Etymology Inherited from Middle English blast, from Old English blǣst (“blowing, blast”), from Proto-West Germanic *blāstu, from Proto-Germanic *blēstuz (“blowing, blast”). Cognate with West Frisian blast (“blast”), dialectal Dutch blast (“stubborn intent, drumming”), obsolete German Blast (“wind, blowing”), German blasen (“to blow”), Dutch blazen (“to blow”), Danish blæst (“wind”), French blaser (“to blunt, dull”). More at blow.
A violent gust of wind (in windy weather) or apparent wind (around a moving vehicle).
And see where surly Winter passes off, / Far to the north, and calls his ruffian blasts; / His blasts obey, and quit the howling hill.a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Spring”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, →OCLC:
Their warm, thick under covering of fine wool protects them from the coldest blasts.1915 April 23, Enos A. Mills, “Wild Mountain Sheep”, in The Rocky Mountain Wonderland, Houghton Mifflin, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 37:
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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.
3
A hit of a recreational drug from a pipe.
4
The continuous blowing to which one charge of ore or metal is subjected in a furnace.
Many tons of iron were melted at a blast.
Blast was produced by bellows worked by four 'blowers', three of whom worked at a time while the fourth stood ready to replace one of the others.1957, H.R. Schubert, History of the British Iron and Steel Industry, page 146:
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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.
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An explosion, especially for the purpose of destroying a mass of rock, etc.
arc blast
Blast after blast, fiery outbreak after fiery outbreak, like a flaming barrage from within,[…]most of Edison's grounds soon became an inferno. As though on an incendiary rampage, the fires systematically devoured the contents of Edison's headquarters and facilities.2006, Edwin Black, chapter 1, in Internal Combustion:
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Signalman Bridges was killed by the blast, as was fireman Nightall. Amazingly, driver Gimbert came round some 200 yards away, on the grass outside the Station Hotel where he had been flung.2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 43:
A verbal attack or punishment; a severe criticism or reprimand.
My manager gave me a blast yesterday for coming in late.
P. S.—I gave the P. O. Department a blast in the papers about sending misdirected letters of mine back to the writers for reshipment, and got a blast in return, through a New York daily, from the New York postmaster.1917 [1874], Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], edited by Albert Bigelow Paine, Mark Twain's letters, volume 1, page 226:
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An explosive charge for blasting.
1852-1854, Charles Tomlinson, Cyclopaedia of Useful Arts Large blasts are often used.
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A loud, sudden sound.
One blast upon his bugle horn / Were worth a thousand men.1810, Walter Scott, “(please specify the canto number or page)”, in The Lady of the Lake; […], Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for John Ballantyne and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and William Miller, →OCLC, (please specify the stanza number):
the blast of triumph o'er thy gravec. 1832, William Cullen Bryant, The Battle-Field:
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Then the captain sung out: ¶ "Stand away!" and the cannon let off such a blast right before me that it made me deef with the noise and pretty near blind with the smoke, and I judged I was gone.1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter VIII, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 60:
[…] the microphone has been unostentatiously working out its own destiny here and abroad, mainly in America. Evolution seems to be most promising (in the elimination of "microphone blast" and background noises — common faults of the earlier types) in the direction of the electrostatic, or condenser, microphone, […]1969, The Realist: A Journal of Scientific Humanism, page 67:
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A sudden pernicious effect, as if by a noxious wind, especially on animals and plants; a blight.
By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 4:9:
Vertue preferd from fell deſtuctions blaſt,c. 1607–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, [George Wilkins?], The Late, and Much Admired Play, Called Pericles, Prince of Tyre. […], London: […] [William White and Thomas Creede] for Henry Gosson, […], published 1609, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:
Etymology Inherited from Middle English blasten, from Old English blǣstan (“to blow, blast”), from Proto-West Germanic *blēstijan, from Proto-Germanic *blēstijaną. Possibly related to Middle High German blesten (“to stand out, plop, splash”).
To make an impression on, by making a loud blast or din.
Trumpeters, / With brazen din blast you the city's ear.c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene viii]:
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To make a loud noise.
