- blow
- {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} noun1 hard knock that hits sb/sthADJECTIVE▪ hard, heavy, nasty, painful, powerful, severe, sharp, stinging, violent▪ deadly, fatal, final, mortal▪ physical▪ glancing, light▪
Jack caught him a glancing blow on the jaw.
▪ single▪He killed the man with a single blow of the hammer.
… OF BLOWS▪ flurryVERB + BLOW▪ get, receive, suffer, take▪He suffered a severe blow to the head.
▪ catch sb, deal sb, deliver, give sb, land, rain (down), strike sb▪It was the gardener who delivered the fatal blow.
▪She landed a nasty blow on his nose.
▪He rained heavy blows on the old woman.
▪ exchange▪The demonstrators exchanged blows with the police.
▪ aim▪She aimed a blow at Lucy.
▪ avoid, block, deflect, dodge, parry, ward off▪ feel▪He felt a stinging blow across the side of his face.
BLOW + VERB▪ fall, land▪The blow landed on my right shoulder.
▪ knock sb down, over, etc.▪The blow knocked him to the ground.
▪ knock sb outPREPOSITION▪ blow of▪two blows of the hammer
▪ blow on▪a nasty blow on the head
▪ blow to▪a blow to the victim's chest
PHRASES▪ come to blows▪The children came to blows over the new toy.
▪ the force of the blow▪The force of the blow knocked him out.
2 sudden shock/disappointmentADJECTIVE▪ big, great, huge, major, serious, severe, terrible▪ bitter, crippling, cruel, crushing, devastating, knockout▪ double▪ decisive, mortal▪a mortal blow to local industry
▪ bodyVERB + BLOW▪ deal (sb/sth), deliver, strike▪His defeat dealt a crushing blow to the party.
▪ receive, suffer▪ cushion, soften▪to soften the blow of tax increases
▪ come as▪The news came as a bitter blow to the staff.
BLOW + VERB▪ come, fall▪The blow came at a meeting yesterday.
PREPOSITION▪ blow for▪A tax on books would be a body blow for education.
▪ blow to▪Her decision to leave home was a terrible blow to her parents.
PHRASES▪ a bit of a blow (esp. BrE){{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}verb1 of wind/air, etc.ADVERB▪ hard, strongly▪ gentlyPREPOSITION▪ from▪a gale blowing from the west
▪ off▪The wind blew the papers off the table.
PHRASES▪ blow sth off course▪The ship was blown off course in the storm.
▪ see which way the wind is blowing (figurative)▪They won't commit themselves until they see which way the wind is blowing.
2 send air out of your mouthADVERB▪ hard▪ softlyPREPOSITION▪ on▪He blew on his soup to cool it.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
