Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BLAST, n. [Sax. blæst, a puff of wind, a blowing; Sw. blåst; Dan. blæst; Ger. blasen; D. blaazen; Dan. blæser; Sw. blåsa, to blow; whence Ger. blase, D. blaas, Sw. blåsa, a bladder. Hence Eng. blaze, which is primarily a blowing or swelling. Ice. bloes, to blow. Qu. Fr. blaser, to burn up, to consume. The primary sense is to rush or drive; hence to strike.]

1. A gust or puff of wind; or a sudden gust of wind.
2. The sound made by blowing a wind instrument. – Shak.
3. Any pernicious or destructive influence upon animals or plants.
4. The infection of any thing pestilential; a blight on plants.
5. A sudden compression of air, attended with a shock, caused by the discharge of cannon.
6. A forcible stream of air from the mouth, from the bellows or the like.
7. A violent explosion of gunpowder, in splitting rocks, and the explosion of inflammable air in a mine.
8. The whole blowing of a forge necessary to melt one supply of ore; a common use of the word among workmen in forges in America.