Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BLOW, n. [This probably is a contracted word, and the primary sense must be, to strike, thrust, push, or throw, that is, to drive. I have not found it in the cognate dialects. If g or other palatal letter is lost, it corresponds in elements with the L. plaga, Gr. πληγη, L. fligo, Eng. flog. But blow, a stroke, is written like the verb to blow, the Latin flo, and blow, to blossom. The letter lost is probably a dental, and the original was blod or bloth, in which case, the word has the elements of loud, laudo, clauda, lad, &c.]

1. The act of striking; more generally the stroke; a violent application of the hand, fist, or an instrument to an object.
2. The fatal stroke; a stroke that kills; hence, death.
3. An act of hostility; as, the nation which strikes the first blow. Hence, to come to blows, is to engage in combat, whether by individuals, armies, fleets, or nations; and when by nations, it is war.
4. A sudden calamity; a sudden or severe evil. In like manner, plaga in Latin gives rise to the Eng. plague.
5. A single act; a sudden event; as, to gain or lose a province at a blow, or by one blow. At a stroke is used in like manner.
6. An ovum or egg deposited by a fly, on flesh or other substance, called a fly-blow.