Definition of "blow up"

blow up

verb
third-person singular simple present blows up, present participle blowing up, simple past blew up, past participle blown up
1. (literally, transitive) To blow something upward.
2. (intransitive) To explode or be destroyed by explosion.
  Quotations
  In dense fog at about 10.25 p.m. on the night of October 25, two tank barges carrying petroleum [...] missed the entrance to the docks at Sharpness and were carried up the River Severn by the incoming tide. They collided with one of the piers of the Severn Bridge, carrying the Berkeley Road-Lydney branch of the Western Region, and as a result of the collision both tankers blew up.
  1961 January, “Talking of Trains: The Severn Bridge disaster”, in Trains Illustrated, pages 3, 5
3. (transitive) To cause (something or someone) to explode, or to destroy (something) or maim or kill (someone) by means of an explosion.
  Quotations
  Temporary bridges are now common in Moravia and Slovakia as so many permanent structures were blown up during the last phase of the war.
  1947 January and February, Gerald Druce (Jun.), “A Journey on the "Slovak Arrow"”, in Railway Magazine, page 16
  "But we wanted to be more ambitious. We had established contacts with the Ukrainian railways, and they had all sorts of needs. Bridges blown up by the Russians, but also bridges blown up by themselves in tactical battlefield operations."
  2023 May 17, Paul Clifton, “Building bridges to Ukraine...”, in RAIL, number 983, page 31
4. (transitive) To inflate or fill with air, either by literally blowing or using an air pump.
5. (transitive) To enlarge or zoom in.
6. (intransitive) To fail disastrously.
  Quotations
  So I wish you luck, but don't come crying to me when it blows up in your face.
  2002, Joan Barfoot, Critical injuries, page 118
7. (slang, intransitive) To become popular very quickly.
  Quotations
  You know you blew up when the women rush your standsAnd try to touch your hands like some screaming Usher fans […]
  1999, Eminem, My Name Is (song)
8. (slang) To suddenly get very angry.
9. (slang, intransitive) To become much more fat or rotund in a short space of time.
10. (transitive, dated) To inflate, as with pride, self-conceit, etc.; to puff up.
  Quotations
  blown up with high conceits engendering pride
  1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873,
11. (transitive, dated) To excite.
12. (transitive, dated) To scold violently.
  Quotations
  […] did not choose to comply with her wishes. Upon which Mrs. Basset, in the language of the Old Bailey, nabbed the rust; insisted upon some liquor, would not quit the house without it, and began to blow up the hostess and blast the rose.
  1807, The Port Folio, page 313
  #*: I have blown him up well — nobody can say I wink at what he does.
  1871, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter 13, in Middlemarch […], volume I, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, book II
13. (sports) To blow the whistle.
14. (cycling) To succumb to oxygen debt and lose the ability to maintain pace in a race.
15. (slang, transitive) To bombard with a large number of calls, texts, etc., often exasperating the recipient.
  Quotations
  I am the man So I’m sitting in the VIPwith my mains We twisted up some Cripbut I am ready to dipto the telly with my rellycuz these fuckin git up chicks keep blowin up my celly.aːm ðə meɪ̯nsoʊ̯ aːm sɪtɪn ɪn ðə vɪpwɪθ maː meɪ̯nswiː twɪstəd ʌp sʊm kɹɪpbʌt aːm ɹɛdi tu dɪptʊ ðə tɛli wɪθ maː ɹɛlikʌz ðiːz fʌkɪn gɪt ʌp t͡ʃɪks kiːp blowɪn ʌp maː sɛli
  2007, “Fucc & Git Up”, in DZ (lyrics), Sleepless City Livin, performed by DZ ft. Gangsta Nutt, from 1:59
  Don't let them sabotage a possible good thing by blowing up your phone while you're in the middle of a hot date with nonsense like, “Jason keeps asking for a Popsicle before bed. Do you think it's okay that I give him one?”
  2009, RM Johnson, Why Men Fear Marriage: The Surprising Truth Behind Why So Many Men Can't Commit
  Dad sure knew how to kill a mood. He had blown up my phone all day, ensuring that I didn't back out of our agreement.
  2011, Jaime Reed, Living Violet, page 67
  Not knowing the whereabouts of his daughter, Tavon blew up her phone without once getting a response.
  2012, Chris Hicks, Ebony Chronicles of Elevation, volume 1, page 181
  He has never officially said that we are in a relationship, but he blows up my phone night and day, always wanting to know where I am.
  2013, Michelle McKinney Hammond, The Real Deal on Love and Men
  “Danny Cipriani is blowing up my phone saying: ‘I’m going to sue you’,” she said, shortly before announcing her willingness to go to prison over the issue.
  2014 September 11, Alexis Petridis, quoting Kelly Brook, “A freedom fighter for our time: Kelly Brook will not be silenced over Danny Cipriani”, in The Guardian‎
  They're blowing up our phones, asking where we are / Just say we're almost there; we ain't even in the car
  2015, Kacey Musgraves, (Please provide the book title or journal name)
16. (slang, intransitive) Receiving a large number of calls or notifications to the point of making the device effectively unusable.
  Quotations
  Halfway home, and my pager's still blowin' up
  1992, Ice Cube (lyrics and music), “It Was A Good Day”, in The Predator
17. (slang, colloquial) To cause a malodorous smell by flatulation or defecation.

Definition of "blow up"

blow up

verb

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