different between blow vs bellows

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /bl??/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /blo?/
• Rhymes: -??

Etymology 1

From Middle English blowen, from Old English bl?wan (“to blow, breathe, inflate, sound”), from Proto-West Germanic *bl?an, from Proto-Germanic *bl?an? (“to blow”) (compare German blähen), from Proto-Indo-European *b?leh?- (“to swell, blow up”) (compare Latin fl? (“to blow”) and Old Armenian ?????? (be?un, “fertile”)).

Verb

blow (third-person singular simple present blows, present participle blowing, simple past blew, past participle blown)

1. (intransitive) To produce an air current.
   • 1653, Izaak Walton, The Compleat Angler

     Hark how it rains and blows!

2. (transitive) To propel by an air current.

3. (intransitive) To be propelled by an air current.

4. (transitive) To create or shape by blowing; as in to blow bubbles, to blow glass.
5. To force a current of air upon with the mouth, or by other means.

6. To clear of contents by forcing air through.

7. (transitive) To cause to make sound by blowing, as a musical instrument.
8. (intransitive) To make a sound as the result of being blown.
9. (intransitive, of a cetacean) To exhale visibly through the spout the seawater which it has taken in while feeding.
10. (intransitive) To explode.

11. (transitive, with "up" or with prep phrase headed by "to") To cause to explode, shatter, or be utterly destroyed.

12. (transitive) To cause sudden destruction of.

13. (intransitive) To suddenly fail destructively.

14. (intransitive) (used to express displeasure or frustration) Damn.
15. (intransitive, slang, sometimes considered vulgar) To be very undesirable.

    Synonym: suck

16. (transitive, slang) To recklessly squander.

17. (transitive, vulgar) To fellate; to perform oral sex on (usually a man)

    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:give head

18. (transitive, slang) To leave, especially suddenly or in a hurry.

19. To make flyblown, to defile, especially with fly eggs.
20. (obsolete) To spread by report; to publish; to disclose.

    • Through the court his courtesy was blown.

21. (obsolete) To inflate, as with pride; to puff up.
22. (intransitive) To breathe hard or quick; to pant; to puff.
23. (transitive) To put out of breath; to cause to blow from fatigue.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir Walter Scott to this entry?)

24. (dated) To talk loudly; boast; storm.
    • a. 1940, Mildred Haun, "Shin-Bone Rocks" in The Hawk's Done Gone p. 218:

      He didn't just set around and try to out sweettalk somebody; he got out and out-fit somebody. He wouldn't be blowing when he told his boys how he fit for the woman he got.

    • 1969, Charles Ambrose McCarthy, The Great Molly Maguire Hoax (page 113)

      At the breaking edge with him and completely fed up with his everlasting bragging and blowing about his personal exploits, and desirous of putting him somewhere, anywhere, so they wouldn't be continuously annoyed by him, […]

    • 1976, David Toulmin, Blown Seed (page 148)

      Audie never liked him because he was further in with old Craig than he was, bragging and blowing about his work and the things he could do, while Audie sat quiet as a mouse listening to his blab.

25. (slang, informal, African-American Vernacular) To sing.

26. (Scientology, intransitive) To leave the Church of Scientology in an unauthorized manner.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

blow (plural blows)

1. A strong wind.

2. (informal) A chance to catch one’s breath.

3. (uncountable, US, slang) Cocaine.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:cocaine
4. (uncountable, Britain, slang) Cannabis.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:marijuana

5. (uncountable, US Chicago Regional, slang) Heroin.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:heroin

6. (informal, vulgar) A blowjob; fellatio

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:oral sex

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English blo, bloo, from Old English bl?w (“blue”), from Proto-Germanic *bl?waz (“blue, dark blue, grey, black”), from Proto-Indo-European *b?l?w- (“yellow, blond, grey”). Cognate with Latin flavus (“yellow”). Doublet of blue.

Adjective

blow (comparative blower or more blow, superlative blowest or most blow)

2. (now chiefly dialectal, Northern England) Blue.

Etymology 3

From Middle English blowe, blaw, northern variant of bl?we, from Proto-Germanic *blewwan? (“to beat”) (compare Old Norse blegði (“wedge”), German bläuen, Middle Dutch blouwen). Related to block.

Noun

blow (plural blows)

1. The act of striking or hitting.

   Synonyms: bace, strike, hit, punch

2. A sudden or forcible act or effort; an assault.
   • 1838-1842', Thomas Arnold, History of Rome

     A vigorous blow might win [Hanno's camp].

3. A damaging occurrence.

   Synonyms: disaster, calamity
4. (Australia, shearing, historical) A cut made to a sheep's fleece by a shearer using hand-shears.

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 4

From Middle English blowen, from Old English bl?wan, from Proto-Germanic *bl?an? (compare Dutch bloeien, German blühen), from Proto-Indo-European *b?leh?- (compare Latin flor?re (“to bloom”)).

Verb

blow (third-person singular simple present blows, present participle blowing, simple past blew, past participle blown)

1. To blossom; to cause to bloom or blossom.
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 4 Scene 1

     You seem to me as Dian in her orb,

     As chaste as is the bud ere it be blown;

   • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 5

     How blows the citron grove.

