Blow Meaning
/bləʊ/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo produce an air current.
verbTo propel by an air current (or, if under water, a water current), usually with the mouth.
Sentence Examples
Teachers should occasionally let their students blow off some steam.
Make a wish and blow out the candles.
She received a severe blow on the head.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The strong wind began to violently ____ the windows during the hurricane.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Can you ____ out the candles on your birthday cake with one breath?.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- Proto-Indo-European *-eh₁- Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁-der. Proto-Germanic *blēaną Proto-West Germanic *blāan Old English blāwan Middle English blowen English blow From Middle English blowen, from Old English blāwan (“to blow, breathe, inflate, sound”), from Proto-West Germanic *blāan, from Proto-Germanic *blēaną (“to blow”) (compare German blähen), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁- (“to swell, blow up”) (compare Latin flō (“to blow”) and Old Armenian բեղուն (bełun, “fertile”)).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Lear. Blow windes, & crack your cheeks; Rage, blow / You Cataracts, and Hyrricano's ſpout,"
— c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 296, column 1:
"Tend to th' Maſters whiſtle: Blow till thou burſt thy winde, if roome enough."
— 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 1, column 1:
"Hark how it rains and blows!"
— 1653, Iz[aak] Wa[lton], The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man’s Recreation. Being a Discourse of Fish and Fishing, […], London: […] T. Maxey for Rich[ard] Marriot, […], →OCLC; reprinted as The Compleat Angler (Homo Ludens; 6), Nieuwkoop, South Holland, Netherlands: Miland Publishers, 1969, →ISBN:
"To-night the winds begin to rise
And roar from yonder dropping day:
The last red leaf is whirl’d away,
The rooks are blown about the skies; […]"
— 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XV”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 24:
"In Koksan County, strong winds blew the roofs off homes, while torrential rains poked holes in or collapsed the walls of houses."
— 2022 July 6, Kim Chae Hwan, “North Hwanghae Province hit hard by torrential rains”, in Daily NK, archived from the original on 07 Jul 2022:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The strong wind began to violently ____ the windows during the hurricane.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Can you ____ out the candles on your birthday cake with one breath?.