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blow

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

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Letters

4 characters

Language

English

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "blow", 4-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "blow" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "blow" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

blow is aEnglishverb. It means: To produce an air current. Pronounced /bləʊ/. It ranks #2,516 in English word frequency. Often confused with bo and BW.

Key facts for blow
PropertyValue
Headwordblow
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/bləʊ/
Letters4
Frequency rank#2,516
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of blow in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for blow is 4 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /bləʊ/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,516 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 33 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 5 documented wrong-spelling variants for blow, with forms such as "bblow", "bllow", and "bloww". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "bo", "BW", "boy", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English blowen, from Old English blāwan (“to blow, breathe, inflate, sound”), from Proto-West Germanic *blāan, from Proto-Germanic *blēaną (“to blow”) (compare German blähen), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁- (“to swell, blow up”) (compare Lati… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is blow, spelled B-L-O-W, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    To produce an air current.
  2. 2
    To propel by an air current (or, if under water, a water current), usually with the mouth.
  3. 3
    To be propelled by an air current.
  4. 4
    To direct or move, usually of a person to a particular location.
  5. 5
    To create or shape by blowing.
  6. 6
    To force a current of air upon with the mouth, or by other means.
  7. 7
    To clear of contents by forcing air through.
  8. 8
    To cause to make sound by blowing (as a musical instrument).
  9. 9
    To make a sound as a result of being blown.
  10. 10
    To exhale visibly through the spout the seawater which it has taken in while feeding.
  11. 11
    To burst or explode; to occur suddenly
  12. 12
    To cause to explode, shatter, or be utterly destroyed.
  13. 13
    To cause the sudden destruction of.
  14. 14
    To blow from a gun (method of executing a person).
  15. 15
    To suddenly fail or give way destructively.
  16. 16
    To melt away because of overcurrent, creating a gap in a wire, thus stopping a circuit from operating.
  17. 17
    To recklessly squander.
  18. 18
    To fail at; to mess up; to make a mistake in.
  19. 19
    To be very undesirable.
  20. 20
    To perform oral sex on (someone); to fellate.
  21. 21
    To leave, especially suddenly or in a hurry.
  22. 22
    To leave the Church of Scientology in an unauthorized manner.
  23. 23
    To make flyblown; to defile or spoil, especially with fly eggs.
  24. 24
    (of a fly) To lay eggs; to breed (in flesh or meat).
  25. 25
    To spread by report; to publish; to disclose.
  26. 26
    To inflate, as with pride; to puff up.
  27. 27
    To breathe hard or quick; to pant; to puff.
  28. 28
    To put out of breath; to cause to blow from fatigue.
  29. 29
    To talk loudly; boast; brag.
  30. 30
    To slander, insult, critique or discredit (someone); to reprimand or scold (someone).
  31. 31
    To expose, or inform on.
  32. 32
    To sing.
  33. 33
    To flatulate or defecate.

Etymology

From Middle English blowen, from Old English blāwan (“to blow, breathe, inflate, sound”), from Proto-West Germanic *blāan, from Proto-Germanic *blēaną (“to blow”) (compare German blähen), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁- (“to swell, blow up”) (compare Latin flō (“to blow”) and Old Armenian բեղուն (bełun, “fertile”)).

This word in other languages

Spanish(Español)Portuguese(Português)French(Français)German(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: bblow,bllow,bloww,blwo,lbow

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for blow

Misspelling Variants of "blow"

bblow5bllow5bloww5blwo4lbow4
Misspelling Variants of "blow"

Frequency rank: #2,516 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "blow"?
"blow" is spelled B-L-O-W. The IPA pronunciation is /bləʊ/.
What does "blow" mean?
As a verb, "blow" means: To produce an air current.
What words are commonly confused with "blow"?
"blow" is commonly confused with "bo", "BW", "boy". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "blow"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "blow" is /bləʊ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "blow"?
From Middle English blowen, from Old English blāwan (“to blow, breathe, inflate, sound”), from Proto-West Germanic *blāan, from Proto-Germanic *blēaną (“to blow”) (compare German blähen), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁- (“to swell, blow up”) (co... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter B in our English index:

All "B" wordsABCDEFGHIJKL

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.