Talk:blow

This may be the funniest entry in Wiktionary! Who do you have to blow to get back stage passes?

A meaning missed?
Slightly archaic, blow means to defacate. For example, flyblown. (although this is not supported by http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/flyblown, it's my understanding of the term). Also from literature: "The place is full of flies that blow on me" - Mika Waltari, The Egyptian (book 3, a couple of paras into section 4). I've met a couple more instances like this, although it's a rare use these days. Thoughts? 78.145.28.84 01:25, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

blow
Rfd-redundant: Two senses, transitive and intransitive are specialized to electrical components. I have inserted more general senses intended to include those senses. If they are satisfactorily worded, the RfDed senses are redundant, though the usage example could be kept. DCDuring TALK * Holiday Greetings! 00:27, 23 December 2009 (UTC)
 * Another sense: to play a musical instrument. Also superseded by a more general sense, IMHO. Also note other additional senses. DCDuring TALK * Holiday Greetings! 00:53, 23 December 2009 (UTC)
 * I regrouped the definitions to put related definitions in the proximity of each other. It seems that the senses marked redundant are exactly that. When you delete the senses, please remember to check translation tables. --Hekaheka 11:51, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

deleted -- Prince Kassad 10:48, 5 January 2011 (UTC)

Added Slang Meaning
Blow, commonly considered to be US slang for cocaine, is also regional to the Midwest, particularly Chicago, to refer to heroin. Crack-Cocaine and heroin are advertised on the streets as "Rocks and Blows," rocks referring to crack-cocaine and blows referring to heroin. The Following are mainly police sources: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-7th-circuit/1400851.html

http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/132/blockclubs.html

http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2012/pr0224_01.pdf

Are these meanings clearly covered?
1. To lose a contest. 2. Of an electrical fuse, to operate. TomS TDotO (talk) 12:34, 28 December 2014 (UTC)


 * 'blow a contest/game' comes under etymology 1 sense 17. I'm not sure if the fuse sense is best placed at sense 11, 14 or 15. The fact that fuses are designed to blow when the evel of electricity gets too high rather than doing so accidentally makes me think that we could perhaps do with another sense. --Overlordnat1 (talk) 08:49, 20 January 2023 (UTC)

"blow upon" in "Tom Jones"

 * The landlady now began to roar as loudly as the poor woman in bed had done before. She cried, “She was undone, and that the reputation of her house, which was never blown upon before, was utterly destroyed.”
 * The landlady now began to roar as loudly as the poor woman in bed had done before. She cried, “She was undone, and that the reputation of her house, which was never blown upon before, was utterly destroyed.”

Does this need an entry? It seems similar to, but not quite explainable by, the obsolete blow sense: "To spread by report; to publish; to disclose." Equinox ◑ 15:45, 19 February 2017 (UTC)

blow it out one's ass
What meaning is used in blow it out one's ass? --Backinstadiums (talk) 15:18, 21 May 2020 (UTC)

RFV discussion: July–August 2020
Rfv-sense: "To talk loudly; to boast; to storm". Appears in BARTLETT'S DICTIONARY OF AMERICANISMS, which is obviously not a quote. --CasiObsoleto (talk) 19:19, 17 July 2020 (UTC)--CasiObsoleto (talk) 19:19, 17 July 2020 (UTC)


 * Easily cited. Frequently found in the phrase "bragging and blowing". Could someone correct the year/work etc. for Mark Twain? I found it in a recent reprint. Equinox ◑ 10:42, 19 July 2020 (UTC)

RFV-passed Kiwima (talk) 23:17, 7 August 2020 (UTC)

The sand blows of Willandra…
“The sand blows of Willandra are composed of materials from all the age layers.” – Australia’s Wilderness Heritage, vol. 1 (1988), p. 77

This is the caption of a picture showing various formations of sand caused by, I assume, wind patterns. I do not believe this sense is covered. Multiple Mooses (talk) 04:53, 20 October 2023 (UTC)

Wrong etymology for 'blow' (blue)?
The Oxford English Dictionary says 'blow' (blue) is a variant of 'blae', not a living form of Old English 'blāw'. 148.74.187.153 18:28, 8 May 2024 (UTC)