blowup

noun

blow·up | \ ˈblō-ˌəp

plural blowups

Definition of blowup

(Entry 1 of 3)

: a blowing up: such as

a : explosion

b : an outburst of temper

c : enlargement sense 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

blow-up

adjective

\ ˈblō-ˌəp

Definition of blow-up (Entry 2 of 3)

: inflatable

blow up

verb

Definition of blow up (Entry 3 of 3)

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

1a : 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

3a : 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

Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about blowup

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Synonyms & Antonyms for blowup

Synonyms: Noun

explosion, fireworks, fit, hissy [chiefly Southern & southern Midland], hissy fit, huff, scene, tantrum

Synonyms: Verb

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

Antonyms: Verb

calm (down), simmer down

Examples of blowup in a Sentence

Noun

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.

Verb

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

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Guests entered through a giant blowup of Stormi's head, a concept taken straight from Astroworld's album cover. — Carolyn Twersky, Seventeen, "Every Detail You Missed at Kylie Jenner’s Daughter’s Outrageous First Birthday Party," 11 Feb. 2019 The whole situation started strangely, with Riverdale star Vanessa Morgan singing to a blowup doll with a fabulous bob wig in blunt bangs. — Katherine J. Igoe, Marie Claire, "John Legend Went on 'Lip Sync Battle' and Wore a Fabulous Wig," 8 Feb. 2019 Similar rapid blowups in markets have happened in the past when market sentiment is fragile—and at a similar time of day, when liquidity in early Asian trading hours is thin and U.S. markets have recently closed. — Mike Bird, WSJ, "Yen Surges After Apple Upsets the Currency Cart," 3 Jan. 2019 This is neither a string of unrelated blowups nor a meltdown in which contagion spreads by panic selling moving from nation to nation. — Mike Bird, WSJ, "Emerging-Market Stocks Enter Bear Territory," 6 Sep. 2018 Urged by his board to be more proactive, Mr. Zuckerberg quietly asked her to lead the company’s efforts to identify and prevent future blowups on the platform. — Betsy Morris, WSJ, "Sheryl Sandberg’s New Job Is to Fix Facebook’s Reputation—and Her Own," 4 Sep. 2018 The most significant apparent blowup between the two came shortly after Nicki released her latest album, Queen, in August 2018 (more on this in a bit). — Alex Abad-santos, Vox, "Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, and the sexist female rapper paradigm behind their feud, explained," 6 Nov. 2018 In a huge social media blowup, Jake kicked Alissa Violet out of the Team 10 house, accusing the YouTuber of cheating on him. — Tamara Fuentes, Seventeen, "A Complete Timeline of Jake Paul's Biggest Controversies," 26 Sep. 2018 The problem for these two Wall Street giants wasn’t a hypothetical trading blowup or loan losses, the Fed said, but rather the effect of the 2017 tax overhaul, which created a one-time hit to their capital levels. — Lalita Clozel, WSJ, "Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley Dinged in Fed Stress Tests," 28 June 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

The Collector goes on to say that the gems are so powerful, the people who hold them eventually blow up and die. — Alex Abad-santos, Vox, "Thanos, the villain of Avengers: Infinity War, explained," 19 Apr. 2018 Cut yourself off from friends, family, and professional contacts, shut down your business, blow up your social capital, stop learning, stop talking, just stop. — Laurie Penny, Longreads, "Who Does She Think She Is?," 29 Mar. 2018 The new eruption did not have the explosive force of the cataclysm a week ago, when the mountain blew up with an energy scientists computed as equal to a major nuclear blast. — sandiegouniontribune.com, "May 26, 1980: Mount St. Helens explodes again," 26 May 2018 Hundreds of Gazans have tried to blow up or tear down the fence between Gaza and Israel, with the intention of infiltrating our sovereign territory and reaching innocent Israelis who live minutes from the border. — Ronen Manelis, WSJ, "The Truth About Hamas and Israel," 20 May 2018 Anderson returned to the theater of war with the highly regarded Dam Busters, about a British demolition team led by Redgrave and Todd that tries to blow up a Ruhr dam in Germany. — Michael Sugerman, The Hollywood Reporter, "Michael Anderson, Director of 'Logan's Run' and 'Around the World in 80 Days,' Dies at 98," 28 Apr. 2018 Olson, then a junior, was relaxing with her mother in Oconomowoc when her phone blew up with texts and Snapchats: The Peck School of the Arts is on fire. — Jim Higgins, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "After theater fire, UWM students prove the show must go on," 25 Apr. 2018 While Russian scientists were able to create a magnetic field of an astonishing 2,800 teslas, their equipment blew up with the field. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "Scientists Create Ultra-Powerful Magnetic Field, Immediately Blows Up," 27 Sep. 2018 Instead of aiding a few BFFs, the post blew up, with almost 50,000 comments from believers and skeptics alike. — Leah Prinzivalli, Allure, "This DIY Sunburn Hack Involving Shaving Cream Is Going Viral — and Derms Approve of It," 27 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.