blowup

noun blow·up \ ˈblō-ˌəp \

|Updated on: 11 Aug 2018

Examples: blowup in a Sentence

Definition of blowup

plural blowups

: a blowing up: such as

a : explosion

b : an outburst of temper

c : enlargement 2

d : a catastrophic financial failure or collapse

Sometime in the next few years, a blowup is likely—one that could sink an already foundering economy.
—David Henry

See blowup defined for English-language learners

See blowup defined for kids

Examples of blowup in a Sentence

The blowup of the photograph was easy to frame.
The two of them had a big blowup about something trivial.
The coach's latest blowup occurred when one of his players arrived late.

Recent Examples of blowup from the Web

The political blowup comes just three days before a visit by Trump, who is highly unpopular in Britain.

— laura king, latimes.com, "British Prime Minister May's government appears in turmoil amid resignations tied to Brexit," 9 July 2018
The blowup was first reported by Axios and comes on the eve of Liu's visit to Washington on Thursday for the next round of trade talks with his US counterparts.

— jeremy diamond, CNN, "Peter Navarro and Steven Mnuchin feuded at Beijing trade talks," 16 May 2018
The Vixen is also still in her feelings about last week's blowup.

— joey guerra, Houston Chronicle, "'RuPaul's Drag Race' Season 10 recap: Cher-ing is not always caring," 10 May 2018
China’s crackdown on shadow banking has caused some high-profile blowups.

— jacky wong, WSJ, "Chinese Auto Sales Run Into a Lending Roadblock," 10 July 2018
That no longer seems a probable outcome following Hammel's third consecutive blowup.

— jesse newell, kansascity, "Why Hammel's struggles — including in a 10-5 loss — come at a bad time for the Royals," 6 July 2018
Talib and Suh have each been previously been suspended by the NFL for unsportsmanlike conduct, and Peters was banned for one game by Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid after a blowup last year.

— lindsay h. jones, USA TODAY, "Rams hope their defensive chemistry experiment will be explosive in the right way," 13 June 2018
The social media blowup, which pitted Rhymefest against West’s spouse Kim Kardashian West, was the first public sign of problems.

— morgan greene, chicagotribune.com, "After Twitter beef, Chicago nonprofit no longer named for Kanye West's late mother," 5 June 2018
But what will be the impact of the Singapore summit and the G-7 blowup?

— howard kurtz, Fox News, "Trump slams press over Singapore as GOP embraces his praise for Kim," 14 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'blowup.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of blowup

1757

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

blowup Synonyms

blow-up

adjective \ ˈblō-ˌəp \

Definition of blow-up

: inflatable

First Known Use of blow-up

1850

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

blow up

verb

Definition of blow up

transitive verb

1 : to build up or tout to an unreasonable extent

advertisers blowing up their products

2 : to rend apart, shatter, or destroy by explosion

3 : to fill up with a gas (such as air)

blow up a balloon

4 : to make a photographic enlargement of

5 : to bring into existence by blowing of wind

it may blow up a storm

intransitive verb

1 a : explode

b : to be disrupted or destroyed (as by explosion)

c : to lose self-control; especially : to become violently angry

2 : to become or come into being by or as if by blowing of wind

3 a : to become filled with a gas

b : to become expanded to unreasonable proportions

c : to gain a large amount of weight

In the ensuing two years Gibson blew up to more than 400 pounds as he ate an over-abundance of fast foods …
—Tim Crothers

4 : to suddenly become very successful, prevalent, or popular

Latin-tinged pop is blowing up because it fits the musical times: …
—Christopher John Farley

See blow up defined for kids

Examples of blow up in a Sentence

she blew up at everybody after a very long and very bad day
the building blew up because of a gas leak

Recent Examples of blow up from the Web

Maybe runaway success require a youthful disregard for precedent or a willingness to blow up the traditional way of doing things?

— michael taylor, San Antonio Express-News, "The best age for entrepreneurship," 13 July 2018
Cold Alaska winter winds need not be accounted for, Akiyama said, but Nikiski's common summer wind blowing up Cook Inlet from the south-southwest could compound the impact of the hot air recirculation by blowing the hot air into the compressors.

— author: elwood brehmer, Anchorage Daily News, "Veteran industry engineer questions aspects of Alaska LNG plans," 6 July 2018
Most alarming for Brooks, though, is Howard’s uncanny ability to blow up his head coaches.

— ben golliver, SI.com, "2018 NBA Free Agency: The Early Winners And Losers," 5 July 2018
Hollywood would rather show a half dozen planets being blown up than a single, memorable kiss.

— caitlin moran, The Cut, "How to Tell the Bad Men From the Good Men," 5 July 2018
The most recent incident blew up on social media Saturday when a white woman in San Francisco threatened to call the cops on an eight-year-old black girl.

— paula rogo, Essence.com, "#PermitPatty Threatens To Call Cops On Black Girl For Selling Water Outside Her Apartment," 24 June 2018
Southwest passengers whose flight engine blew up in April are now suing the company, alleging the airline failed to take proper safeguards to prevent the blowout that killed one woman and forced an emergency landing in Philadelphia.

— tauhid chappell, Philly.com, "Some children separated at border are in Pa., police killings strain entire black communities June 22 | Morning Newsletter," 22 June 2018
And then the photo of her striptease ends up blown up as a huge decorative poster at the prom!

— morgan baila, refinery29.com, "Is The Kissing Booth The Best Teen Movie Of Our Time?," 22 June 2018
Sentsov was seized by Russian security forces after Moscow forcibly annexed Crimea in 2014, accused of a terrorist plot to blow up a statue of Lenin and of setting fire to the offices of a Kremlin-loyal political party.

— nick holdsworth, The Hollywood Reporter, "Support Growing for Jailed Ukrainian Director on Hunger Strike in Russia," 18 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'blow up.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of blow up

1536

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

blow up Synonyms

Synonyms

flare (up), flip (out) [slang];

Antonyms

calm (down), simmer down;

Near Antonyms

chill out [slang], cool (off or down), relax;

hush, quiet (down);

bristle, burn, foam, fume, glare, glower, seethe, sizzle, smolder (or smoulder), steam, warm;

burst, explode, flare (out), flash, inflame (also enflame), madden;

Phrases

blow a gasket, blow one's cool, blow one's stack, blow one's top, fly into a rage, fly off the handle, forget oneself, go ballistic, have a fit, hit the ceiling, hit the roof, lose one's cool, lose one's temper;