came round some 200 yards away, on the grass outside the Station Hotel where he had been flung."
— 2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 43:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The demolition crew used a controlled ____ to bring down the old building.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The loud ____ of the whistle signaled the beginning of the race city.