[blood] See: DRAW BLOOD, FLESH AND BLOOD, IN COLD BLOOD, IN ONE’S BLOOD or
INTO ONE’S BLOOD, MAKE ONE’S BLOOD BOIL or MAKE THE BLOOD BOIL, NEW BLOOD, OUT
OF ONE’S BLOOD, RUN IN THE BLOOD or RUN IN THE FAMILY, SPORTING BLOOD, SWEAT
BLOOD, WARM ONE’S BLOOD.
[blood and thunder]{n. phr.} The violence and bloodshed of stories
that present fast action rather than understanding of character. •/Crime
movies and westerns usually have lots of blood and thunder./ — Often used
like an adjective. •/John likes to watch blood-and-thunder stories on
television./
[blood freezes] See: BLOOD RUNS COLD.
[blood is thicker than water] Persons of the same family are closer to one
another than to others; relatives are favored or chosen over outsiders. •/Mr.
Jones hires his relatives to work in his store. Blood is thicker than water./
[blood runs cold] also [blood freezes] or [blood turns to ice] You
are chilled or shivering from great fright or horror; you are terrified or
horrified. — Usually used with a possessive. •/The horror movie made the
children’s blood run cold./ •/Mary’s blood froze when she had to walk
through the cemetery at night./ •/Oscar’s blood turned to ice when he saw
the shadow pass by outside the window./ Compare: HAIR STAND ON END, THE
CREEPS.
[blood turns to ice] See: BLOOD RUNS COLD.
[bloody] See: SCREAM BLOODY MURDER.
[blot out]{v. phr.} 1. To obstruct; cover; obscure. •/The high-rise
building in front of our apartment house blots out the view of the ocean./ 2.
To wipe out of one’s memory. •/Jane can’t remember the details when she was
attacked in the streets; she blotted it out of her memory./
[blow] See: AT A BLOW, BODY BLOW, COME TO BLOWS, IT’S AN ILL WIND THAT
BLOWS NOBODY GOOD, WAY THE WIND BLOWS or HOW THE WIND BLOWS.
[blow a fuse] or [blow a gasket] or [blow one’s top] or [blow
one’s stack] {v. phr.}, {slang} To become extremely angry; express
rage in hot words. •/When Mr. McCarthy’s son got married against his wishes,
he blew a fuse./ •/When the umpire called Joe out at first, Joe blew his
top and was sent to the showers./ Syn.: BLOW UP(1b), FLIP ONE’S LID, LOSE
ONE’S TEMPER. Compare: BLOW OFF STEAM(2).
[blow great guns] See: GREAT GUNS.
[blow hot and cold]{v. phr.} To change your ways or likes often; be
fickle or changeable. •/Tom blows hot and cold about coming out for the
baseball team; he cannot decide./ •/Mary blew hot and cold about going to
college; every day she changed her mind./ •/The boys will get tired of
Ann’s blowing hot and cold./
[blow in]{v.}, {slang} To arrive unexpectedly or in a carefree
way. •/The house was already full of guests when Bill blew in./ Compare
SHOW UP(3).
[blow into]{v.}, {slang} To arrive at (a place) unexpectedly or in
a carefree way. •/Bill blows into college at the last minute after every
vacation./ •/Why Tom, when did you blow into town?/
[blow off steam] See: LET OFF STEAM.
[blow one’s brains out]{v. phr.} 1. To shoot yourself in the head.
•/Mr. Jones lost all his wealth, so he blew his brains out./ 2. {slang}
To work very hard; overwork yourself. •/The boys blew their brains out to get
the stage ready for the play./ •/Mary is not one to blow her brains out./
Compare: BREAK ONE’S NECK.
