blow up

verb blows up · blowing up · blew up · blown up

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see blow, up. See if you can blow the bubbles up the staircase.
2. also, figuratively, intransitive To explode or be destroyed by explosion. Why do cars in movies always blow up when they fall off a cliff?
3. also, figuratively, transitive To cause (something or someone) to explode, or to destroy (something) or maim or kill (someone) by means of an explosion. We had to blow up the bridge before the enemy army arrived.
4. transitive To inflate or fill with air, either by literally blowing or by using a pump. For the school science project, each student will blow up a balloon and then tie it closed.
5. figuratively, transitive To represent something as being more important or serious than it actually is; to inflate; to exaggerate. The foreign secretary David Miliband's emphasis that this is purely a consular matter is intended to forestall an attempt by Iranian hardliners to blow the incident up.
6. transitive To enlarge or zoom in on. Blow up the picture to get a better look at their faces.
7. intransitive To fail disastrously. So I wish you luck, but don't come crying to me when it blows up in your face.
8. intransitive, said of a function To increase without bound as a function argument or parameter approaches a certain value; to tend toward infinity; to approach infinity as a limit. The quantity 1/x blows up as x approaches zero.
9. intransitive, slang To become popular very quickly. This album is about to blow up; they’re being promoted on MTV.
10. intransitive, slang To suddenly get very angry, to lose one's temper. Dad blew up at me when I told him I was pregnant.
11. intransitive, slang To become much more fat or rotund in a short space of time.
12. dated, transitive To inflate, as with pride, self-conceit, etc.; to puff up. to blow someone up with flattery
13. dated, transitive To excite. to blow up a contention
14. dated, transitive To scold violently, blow up at. […] did not choose to comply with her wishes. Upon which Mrs. Basset, in the language of the Old Bailey, nabbed the rust; insisted upon some liquor, would not quit the house without it, and began to blow up the hostess and blast the rose.
15. To blow the whistle.
16. intransitive To succumb to oxygen debt and lose the ability to maintain pace in a race.
17. slang, transitive, of a device To overwhelm through unexpectedly high demand, activity, usage, traffic volume, etc. I blew up another department's API servers – did I screw up or should they have more protections?

    Similar: break, deadlock, knock over, kill, overload, max out, take down, take out

18. slang, transitive, of a hangout, of a device To overwhelm (a place) with traffic or volume by revealing its existence to others. blow up the spot;   blow up someone's spot

    Similar: break, deadlock, knock over, kill, overload, max out, take down, take out

19. slang, transitive, of a cell phone, of a device To bombard with a large number of calls, texts, or notifications, to the point of rendering temporarily unusable or exasperating the recipient. blow up someone's phone

    Similar: break, deadlock, knock over, kill, overload, max out, take down, take out

20. intransitive, slang, of a device To be overwhelmed by unexpectedly high demand, usage, activity, traffic volume, etc. There were so many incoming enemy planes that our monitoring and notification system blew up before the base was even able to respond.

    Similar: break, deadlock, overload, max out

21. intransitive, slang, of a hangout, of a device To be overwhelmed with traffic or volume. Damn, my spot blew up. Time to find the next one.

    Similar: break, deadlock, overload, max out

22. intransitive, slang, of a cell phone, of a device To receive a large number of calls, texts, or notifications, to the point of being rendered temporarily unusable or exasperating the recipient. one's phone is blowing up

    Similar: break, deadlock, overload, max out

23. colloquial, slang To cause a malodorous smell by flatulation, defecation, etc. Don't go in there...I really blew it up.

    Similar: bomb

24. intransitive, of a storm To begin; to gather; to form. A storm is blowing up in the north.
25. dated, intransitive, slang To use an intoxicating drug; to get high.