3
Informal To play (music) very loudly out of a speaker.
Some kid is in his car blasting rap. You know, bass in the trunk and you can hear it 4 blocks away? I signal over to him and say "Hey, turn it up, I can't hear it." He turns around and says, "Shut Up Grandpa."2008 April 24, neilc...@yahoo.com, “ARRMO FEST”, in alt.rock-n-roll.metal.oldschool (Usenet):
There was no flutter of claws requiring me to blast a tape.2022, Quiara Alegría Hudes, My Broken Language, Random House Publishing Group:
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To shatter, as if by an explosion.
Although Maroczy favored solid, positional chess, there were times when he changed his style and blasted his opponents' defenses to bits.1951 July, Hans Kmoch, “Geza Maroczy 1870-1951”, in Chess Review:
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To open up a hole in, usually by means of a sudden and imprecise method (such as an explosion).
A Ricketts and Stuart Holden one-two around the box then created a decent chance for an almost instant equaliser - but Welsh full-back Ricketts blasted over when a calmer finish could have been rewarded.2010 December 29, Chris Whyatt, “Chelsea 1 - 0 Bolton”, in BBC:
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Ambitransitive, Slang To shoot; to attack or shoot (someone or a place).
African-American Vernacular
They showed up blasting.
That's when we decided to blast him.
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And some kid comes blastin' around the corner but a cop puts him right away. He lays on the street holding his leg screaming something in Spanish, still breathing when I walked away.1973, Bruce Springsteen, “Lost in the Flood”, in Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., performed by Bruce Springsteen:
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To criticize or reprimand severely; to verbally discipline or punish.
My manager suddenly blasted me yesterday for being a little late to work for five days in a row, because I was never getting myself up on time.
John Cassavetes and New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael have never seen eye to eye on his films. According to the director, "She's blasted every one of my films except A Woman Under the Influence, which she couldn't quite bring herself to pan because it was a story about a woman. So she blasted Gena's acting instead."1976, Karen Stabiner, “Cassavetes: Hollywood's Loner”, in Mother Jones, volume 1, number 3, page 64:
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Mark Pritchard, a Tory member of Parliament, blasted the show for treating a somber subject as “a matter of fun.”2014 March 27, Robin Marantz Henig, “Fictional Plotlines and Real Assisted Suicide”, in The Atlantic:
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To bring destruction or ruin on; to destroy.
Oh Portius, is there not some choſen Curſe, Some hidden Thunder in the Stores of Heav’n, Red with uncommon Wrath, to blaſt the Man Who owes his Greatneſs to his Country’s Ruin?1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 2:
Both Leo and myself rushed to her - she was stone dead - blasted into death by some mysterious electric agency or overwhelming will-force whereof the dread She had command.1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
Tell age it daily wasteth; tell honour how it alters; Tell beauty how she blasteth; tell fauour how it falters: And as they shall reply, giue euery one the lye.c. 1592, Walter Raleigh, “The Lie”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), published 1608:
Etymology Inherited from Middle English blasten, from Old English blǣstan (“to blow, blast”), from Proto-West Germanic *blēstijan, from Proto-Germanic *blēstijaną. Possibly related to Middle High German blesten (“to stand out, plop, splash”).
1
UK, Informal Used to show anger or disappointment: damn
Mildly blasphemous
Now, where's my Labour membership card, so I can consider whether to tear it up? Blast, it's plastic...2025 February 19, Christian Wolmar, “Reeves talks of 'growth' but pays lip service to the railway”, in RAIL, number 1029, page 35:
Etymology From BLAST (“Basic Local Alignment Search Tool”, acronym).
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Biology, Natural sciencesInformal To run a nucleotide sequence (for nucleic acids) or an amino acid sequence (for proteins) through a BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool).
Blasting nucleotide sequences is not always that easy, because there is more ambiguity to the nucleotide sequence, and good hits have to have a 70% homology over the whole sequence to be reliable, compared to 25% with proteins.2004, Andreas Bommarius, Bettina Riebel-Bommarius, Biocatalysis: Fundamentals and Applications, page 425: