blowing up

present participle of blow up
1
2
as in exploding
to break open or into pieces usually because of internal pressure the building blew up because of a gas leak

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

3
as in shattering
to cause to break open or into pieces by or as if by an explosive blew up the biggest rocks and then cleared them away

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

4

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of blowing up On September 7 two other mathematicians used their program (and AI) to produce a blowup for a frictionless fluid—considered a major step toward blowing up Navier-Stokes. — Joseph Howlett, Scientific American, 21 Sep. 2026 Your originality can solve the tension without blowing up the plan. — Tarot.com, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Aug. 2026 Lynn had perhaps the special teams coverage play of the week in the fourth quarter, blowing up tight end Lake McRee on a kickoff before making the tackle. — Daniel Popper, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026 Horgan ended up incorporating some of those videos—AI slop of dogs blowing up houses with laser beam eyes, for instance—which amused Murphy. — Joy Press, Vanity Fair, 24 Aug. 2026 Where should our distribution facilities be located to reach 99 percent of customers within two days without blowing up lease and labor costs? — Brian Cross, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026 But more than that, the mill blowing up just couldn’t be possible. — Ethan Brooks, The Atlantic, 30 July 2026 After flying for about an hour halfway around the world, the upper-stage portion of the Starship vehicle managed to land intact in the Indian Ocean – without blowing up. — Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 29 July 2026 Amal Clooney was spotted at the Milan airport in an unexpected travel style that had the InStyle group chat blowing up. — Eva Thomas, InStyle, 16 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for blowing up
Verb
  • Starting Saturday evening and continuing into Sunday morning’s high tide, the ocean poured into urban cities up and down the coast, breaking a recent record for flooding in Fort Lauderdale and snarling traffic in both counties.
    — Alex Harris Updated September 27, Miami Herald, 27 Sep. 2026
  • The film opens upon a typical grumpy New York day, with traffic snarling the streets and horns honking.
    — Victor Garber, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • But as the cost of producing a unit of intelligence collapses, the amount businesses consume is exploding.
    — Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 23 Sep. 2026
  • For Virgin-Morgan, that means more consistently exploding off the line of scrimmage and winning the edge or gap.
    — Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 23 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • Man searching with metal detector unearths massive Viking Age fortune, shattering records.
    — , FOXNews.com, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Last week a number of concerned mathematicians, many of them at the top of their subject, launched the Association for Human Mathematics (AHM)—an effort that was underway even before the earth-shattering Navier-Stokes news.
    — Joseph Howlett, Scientific American, 14 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • What’s more, cracking up triggers chemical changes that prompt the inner lining of blood vessels to dilate and improve blood flow.
    — Don Riddell, CNN Money, 20 Sep. 2026
  • Mark Toothaker, a stallion sales manager for Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, was on the couch cracking up with his wife, Malory, about the whiffed field goal and consequential turnover.
    — Kelly O'Grady, CBS News, 3 May 2026
Verb
  • After a gig in Brighton, England in December 1981, the Kinks singer smashed a glass against the wall backstage, angering Honeyman-Scott, who wound up punching Davies as a fight ensued.
    — Rachel DeSantis, PEOPLE, 16 Sep. 2026
  • Rebecca regrets angering Matthijs (Matteo van der Grijn) after putting his daughter in the middle of a heated discussion around the possibility of Matthijs moving to London.
    — Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 9 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • Jentleson compares the power of fusing race and these questions of fairness to detonating a nuclear warhead.
    — Isaac Arnsdorf, New Yorker, 18 Sep. 2026
  • In a secret 1958 project, the Air Force considered detonating a nuclear bomb on the Moon.
    — Brian Boucher, ARTnews.com, 17 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • One panel was falling, then smashing on the path, lead relinquishing its long grip on the glass.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2026
  • The helicopter crashed in a driveway between two warehouses, smashing into a pair of truck cargo containers while the news crew tried grabbing video footage of a serious collision involving a Metro bus that also left two people dead.
    — Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • The Goodspeed will be announcing its 2027 season later in October.
    — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 26 Sep. 2026
  • But Trump made that all but impossible by announcing them with just five days left in the federal fiscal year and the House out of session through the November election.
    — Kevin Freking, Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Blowing up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/blowing%20up. Accessed 29 Sep. 2026.

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