blowout

See also: blow out and blow-out

English

Etymology

Deverbal from blow out.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbloʊaʊt/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Noun

blowout (plural blowouts)

1. A sudden puncturing of a pneumatic tyre/tire.
2. A sudden release of oil and gas from a well.
3. (slang) A social function, especially one with large quantities of food.
   • 2015, Trish Nicholson, Inside the Crocodile: The Papua New Guinea Journals, Troubador Publishing Ltd, →ISBN:

     Feathers were deeply ruffled when it became known that the BHC had been in town and taken me out for a meal without hosting a big blowout for all the local Brits. I didn't frequent the hotel bar, and by then, accepted few invitations to parties ...

   • 2016, Blayne Cooper, Blind Side of the Moon, Bella Books, →ISBN:

     Chloe's lips formed a thin line, and she guided her sister a few feet away from Aubrey and Erik, her hooker heels sinking into the shells a little as they went. "C'mon, Jane. Erik's cousin is a Barnie and is hosting a blowout tonight. The party is in Salem"

4. (slang) A large or extravagant meal.
   • 2011, Fodor's Normandy, Brittany & the Best of the North: with Paris:

     The dining room at Alain Ducasse's flagship Paris restaurant gleams with 10,000 crystals, confirming that this is the flashiest place in town for a blowout meal.

   • 2015, Judita Wignall, Raw and Simple Detox: A Delicious Body Reboot for Health, Energy, and Weight Loss, →ISBN, page 46:

     Eating a big blowout meal that probably includes every one of the foods you should be avoiding will trigger more food cravings […]

5. (slang, chiefly sports) A contest that is decidedly one-sided; an overwhelming victory.

   The game between the two teams was nothing but a blowout.

   • 2023 May 4, Frank Bruni, “Republicans Are Running Wild in My State”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     This is not a land of blowouts. It’s a middle ground, and that’s reflected in voter registration rolls. Nearly 2.6 million North Carolinians declare themselves unaffiliated, while just over 2.4 million identify as Democrats and just under 2.2 million as Republicans. We don’t tilt. We teeter.

6. (slang) An argument; an altercation.
   • 2014, Christine Pope, Star Crossed, page 141:

     The day my aunt and I had talked was just as vivid to me now as it had been eight years ago, when I'd had a blowout with my mother over my decision to go to school in Tucson rather than staying safely up here in northern Arizona.

7. (geology) A sandy depression in a sand dune ecosystem caused by the removal of sediments by wind.
8. (Australia) An extreme and unexpected increase in costs, such as in government estimates for a project.
9. The cleaning of the flues of a boiler from scale, etc., by a blast of steam.
10. An unsightly flap of skin caused by an ear piercing that is too large.
11. An instance of having one's hair blow-dried and styled.
    • 2007, Janis Spindel, How to Date Men: Dating Secrets from America's Top Matchmaker, Penguin, →ISBN, page 55:

      Get a blowout! Your hair is one of the first things a guy will notice because, hello, it's right at eye level. So take the time to do it right. No ponytails. No frizzy disasters. Wear your hair down.

    • '2011, Donna Kakonge, PhD Student, The Politics of Black Hair Online Coursebook, →ISBN:

      I mean, how did the African sista' who was getting her hair braided in the first movie get a blowout? And the slave trader's shirt wasn't even right! And the look on the African woman's face when she was watching the white ladies pet her "friend" ...

    • 2017, Anysia Marcell Kiel, Discovering the Healer Within: Use Chakras & Intuition to Clear Negativity & Release Pain, Llewellyn Worldwide, →ISBN:

      A couple of weeks later, I contacted Melissa to get a blowout for my hair because I was going to New York for an interview but I had to be in the city early in the morning. Melissa said I could come to her condo the night before the event.

    • 2019, Susan Hyatt, Bare: A 7-Week Program to Transform Your Body, Get More Energy, Feel Amazing, and Become the Bravest, Most Unstoppable Version of You, BenBella Books, →ISBN:

      Go to your local salon and get a blowout. Or put a blue streak in your hair. Or if you're commitment-phobic, get a temporary blue extension braided into your hair.

12. The blurring of a tattoo due to ink penetrating too far into the skin and dispersing.
14. (carpentry, woodworking) The damage done to the exit side of a drilled hole or sawn edge when no sacrificial backerboard is used during the drilling or sawing: the drill bit's or sawblade's exit on the far side causes chips of wood to be broken from the edge.

    Synonym: tearout

Derived terms

• blowout coil
• blowout preventer
• blowout sale
• Brazilian blowout

 

Anagrams

• bowl out, bowl-out, outblow, outbowl