blow up

Meaning

To explode or be destroyed by explosion.
To cause (something or someone) to explode, or to destroy (something) or maim or kill (someone) by means of an explosion.
To inflate or fill with air, either by literally blowing or using an air pump.
To enlarge or zoom in.
To fail disastrously.
To become popular very quickly.
To suddenly get very angry.
To become much more fat or rotund in a short space of time.
To inflate, as with pride, self-conceit, etc.; to puff up.
To excite.
To scold violently.
To blow the whistle.
To succumb to the oxygen debt and lose the ability to maintain pace in a race.
To bombard with a large number of telephone calls, texts, etc., usually to the point of causing device or system failure; to crash.
To cause a malodorous smell by flatulation or defecation

From Middle English blow up, blowe up, dissimilated forms of earlier Middle English upblowen (> English upblow), equivalent to blow + up. Compare West Frisian opblaze, Dutch opblazen, German aufblähen and aufblasen, Swedish blåsa upp, Icelandic blása upp, Gothic 𐌿𐍆𐌱𐌻𐌴𐍃𐌰𐌽.

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