Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BLOW, v.t.

1. To throw or drive a current of air upon; as, to blow the fire; also, to fan.
2. To drive by a current of air; to impel; as, the tempest blew the ship ashore.
3. To breathe upon, for the purpose of warming; as, to blow the fingers in a cold day. – Shak.
4. To sound a wind instrument; as, blow the trumpet.
5. To spread by report. And through the court his courtesy was blown. – Dryden.
6. To deposit eggs, as flies.
7. To form bubbles by blowing.
8. To swell and inflate, as veal; a practice of butchers.
9. To form glass into a particular shape by the breath, as in glass manufactories.
10. To melt tin, after being first burnt to destroy the mundic. – Encyc. To blow away, to dissipate; to scatter with wind. To blow down, to prostrate by wind. To blow off, to shake down by wind, as to blow off fruit from trees; to drive from land, as to blow off a ship. To blow out, to extinguish by a current of air, as a candle. To blow up, to till with air; to swell; as, to blow up a bladder or a bubble. #2. To inflate; to puff up; as, to blow up one with flattery. #3. To kindle; as, to blow up a contention. #4. To burst, to raise into the air, or to scatter, by the explosion of gunpowder. Figuratively, to scatter or bring to naught suddenly; as, to blow up a scheme. To blow upon, to make stale; as, to blow upon an author's works. – Addison.