blow up🔊

(prepositional) (up)

(metaphorically) To explode or be destroyed by explosion.

(metaphorically) To cause (something or someone) to explode, or to destroy (something) or maim or kill (someone) by means of an explosion.

To inflate or fill with air, either by literally blowing or by using a pump.

To enlarge or zoom in on.

To fail disastrously.

(said of a function) To increase without bound as a function argument or parameter approaches a certain value; to tend toward infinity; to approach infinity as a limit.

To become popular very quickly.

(slang) To suddenly get very angry, to lose one's temper.

(slang) To become much more fat or rotund in a short space of time.

(dated) To inflate, as with pride, self-conceit, etc.; to puff up.

(dated) To excite.

(dated) To scold violently, blow up at.

(sports) To blow the whistle.

(cycling) To succumb to oxygen debt and lose the ability to maintain pace in a race.

(of a device, machine, system, or establishment) To overwhelm through unexpectedly high demand, activity, usage, traffic volume, etc. +

(of a hangout) To overwhelm with traffic or volume.

(of a cell phone, pager, or similar) To bombard with a large number of calls, texts, or notifications, to the point of rendering temporarily unusable or exasperating the recipient.

(of a device, machine, system, or establishment) To be overwhelmed by unexpectedly high demand, usage, activity, traffic volume, etc. +

(of a hangout) To be overwhelmed with traffic or volume.

(of a cell phone, pager, or similar) To receive a large number of calls, texts, or notifications, to the point of being rendered temporarily unusable or exasperating the recipient.

(make filthy by flatulation, defecation, etc) (colloquial) To cause a malodorous smell by flatulation, defecation, etc. +

(of a storm) To begin; to gather; to form.

(dated) To use an intoxicating drug; to get high.