[blood] See: DRAW BLOOD, FLESH AND BLOOD, IN COLD BLOOD, IN ONE’S BLOOD orINTO ONE’S BLOOD, MAKE ONE’S BLOOD BOIL or MAKE THE BLOOD BOIL, NEW BLOOD, OUTOF ONE’S BLOOD, RUN IN THE BLOOD or RUN IN THE FAMILY, SPORTING BLOOD, SWEATBLOOD, WARM ONE’S BLOOD.

[blood and thunder]{n. phr.} The violence and bloodshed of storiesthat present fast action rather than understanding of character. •/Crimemovies and westerns usually have lots of blood and thunder./ — Often usedlike an adjective. •/John likes to watch blood-and-thunder stories ontelevision./

[blood freezes] See: BLOOD RUNS COLD.

[blood is thicker than water] Persons of the same family are closer to oneanother than to others; relatives are favored or chosen over outsiders. •/Mr.Jones hires his relatives to work in his store. Blood is thicker than water./

[blood runs cold] also [blood freezes] or [blood turns to ice] Youare chilled or shivering from great fright or horror; you are terrified orhorrified. — Usually used with a possessive. •/The horror movie made thechildren’s blood run cold./ •/Mary’s blood froze when she had to walkthrough the cemetery at night./ •/Oscar’s blood turned to ice when he sawthe shadow pass by outside the window./ Compare: HAIR STAND ON END, THECREEPS.

[blood turns to ice] See: BLOOD RUNS COLD.

[bloody] See: SCREAM BLOODY MURDER.

[blot out]{v. phr.} 1. To obstruct; cover; obscure. •/The high-risebuilding in front of our apartment house blots out the view of the ocean./ 2.To wipe out of one’s memory. •/Jane can’t remember the details when she wasattacked in the streets; she blotted it out of her memory./

[blow] See: AT A BLOW, BODY BLOW, COME TO BLOWS, IT’S AN ILL WIND THATBLOWS NOBODY GOOD, WAY THE WIND BLOWS or HOW THE WIND BLOWS.

[blow a fuse] or [blow a gasket] or [blow one’s top] or [blowone’s stack] {v. phr.}, {slang} To become extremely angry; expressrage in hot words. •/When Mr. McCarthy’s son got married against his wishes,he blew a fuse./ •/When the umpire called Joe out at first, Joe blew histop and was sent to the showers./ Syn.: BLOW UP(1b), FLIP ONE’S LID, LOSEONE’S TEMPER. Compare: BLOW OFF STEAM(2).

[blow great guns] See: GREAT GUNS.

[blow hot and cold]{v. phr.} To change your ways or likes often; befickle or changeable. •/Tom blows hot and cold about coming out for thebaseball team; he cannot decide./ •/Mary blew hot and cold about going tocollege; every day she changed her mind./ •/The boys will get tired ofAnn’s blowing hot and cold./

[blow in]{v.}, {slang} To arrive unexpectedly or in a carefreeway. •/The house was already full of guests when Bill blew in./ CompareSHOW UP(3).

[blow into]{v.}, {slang} To arrive at (a place) unexpectedly or ina carefree way. •/Bill blows into college at the last minute after everyvacation./ •/Why Tom, when did you blow into town?/

[blow off steam] See: LET OFF STEAM.

[blow one’s brains out]{v. phr.} 1. To shoot yourself in the head.•/Mr. Jones lost all his wealth, so he blew his brains out./ 2. {slang}To work very hard; overwork yourself. •/The boys blew their brains out to getthe stage ready for the play./ •/Mary is not one to blow her brains out./Compare: BREAK ONE’S NECK.

[blow one’s cool]{v. phr.}, {slang}, {informal} To lose yourcomposure or self-control. •/Whatever you say to the judge in court, makesure that you don’t blow your cool./

[blow one’s lines] or [fluff one’s lines] {v. phr.}, {informal}To forget the words you are supposed to speak while acting in a play. •/Thenoise backstage scared Mary and she blew her lines./

[blow one’s mind]{v. phr.}, {slang}, {informal}; {originallyfrom the drug culture} 1. To become wildly enthusiastic over something as ifunderstanding it for the first time in an entirely new light. •/Read LyallWatson’s book "Supernature", it will simply blow your mind!/ 2. To lose one’sability to function, as if due to an overdose of drugs, •/Joe is entirelyincoherent — he seems to have blown his mind./ Contrast: BLOW ONE’S COOL.

[blow one’s own horn] or [toot one’s own horn] {v. phr.},{slang} To praise yourself; call attention to your own skill, intelligence,or successes; boast. •/People get tired of a man who is always blowing hisown horn./ •/A person who does things well does not have to toot his ownhorn; his abilities will be noticed by others./

[blow one’s top]{v. phr.} To become very excited, angry, hysterical,or furious. •/"No need to blow your top, Al," his wife said, "just becauseyou lost a few dollars."/

[blow out]{v. phr.} 1. To cease to function; fail; explode (said oftires and fuses). •/The accident occurred when Jim’s tire blew out on thehighway./ •/The new dishwasher blew out the fuses in the whole house./ 2.To extinguish. •/Jane blew out her birthday cake candles before offeringpieces to the guests./

[blowout]{n.} 1. An explosion of a tire or a fuse. •/Jim’s vanveered sharply to the right after his car had a blowout./ 2. A big party.•/After graduation from college, my son and his friends staged a hugeblowout./

[blow over]{v.} To come to an end; pass away with little or no badeffects. •/The sky was black, as if a bad storm were coming, but it blew overand the sun came out./ •/They were bitter enemies for a while, but thequarrel blew over./ •/He was much criticized for the divorce, but it allblew over after a few years./

[blow taps]{v. phr.} To sound the final bugle call of the evening in acamp or military base. •/After taps is blown the boy scouts go to their bunksto sleep./

[blow the gaff]{v. phr.} To open one’s mouth to reveal a secret.•/When Al cheated on his wife, his younger brother blew the gaff on him./

[blow the lid off]{v. phr.}, {informal} Suddenly to reveal thetruth about a matter that has been kept as a secret either by private personsor by some governmental agency. •/The clever journalists blew the lid off theWatergate cover-up./

[blow the whistle on]{v. phr.}, {slang} 1. To inform against;betray. •/The police caught one of the bank robbers, and he blew the whistleon two more./ 2. To act against, stop, or tell people the secrets of (crimeor lawlessness). •/The mayor blew the whistle on gambling./ •/The policeblew the whistle on hot reading./

[blow up]{v.} 1a. To break or destroy or to be destroyed by explosion.•/He blew up the plane by means of a concealed bomb./ •/The fireworksfactory blew up when something went wrong in an electric switch./ 1b.{informal} To explode with anger or strong feeling; lose control ofyourself. •/When Father bent the nail for the third time, he blew up./Compare: BLOW A FUSE. 1c. To stop playing well in a game or contest, usuallybecause you are in danger of losing or are tired; {especially}: To loseskill or control in pitching baseball. •/The champion blew up and lost thetennis match./ •/Our team was behind but the pitcher on the other team blewup and we got the winning runs./ 2. {informal} To be ruined as if byexplosion; be ended suddenly. •/The whole scheme for a big party suddenlyblew up./ 3a. To pump full of air; inflate. •/He blew his tires up at afilling station./ 3b. To make (something) seem bigger or important. •/Itwas a small thing to happen but the newspapers had blown it up until it seemedimportant./ 4. To bring on bad weather; also, to come on as bad weather.•/The wind had blown up a storm./ •/A storm had blown up./ 5. To copyin bigger form; enlarge. •/He blew up the snapshot to a larger size./