'To blow up' definitions:

Definition of 'To blow up'

From: GCIDE
  • Up \Up\ ([u^]p), adv. [AS. up, upp, [=u]p; akin to OFries. up, op, D. op, OS. [=u]p, OHG. [=u]f, G. auf, Icel. & Sw. upp, Dan. op, Goth. iup, and probably to E. over. See Over.] [1913 Webster]
  • 1. Aloft; on high; in a direction contrary to that of gravity; toward or in a higher place or position; above; -- the opposite of down. [1913 Webster]
  • But up or down, By center or eccentric, hard to tell. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Hence, in many derived uses, specifically: [1913 Webster] (a) From a lower to a higher position, literally or figuratively; as, from a recumbent or sitting position; from the mouth, toward the source, of a river; from a dependent or inferior condition; from concealment; from younger age; from a quiet state, or the like; -- used with verbs of motion expressed or implied. [1913 Webster]
  • But they presumed to go up unto the hilltop. --Num. xiv. 44. [1913 Webster]
  • I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up. --Ps. lxxxviii. 15. [1913 Webster]
  • Up rose the sun, and up rose Emelye. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
  • We have wrought ourselves up into this degree of Christian indifference. --Atterbury. [1913 Webster] (b) In a higher place or position, literally or figuratively; in the state of having arisen; in an upright, or nearly upright, position; standing; mounted on a horse; in a condition of elevation, prominence, advance, proficiency, excitement, insurrection, or the like; -- used with verbs of rest, situation, condition, and the like; as, to be up on a hill; the lid of the box was up; prices are up. [1913 Webster]
  • And when the sun was up, they were scorched. --Matt. xiii. 6. [1913 Webster]
  • Those that were up themselves kept others low. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
  • Helen was up -- was she? --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • Rebels there are up, And put the Englishmen unto the sword. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • His name was up through all the adjoining provinces, even to Italy and Rome; many desiring to see who he was that could withstand so many years the Roman puissance. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • Thou hast fired me; my soul's up in arms. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • Grief and passion are like floods raised in little brooks by a sudden rain; they are quickly up. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • A general whisper ran among the country people, that Sir Roger was up. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
  • Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate. --Longfellow. [1913 Webster] (c) To or in a position of equal advance or equality; not short of, back of, less advanced than, away from, or the like; -- usually followed by to or with; as, to be up to the chin in water; to come up with one's companions; to come up with the enemy; to live up to engagements. [1913 Webster]
  • As a boar was whetting his teeth, up comes a fox to him. --L'Estrange. [1913 Webster] (d) To or in a state of completion; completely; wholly; quite; as, in the phrases to eat up; to drink up; to burn up; to sum up; etc.; to shut up the eyes or the mouth; to sew up a rent. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: Some phrases of this kind are now obsolete; as, to spend up (--Prov. xxi. 20); to kill up (--B. Jonson). [1913 Webster] (e) Aside, so as not to be in use; as, to lay up riches; put up your weapons. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: Up is used elliptically for get up, rouse up, etc., expressing a command or exhortation. "Up, and let us be going." --Judg. xix. 28. [1913 Webster]
  • Up, up, my friend! and quit your books, Or surely you 'll grow double. --Wordsworth. [1913 Webster]
  • It is all up with him, it is all over with him; he is lost.
  • The time is up, the allotted time is past.
  • To be up in, to be informed about; to be versed in. "Anxious that their sons should be well up in the superstitions of two thousand years ago." --H. Spencer.
  • To be up to. (a) To be equal to, or prepared for; as, he is up to the business, or the emergency. [Colloq.] (b) To be engaged in; to purpose, with the idea of doing ill or mischief; as, I don't know what he's up to. [Colloq.]
  • To blow up. (a) To inflate; to distend. (b) To destroy by an explosion from beneath. (c) To explode; as, the boiler blew up. (d) To reprove angrily; to scold. [Slang]
  • To bring up. See under Bring, v. t.
  • To come up with. See under Come, v. i.
  • To cut up. See under Cut, v. t. & i.
  • To draw up. See under Draw, v. t.
  • To grow up, to grow to maturity.
  • Up anchor (Naut.), the order to man the windlass preparatory to hauling up the anchor.
  • Up and down. (a) First up, and then down; from one state or position to another. See under Down, adv.
  • Fortune . . . led him up and down. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster] (b) (Naut.) Vertical; perpendicular; -- said of the cable when the anchor is under, or nearly under, the hawse hole, and the cable is taut. --Totten.
  • Up helm (Naut.), the order given to move the tiller toward the upper, or windward, side of a vessel.
  • Up to snuff. See under Snuff. [Slang]
  • {What is up?} What is going on? [Slang] [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'To blow up'

