blast
♦ blast /bl'ɑːst, bl'æst/ (blasts blasting blasted)
1 [N-COUNT]
A blast is a big explosion, especially one caused by a bomb.
250 people were killed in the blast.
2 [VERB] be V-ed prep/adv, V n with adv, also V n adj, V n prep
If something is blasted into a particular place or state, an explosion causes it to be in that place or state. If a hole is blasted in something, it is created by an explosion.
...a terrible accident in which his left arm was blasted off by some kind of a bomb...
The explosion which followed blasted out the external supporting wall of her flat.
3 [VERB] V n, V n with adv, also V
If workers are blasting rock, they are using explosives to make holes in it or destroy it, for example so that a road or tunnel can be built.
Their work was taken up with boring and blasting rock with gelignite...
They're using dynamite to blast away rocks to put a road in.
● blasting [N-UNCOUNT]
Three miles away there was a salvo of blasting in the quarry.
4 [VERB] V n to n, be V-ed with n
To blast someone means to shoot them with a gun. (JOURNALISM)
...a son who blasted his father to death after a life-time of bullying...
Alan Barnett, 28, was blasted with a sawn-off shotgun in Oldham on Thursday.
[N-COUNT]
Blast is also a noun.
...the man who killed Nigel Davies with a shotgun blast.
5 [VERB] V way prep/adv, V n prep/adv
If someone blasts their way somewhere, they get there by shooting at people or causing an explosion.
The police were reported to have blasted their way into the house using explosives...
One armoured column attempted to blast a path through a barricade of buses and trucks.
6 [VERB] V n prep/adv
If something blasts water or air somewhere, it sends out a sudden, powerful stream of it.
A blizzard was blasting great drifts of snow across the lake.
[N-COUNT] usu N of n
Blast is also a noun.
Blasts of cold air swept down from the mountains.
7 [VERB] V n, V
If you blast something such as a car horn, or if it blasts, it makes a sudden, loud sound. If something blasts music, or music blasts, the music is very loud.
...drivers who do not blast their horns...
The sound of western music blasted as she entered.
[N-COUNT] usu N of n
Blast is also a noun.
The buzzer suddenly responded in a long blast of sound.
8 [PHRASE] PHR after v, v-link PHR
If something such as a radio or a heater is on full blast, or on at full blast, it is producing as much sound or power as it is able to.
In many of those homes the television is on full blast 24 hours a day...blast away
1 [PHRASAL VERB] V P
If a gun, or a person firing a gun, blasts away, the gun is fired continuously for a period of time.
Suddenly all the men pull out pistols and begin blasting away.
2 [PHRASAL VERB] V P
If something such as a radio or a pop group is blasting away, it is producing a loud noise.
Clock-radios blast away until you get up.
= blare outblast fur|nace (blast furnaces)
[N-COUNT]
A blast furnace is a large structure in which iron ore is heated under pressure so that it melts and the pure iron metal separates out and can be collected.blast off
[PHRASAL VERB]
When a space rocket blasts off, it leaves the ground at the start of its journey.
see also blast-offblast out
[PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V P
If music or noise is blasting out, loud music or noise is being produced.
...loudspeakers blasting out essential tourist facts in every language known to man...
Pop music can be heard 10 miles away blasting out from the huge tented shanty-town.
= blare out
1 [N-COUNT]
A blast is a big explosion, especially one caused by a bomb.
250 people were killed in the blast.
2 [VERB] be V-ed prep/adv, V n with adv, also V n adj, V n prep
If something is blasted into a particular place or state, an explosion causes it to be in that place or state. If a hole is blasted in something, it is created by an explosion.
...a terrible accident in which his left arm was blasted off by some kind of a bomb...
The explosion which followed blasted out the external supporting wall of her flat.
3 [VERB] V n, V n with adv, also V
If workers are blasting rock, they are using explosives to make holes in it or destroy it, for example so that a road or tunnel can be built.
Their work was taken up with boring and blasting rock with gelignite...
They're using dynamite to blast away rocks to put a road in.
● blasting [N-UNCOUNT]
Three miles away there was a salvo of blasting in the quarry.
4 [VERB] V n to n, be V-ed with n
To blast someone means to shoot them with a gun. (JOURNALISM)
...a son who blasted his father to death after a life-time of bullying...
Alan Barnett, 28, was blasted with a sawn-off shotgun in Oldham on Thursday.
[N-COUNT]
Blast is also a noun.
...the man who killed Nigel Davies with a shotgun blast.
5 [VERB] V way prep/adv, V n prep/adv
If someone blasts their way somewhere, they get there by shooting at people or causing an explosion.
The police were reported to have blasted their way into the house using explosives...
One armoured column attempted to blast a path through a barricade of buses and trucks.
6 [VERB] V n prep/adv
If something blasts water or air somewhere, it sends out a sudden, powerful stream of it.
A blizzard was blasting great drifts of snow across the lake.
[N-COUNT] usu N of n
Blast is also a noun.
Blasts of cold air swept down from the mountains.
7 [VERB] V n, V
If you blast something such as a car horn, or if it blasts, it makes a sudden, loud sound. If something blasts music, or music blasts, the music is very loud.
...drivers who do not blast their horns...
The sound of western music blasted as she entered.
[N-COUNT] usu N of n
Blast is also a noun.
The buzzer suddenly responded in a long blast of sound.
8 [PHRASE] PHR after v, v-link PHR
If something such as a radio or a heater is on full blast, or on at full blast, it is producing as much sound or power as it is able to.
In many of those homes the television is on full blast 24 hours a day...blast away
1 [PHRASAL VERB] V P
If a gun, or a person firing a gun, blasts away, the gun is fired continuously for a period of time.
Suddenly all the men pull out pistols and begin blasting away.
2 [PHRASAL VERB] V P
If something such as a radio or a pop group is blasting away, it is producing a loud noise.
Clock-radios blast away until you get up.
= blare outblast fur|nace (blast furnaces)
[N-COUNT]
A blast furnace is a large structure in which iron ore is heated under pressure so that it melts and the pure iron metal separates out and can be collected.blast off
[PHRASAL VERB]
When a space rocket blasts off, it leaves the ground at the start of its journey.
see also blast-offblast out
[PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V P
If music or noise is blasting out, loud music or noise is being produced.
...loudspeakers blasting out essential tourist facts in every language known to man...
Pop music can be heard 10 miles away blasting out from the huge tented shanty-town.
= blare out