blast
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A violent gust of wind or apparent wind.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
blastIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈblæst
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A violent gust of wind (in windy weather) or apparent wind (around a moving vehicle).
A forcible stream of gas or liquid from an orifice, for example from a bellows, the tuyeres of a blast furnace, a person's mouth, etc.
A hit of a recreational drug 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.
verb
Make with or as if with an explosion
“Blast a tunnel through the Alps.”
intransitive
To make a loud noise.
transitive
To shatter, as if by an explosion.
transitive
To open up a hole in, usually by means of a sudden and imprecise method (such as an explosion).
transitive
To criticize or reprimand severely; to verbally discipline or punish.
transitive
To bring destruction or ruin on; to destroy.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A violent gust of wind (in windy weather) or apparent wind (around a moving vehicle).
Used this way, blast is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. This sense is used where position and measurement matter — travel, weather and flight — so it reads as factual rather than emotive.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Blunt and forceful
Where it naturally appears
- Geography/travel
- Weather/aviation
- Technical/specialist writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use blast
- “Blast a tunnel through the Alps.”verb
- “She tended to blast when speaking into a microphone.”verb
- “The air conditioning was blasting cold air at us.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
A workman employed to blast with explosives.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A small tube filled with detonating substances.
Mixture of guncotton with nitroglycerin.
A furnace for smelting of iron from iron oxide ores.
Launch with great force.
Injury caused the explosion of a bomb (especially in enclosed spaces).
A region of high pressure travelling through a gas at a high velocity.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.