From: GCIDE
  • Blow \Blow\, v. i. [imp. Blew (bl[=u]); p. p. Blown (bl[=o]n); p. pr. & vb. n. Blowing.] [OE. blawen, blowen, AS. bl[=a]wan to blow, as wind; akin to OHG. pl[=a]jan, G. bl[aum]hen, to blow up, swell, L. flare to blow, Gr. 'ekflai`nein to spout out, and to E. bladder, blast, inflate, etc., and perh. blow to bloom.]
  • 1. To produce a current of air; to move, as air, esp. to move rapidly or with power; as, the wind blows. [1913 Webster]
  • Hark how it rains and blows ! --Walton. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To send forth a forcible current of air, as from the mouth or from a pair of bellows. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. To breathe hard or quick; to pant; to puff. [1913 Webster]
  • Here is Mistress Page at the door, sweating and blowing. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. To sound on being blown into, as a trumpet. [1913 Webster]
  • There let the pealing organ blow. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. To spout water, etc., from the blowholes, as a whale. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. To be carried or moved by the wind; as, the dust blows in from the street. [1913 Webster]
  • The grass blows from their graves to thy own. --M. Arnold. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. To talk loudly; to boast; to storm. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]
  • You blow behind my back, but dare not say anything to my face. --Bartlett. [1913 Webster]
  • 8. To stop functioning due to a failure in an electrical circuit, especially on which breaks the circuit; sometimes used with out; -- used of light bulbs, electronic components, fuses; as, the dome light in the car blew out. [PJC]
  • 9. To deflate by sudden loss of air; usually used with out; -- of inflatable tires. [PJC]
  • To blow hot and cold (a saying derived from a fable of [AE]sop's), to favor a thing at one time and treat it coldly at another; or to appear both to favor and to oppose.
  • To blow off, to let steam escape through a passage provided for the purpose; as, the engine or steamer is blowing off.
  • To blow out. (a) To be driven out by the expansive force of a gas or vapor; as, a steam cock or valve sometimes blows out. (b) To talk violently or abusively. [Low]
  • To blow over, to pass away without effect; to cease, or be dissipated; as, the storm and the clouds have blown over.
  • To blow up, to be torn to pieces and thrown into the air as by an explosion of powder or gas or the expansive force of steam; to burst; to explode; as, a powder mill or steam boiler blows up. "The enemy's magazines blew up." --Tatler. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'To blow up'

From: GCIDE
  • Blow \Blow\, v. t.
  • 1. To force a current of air upon with the mouth, or by other means; as, to blow the fire. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To drive by a current air; to impel; as, the tempest blew the ship ashore. [1913 Webster]
  • Off at sea northeast winds blow Sabean odors from the spicy shore. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. To cause air to pass through by the action of the mouth, or otherwise; to cause to sound, as a wind instrument; as, to blow a trumpet; to blow an organ; to blow a horn. [1913 Webster]
  • Hath she no husband That will take pains to blow a horn before her? --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • Boy, blow the pipe until the bubble rise, Then cast it off to float upon the skies. --Parnell. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. To clear of contents by forcing air through; as, to blow an egg; to blow one's nose. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. To burst, shatter, or destroy by an explosion; -- usually with up, down, open, or similar adverb; as, to blow up a building. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. To spread by report; to publish; to disclose; to reveal, intentionally or inadvertently; as, to blow an agent's cover. [1913 Webster]
  • Through the court his courtesy was blown. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • His language does his knowledge blow. --Whiting. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. To form by inflation; to swell by injecting air; as, to blow bubbles; to blow glass. [1913 Webster]
  • 8. To inflate, as with pride; to puff up. [1913 Webster]
  • Look how imagination blows him. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 9. To put out of breath; to cause to blow from fatigue; as, to blow a horse. --Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]
  • 10. To deposit eggs or larv[ae] upon, or in (meat, etc.). [1913 Webster]
  • To suffer The flesh fly blow my mouth. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 11. To perform an act of fellatio on; to stimulate another's penis with one's mouth; -- usually considered vulgar. [slang] [PJC]
  • 12. to smoke (e. g. marijuana); to blow pot. [colloq.] [PJC]
  • 13. to botch; to bungle; as, he blew his chance at a good job by showing up late for the interview. [colloq.] [PJC]
  • 14. to leave; to depart from; as, to blow town. [slang] [PJC]
  • 15. to squander; as, he blew his inheritance gambling. [colloq.] [PJC]
  • To blow great guns, to blow furiously and with roaring blasts; -- said of the wind at sea or along the coast.
  • To blow off, to empty (a boiler) of water through the blow-off pipe, while under steam pressure; also, to eject (steam, water, sediment, etc.) from a boiler.
  • To blow one's own trumpet, to vaunt one's own exploits, or sound one's own praises.
  • To blow out, to extinguish by a current of air, as a candle.
  • To blow up. (a) To fill with air; to swell; as, to blow up a bladder or bubble. (b) To inflate, as with pride, self-conceit, etc.; to puff up; as, to blow one up with flattery. "Blown up with high conceits engendering pride." --Milton. (c) To excite; as, to blow up a contention. (d) To burst, to raise into the air, or to scatter, by an explosion; as, to blow up a fort. (e) To scold violently; as, to blow up a person for some offense. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]
  • I have blown him up well -- nobody can say I wink at what he does. --G. Eliot. [1913 Webster]
  • To blow upon. (a) To blast; to taint; to bring into discredit; to render stale, unsavory, or worthless. (b) To inform against. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]
  • How far the very custom of hearing anything spouted withers and blows upon a fine passage, may be seen in those speeches from [Shakespeare's] Henry V. which are current in the mouths of schoolboys. --C. Lamb. [1913 Webster]
  • A lady's maid whose character had been blown upon. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]