blasten

Middle English

Alternative forms

• blaste, blesten

Etymology

Inherited from Old English blǣstan, from Proto-West Germanic *blāstijan, from Proto-Germanic *blēstijaną; equivalent to blast +‎ -en (infinitival suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈblastən/

Verb

blasten

1. To strongly blow or exhale.
2. To emit fire from one's mouth.
3. (rare) To afflict with noxious breath.
4. (rare, of wind) To blast; to gust.
5. (rare) To blow on a musical instrument.
   • 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The House of Fame:

     Toke his blake trumpe faste / And gan to puffen and to blaste.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Conjugation

Conjugation of blasten (weak in -ed/-te)

infinitive	(to) blasten, blaste
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	blaste	blasted, blaste
2nd-person singular	blastest	blastedest, blastest
3rd-person singular	blasteth	blasted, blaste
subjunctive singular	blaste
imperative singular		—
plural1	blasten, blaste	blasteden, blastede, blasten, blaste
imperative plural	blasteth, blaste	—
participles	blastynge, blastende	blasted, yblasted

¹Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Descendants

• English: blast
• Scots: blast

References

• “blasten, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-09-27.