2. A sudden or forcible act or effort; an assault.
A vigorous blow might win [Hanno's camp].
T. Arnold.
3. The infliction of evil; a sudden calamity; something which produces mental, physical, or financial suffering
or loss (esp. when sudden); a buffet.
A most poor man, made tame to fortune's blows.
Shak.
At a blow,
suddenly; at one effort; by a single vigorous act. "They lose a province at a blow." Dryden.
— To come to blows, to engage in combat; to fight; - - said of individuals, armies, and nations.
Syn. — Stroke; knock; shock; misfortune.
Blow
(Blow), v. i. [imp. Blew (blu); p. p. Blown (blon); p. pr. & vb. n. Blowing.] [OE. blawen, blowen,
AS. blawan to blow, as wind; akin to OHG. plajan, G. blähen, to blow up, swell, L. flare to blow, Gr.
'ekflai`nein to spout out, and to E. bladder, blast, inflate, etc., and perh. blow to bloom.]
1. To produce a current of air; to move, as air, esp. to move rapidly or with power; as, the wind blows.
Hark how it rains and blows !
Walton.
2. To send forth a forcible current of air, as from the mouth or from a pair of bellows.
3. To breathe hard or quick; to pant; to puff.
Here is Mistress Page at the door, sweating and blowing.
Shak.
4. To sound on being blown into, as a trumpet.
There let the pealing organ blow.
Milton.
5. To spout water, etc., from the blowholes, as a whale.
6. To be carried or moved by the wind; as, the dust blows in from the street.
The grass blows from their graves to thy own.
M. Arnold.
7. To talk loudly; to boast; to storm. [Colloq.]
You blow behind my back, but dare not say anything to my face.
Bartlett.
To blow hot and cold (a saying derived from a fable of Æsop's),
to favor a thing at one time and treat
it coldly at another; or to appear both to favor and to oppose. — To blow off, to let steam escape
through a passage provided for the purpose; as, the engine or steamer is blowing off. — To blow out.
(a) To be driven out by the expansive force of a gas or vapor; as, a steam cock or valve sometimes blows
out. (b) To talk violently or abusively. [Low] — To blow over, to pass away without effect; to cease,
or be dissipated; as, the storm and the clouds have blown over. — To blow up, to be torn to pieces
and thrown into the air as by an explosion of powder or gas or the expansive force of steam; to burst; to
explode; as, a powder mill or steam boiler blows up. "The enemy's magazines blew up." Tatler.
Blow
(Blow), v. t.
1. To force a current of air upon with the mouth, or by other means; as, to blow the fire.