[blow one’s cool]{v. phr.}, {slang}, {informal} To lose your
composure or self-control. •/Whatever you say to the judge in court, make
sure that you don’t blow your cool./
[blow one’s lines] or [fluff one’s lines] {v. phr.}, {informal}
To forget the words you are supposed to speak while acting in a play. •/The
noise backstage scared Mary and she blew her lines./
[blow one’s mind]{v. phr.}, {slang}, {informal}; {originally
from the drug culture} 1. To become wildly enthusiastic over something as if
understanding it for the first time in an entirely new light. •/Read Lyall
Watson’s book "Supernature", it will simply blow your mind!/ 2. To lose one’s
ability to function, as if due to an overdose of drugs, •/Joe is entirely
incoherent — he seems to have blown his mind./ Contrast: BLOW ONE’S COOL.
[blow one’s own horn] or [toot one’s own horn] {v. phr.},
{slang} To praise yourself; call attention to your own skill, intelligence,
or successes; boast. •/People get tired of a man who is always blowing his
own horn./ •/A person who does things well does not have to toot his own
horn; his abilities will be noticed by others./
[blow one’s top]{v. phr.} To become very excited, angry, hysterical,
or furious. •/"No need to blow your top, Al," his wife said, "just because
you lost a few dollars."/
[blow out]{v. phr.} 1. To cease to function; fail; explode (said of
tires and fuses). •/The accident occurred when Jim’s tire blew out on the
highway./ •/The new dishwasher blew out the fuses in the whole house./ 2.
To extinguish. •/Jane blew out her birthday cake candles before offering
pieces to the guests./
[blowout]{n.} 1. An explosion of a tire or a fuse. •/Jim’s van
veered sharply to the right after his car had a blowout./ 2. A big party.
•/After graduation from college, my son and his friends staged a huge
blowout./
[blow over]{v.} To come to an end; pass away with little or no bad
effects. •/The sky was black, as if a bad storm were coming, but it blew over
and the sun came out./ •/They were bitter enemies for a while, but the
quarrel blew over./ •/He was much criticized for the divorce, but it all
blew over after a few years./
[blow taps]{v. phr.} To sound the final bugle call of the evening in a
camp or military base. •/After taps is blown the boy scouts go to their bunks
to sleep./
[blow the gaff]{v. phr.} To open one’s mouth to reveal a secret.
•/When Al cheated on his wife, his younger brother blew the gaff on him./
[blow the lid off]{v. phr.}, {informal} Suddenly to reveal the
truth about a matter that has been kept as a secret either by private persons
or by some governmental agency. •/The clever journalists blew the lid off the
Watergate cover-up./
[blow the whistle on]{v. phr.}, {slang} 1. To inform against;
betray. •/The police caught one of the bank robbers, and he blew the whistle
on two more./ 2. To act against, stop, or tell people the secrets of (crime
or lawlessness). •/The mayor blew the whistle on gambling./ •/The police
blew the whistle on hot reading./
[blow up]{v.} 1a. To break or destroy or to be destroyed by explosion.
•/He blew up the plane by means of a concealed bomb./ •/The fireworks
factory blew up when something went wrong in an electric switch./ 1b.
{informal} To explode with anger or strong feeling; lose control of
yourself. •/When Father bent the nail for the third time, he blew up./
Compare: BLOW A FUSE. 1c. To stop playing well in a game or contest, usually
because you are in danger of losing or are tired; {especially}: To lose
skill or control in pitching baseball. •/The champion blew up and lost the
tennis match./ •/Our team was behind but the pitcher on the other team blew
up and we got the winning runs./ 2. {informal} To be ruined as if by
explosion; be ended suddenly. •/The whole scheme for a big party suddenly
blew up./ 3a. To pump full of air; inflate. •/He blew his tires up at a
filling station./ 3b. To make (something) seem bigger or important. •/It
was a small thing to happen but the newspapers had blown it up until it seemed
important./ 4. To bring on bad weather; also, to come on as bad weather.
•/The wind had blown up a storm./ •/A storm had blown up./ 5. To copy
in bigger form; enlarge. •/He blew up the snapshot to a larger size./