Related terms

• full-blown

Translations

Noun

blow (plural blows)

1. A mass or display of flowers; a yield.
2. A display of anything brilliant or bright.
3. A bloom, state of flowering.

Related terms

• ablow
• elder-blow

Translations

Anagrams

• bowl

Middle English

Verb

blow

1. Alternative form of blowen (“to blow”)

English

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?b?l.o?z/
• (US, dialectal) IPA^(key): /?b?l.?s/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /?b?l.??z/
• Rhymes: -?l??z

Etymology 1

From Middle English belwes, plural of belu, belwe, a northern form of beli, from Old English belg, cf. bæl?, from Proto-Germanic *balgiz. Compare German Balg. See also belly.

Noun

bellows (plural bellows)

1. A device for delivering pressurized air in a controlled quantity to a controlled location. At its most simple terms a bellows is a container which is deformable in such a way as to alter its volume which has an outlet or outlets where one wishes to blow air.
2. Any flexible container or enclosure, as one used to cover a moving joint.
3. (informal or archaic) The lungs.
4. (photography) Flexible, light-tight enclosures connecting the lensboard and the camera back.
5. (figuratively) That which fans the fire of hatred, jealousy, etc.

Usage notes

• "Bellows" is used with both singular and plural verbs. One can even find "A bellows is/was".

Related terms

• bellowser
• belly
• blow

Translations

Verb

bellows (third-person singular simple present bellowses, present participle bellowsing, simple past and past participle bellowsed)

1. (intransitive, transitive) To operate a bellows; to direct air at (something) using a bellows.
   • 1861, Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, Chapter ,^[1]

     […] I was recommended to the place as a man who could give another man as good as he brought, and I took it. It’s easier than bellowsing and hammering.

   • 1915, John G. Neihardt, The Song of Hugh Glass, New York: Macmillan, Part 2, p. 34,^[2]

     So bellowsed, all the kindled soul of Hugh

     Became a still white hell of brooding ire,

     And through his veins regenerating fire

     Ran, driving out the lethargy of pain.

   • 1920, Arthur Guiterman, “Thunder-Storm” in Ballads of Old New York, New York: Harper & Bros., p. 49,^[3]

     The smiths of the heavens are mending the weather;

     Their hammers are beating the fragments together.

     The cumulus mountains with nebulous gorges

     Are dazzled with flame of the wind-bellowsed forges;

   • 1966, Anthony Burgess, Tremor of Intent: An Eschatological Spy Novel, New York: Norton, Part 3, Chapter 6, p. 173,^[4]

     He almost let the cigar go out. ‘Good God, no. We’re both exiles, aren’t we?’ He bellowsed the end red again and continued, delicate as a musician, his scoring.

   • 1999, Ferdinand Mount, Jem (and Sam), New York: Carroll & Graf, Chapter 10, p. 397,^[5]

     This is a capricious devil, the furnace, though I say it myself, and it wants regular bellowsing.

2. (intransitive, figuratively) To expand and contract like a bellows.
   • 1904, A. R. Sennett, Across the Great Saint Bernard: The Modes of Nature and the Manners of Man, London: Bemrose & Sons, Chapter 6, p. 389,^[6]

     […] [the dogs] sprang up, and, with a grand spraying of the crisp snow as they fleetly clambered up the steep side, they were with us in an incredibly short time, with pink tongues protruding, sides bellowsing, and sterns wagging.

   • 1933, John Steinbeck, The Red Pony, New York: Viking, 1945, Chapter 1, p. 48,^[7]

     The pony still lay on his side and the wound in his throat bellowsed in and out.

   • 1978, Stephen King, The Stand, New York: Random House, 2012, Chapter 25, p. 196,^[8]

     A sick-looking dog sat in the middle of the road, head down, sides bellowsing, white foam dripping from its muzzle to the heat-shimmering pavement.

   • 1998, Loren D. Estleman, Jitterbug, New York: Tom Doherty Associates, Chapter Six, p. 53,^[9]

     The old man laughed without making a sound. His chest bellowsed and he opened his mouth to display a horseshoe of gold molars.

3. (transitive) To fold up like a bellows; to accordion.
   • 1916, Roger Pocock, Horses, London: John Murray, 2nd edition, 1917, Chapter 6, pp. 170-171,^[10]

     Without being tight […] the boot leg should fit close. The ankle should be supple as a stocking, and “bellowsed” to make sure of suppleness.

   • 1986, Will D. Campbell, Forty Acres and a Goat, Atlanta: Peachtree, Chapter 9, p. 185,^[11]

     […] the chairman of the gathered scholars […] [shushed] the black waiters preparing to feed us a hefty lunch behind the bellowsed dividing wall with the impatient yell, “You’re disturbing our meeting,” while we discussed their plight on our side of the wall.

   • 1994, Timothy West, I’m Here I Think, Where Are You? Letters from a touring actor, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1995, p. 139,^[12]

     [The bus] rolled swiftly down the hill and bellowsed five parked cars […]

Etymology 2

See bellow

Noun

bellows

1. plural of bellow

Verb

bellows

1. Third-person singular simple present indicative form of bellow

Anagrams

• Boswell