1
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Phrase(s): blow up
1. Lit. [for something] to explode. • The bomb might have blown up if the children had tried to move it. • The firecracker blew up. 2. Fig. to burst into anger. • I just knew you’d blow up. • So she blew up. Why should that affect you so much? 3. Fig. an angry outburst; a fight. (Usually blowup.) • After the third blowup, she left him. • One blowup after another from you. Control your temper! 4. Fig. an enlarged version of a photograph, map, chart, etc. (Usually blowup.) • Here’s a blowup of the scene of the crime. • Kelly sent a blowup of their wedding picture to all her relatives. 5. Fig. the ruination of something; the collapse of something. (Usually blowup.) • The blowup in the financial world has ruined my chances for early retirement. • After the blowup at the company, the top managers called one another to compare notes. 6. Fig. to fall apart or get ruined. • The whole project blew up. It will have to be canceled. • All my planning was blown up this afternoon. 7. [for a storm] to arrive accompanied by the blowing of the wind. • A terrible storm blew up while we were in the movie theater. • I was afraid that a rainstorm was blowing up., Phrase(s): blow someone or something up
1. Lit. to destroy someone or something by explosion. • The terrorists blew the building up at midday. • They blew up the bridge. 2. Fig. to exaggerate something [good or bad] about someone or something. • I hope no one blows the story up. • The media always blows up reports of celebrity behavior. • The press blew the story up unnecessarily., Phrase(s): blow something up
1. to inflate something. • He didn’t have enough breath to blow the balloon up. • They all blew up their own balloons. 2. to have a photograph enlarged. • How big can you blow this picture up? • I will blow up this snapshot and frame it.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
2
general::
1. Explode or cause to explode. For example, The squadron was told to blow up the bridge, or Jim was afraid his experiment would blow up the lab. The term is sometimes amplified, as in blow up in one's face. [Late 1500s] 2. Lose one's temper, as in I'm sorry I blew up at you. Mark Twain used this metaphor for an actual explosion in one of his letters (1871): "Redpath tells me to blow up. Here goes!" [Colloquial; second half of 1800s] 3. Inflate, fill with air, as in If you don't blow up those tires you're sure to have a flat. [Early 1400s] 4. Enlarge, especially a photograph, as in If we blow up this picture, you'll be able to make out the expressions on their faces. [c. 1930] 5. Exaggerate the importance of something or someone, as in Tom has a tendency to blow up his own role in the affair. This term applies the "inflate" of def. 3 to importance. It was used in this sense in England from the early 1500s to the 1700s, but then became obsolete there although it remains current in America. 6. Collapse, fail, as in Graduate-student marriages often blow up soon after the couple earn their degrees. [Slang; mid-1800s]
American Heritage Idioms