Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A very strong gust of wind or air.
  • noun The effect of such a gust.
  • noun A forcible stream of air, gas, or steam from an opening, especially one in a blast furnace to aid combustion.
  • noun A sudden loud sound, especially one produced by a stream of forced air.
  • noun The act of producing such a sound.
  • noun A violent explosion, as of dynamite or a bomb.
  • noun The violent effect of such an explosion, consisting of a wave of increased atmospheric pressure followed immediately by a wave of decreased pressure.
  • noun An explosive charge.
  • noun Botany Any of several plant diseases of diverse causes, resulting in sudden death of buds, flowers, foliage, or young fruits.
  • noun A destructive or damaging influence.
  • noun A powerful hit, blow, or shot.
  • noun A violent verbal assault or outburst.
  • noun Slang A highly exciting or pleasurable experience or event, such as a big party.
  • intransitive verb To knock down or shatter by explosion; smash.
  • intransitive verb To play or sound loudly.
  • intransitive verb To cause to move with great force; hurl.
  • intransitive verb To make or open by explosion.
  • intransitive verb To shoot or destroy by shooting.
  • intransitive verb Sports To hit, kick, or shoot (a ball or puck) with great force.
  • intransitive verb To have a harmful or destructive effect on.
  • intransitive verb To criticize or attack vigorously.
  • intransitive verb To cause to shrivel, wither, or mature imperfectly by blast or blight.
  • intransitive verb To use or detonate explosives.
  • intransitive verb To emit a loud, intense sound; blare.
  • intransitive verb To discharge a weapon. especially repeatedly; shoot.
  • intransitive verb To attack someone or something verbally; criticize.
  • intransitive verb To move with great speed or power.
  • intransitive verb Electronics To distort sound recording or transmission by overloading a microphone or loudspeaker.
  • intransitive verb To wither or shrivel or mature imperfectly.
  • idiom (full blast) At full speed, volume, or capacity.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A subtle kind of matter supposed by Van Helmont, a Dutch mystic philosopher, to be radiated from the stars and to produce effects opposite to those of heat.
  • See blasto-.
  • noun In mining, a fall of water down a mine-shaft designed to produce or quicken ventilation.
  • noun In the West Indies, a disease of the sugar-cane, probably caused by an acarid now known as the sugar-cane mite. The species is still unde-scribed.
  • noun In zoology, one of the spindle-shaped, spore-like bodies in the life-cycle of certain Sporozoa, such as the malarial parasite.
  • noun A blowing; a gust or puff of wind; especially, a strong and sudden gust.
  • noun A forcible stream of air from the mouth, from bellows, or the like.
  • noun Hence A jet of exhaust-steam thrown into a smoke-stack to assist the draft.
  • noun In metallurgy, the air forced into a furnace for the purpose of accelerating combustion. A furnace is said to be in blast when it is in operation, out of blast when stopped, either temporarily or permanently.
  • noun The sound made by blowing a wind-instrument, as a horn or trumpet; strictly, the sound produced by one breath.
  • noun Any sudden, pernicious, or destructive influence upon animals or plants; the infection of anything pestilential; a blight.
  • noun Hence—7. Any withering or destructive influence; a curse.
  • noun The product of a blast or blight; a bud which never blossoms.
  • noun The charge of gunpowder or other explosive used at one firing in blasting operations.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English blǣst; see bhlē- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek βλαστός (blastos, "germ or sprout").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English blast from Old English blǣst ("blowing, blast"). More at blow.

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