blast

Meanings

Noun

  • A violent gust of wind.
  • A forcible stream of gas or liquid from an orifice, for example from a bellows, the mouth, etc.
  • A hit from a pipe.
  • The continuous blowing to which one charge of ore or metal is subjected in a furnace
  • The exhaust steam from an engine, driving a column of air out of a boiler chimney, and thus creating an intense draught through the fire; also, any draught produced by the blast.
  • An explosion, especially for the purpose of destroying a mass of rock, etc.
  • An explosive charge for blasting.
  • A loud, sudden sound.
  • A sudden, pernicious effect, as if by a noxious wind, especially on animals and plants; a blight.
  • A good time; an enjoyable moment.
  • A promotional message sent to an entire mailing list.
  • A flatulent disease of sheep.
  • An immature or undifferentiated cell (e.g., lymphoblast, myeloblast).

Verb

Interjection

Origin

  • From Middle English blast from Old English blǣst, from Proto-Germanic *blēstaz, *blēstuz. Cognate with obsolete German Blast. More at blow.
  • From Middle English blasten, blesten, from Old English blǣstan, from Proto-Germanic *blēstijaną. Compare Middle High German blesten.
  • From Ancient Greek βλαστός ("germ or sprout").
  • From BLAST (an acronym for Basic Local Alignment Search Tool).

Modern English dictionary

Explore and search massive catalog of over 900,000 word meanings.

Word of the Day

Get a curated memorable word every day.

Challenge yourself

Level up your vocabulary by setting personal goals.

And much more

Try out Vedaist now.