blast
- 01 B1 Intermediate
n.a sudden and violent explosion, often used when clearing rock or destroying buildings.
n.a sudden, violent explosion or the forceful wave of air pressure produced by one.
Simple“The blast from the dynamite could be heard three miles away from the construction site.”
In context“The shockwave from the blast shattered windows across the valley, demonstrating the sheer power of the industrial explosives used in the quarry.”
Synonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a sudden, very loud sound, like a car horn or a trumpet.
n.a sudden, loud, and often harsh acoustic signal.
Simple“The ship gave a long blast of its whistle as it left the harbour.”
In context“A sudden blast from the air horn startled the pedestrians, momentarily drowning out the ambient city traffic.”
- 03 B1 Intermediate
n.a very enjoyable or exciting experience.
n.an exceptionally enjoyable or exciting event or experience.
Simple“We had a blast at the theme park yesterday.”
In context“Despite the initial travel delays, the entire group had a blast at the wedding reception, dancing until the early hours of the morning.”
- 04 C1 Advanced
n.a strong and angry verbal attack or piece of criticism.
n.a severe and public verbal reprimand or criticism.
Simple“The manager gave the team a blast for their poor performance in the first half.”
In context“The senator faced a blast from the press after the controversial documents were leaked to the public.”
Antonyms - 05 B1 Intermediate
v.to destroy something using explosives.
v.to shatter or destroy something by means of an explosion.
Simple“Engineers had to blast the rock to make a tunnel for the new road.”
In context“The demolition crew prepared to blast the derelict apartment block, ensuring all safety protocols were strictly followed before the countdown.”
- 06 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to play music or sound at a very high volume.
v.to produce or broadcast sound, especially music, at an extremely high volume.
Simple“Our neighbours were blasting music until two in the morning.”
In context“The teenagers drove through the quiet residential street blasting heavy metal from their car speakers, much to the annoyance of the residents.”
Synonymsblarepump
“After the explosion's initial brightness peak, most supernovae fade in a fairly predictable way, powered by the radioactive decay of nickel-56 formed in the blast.”
“It was traveling along the line of sight at more than 6,000 kilometers per second, indicating that a densely bound structure may have survived the initial blast and was now moving rapidly toward us.”
From Middle English blast, blest, from Old English blǣst (“blowing, blast”), from Proto-West Germanic blāstu, from Proto-Germanic blēstuz (“blowing, blast”). Cognate with West Frisian blast (“blast”), dialectal Dutch blast (“stubborn intent, drumming”), obsolete German Blast (“wind, blowing”), German blasen (“to blow”), Dutch blazen (“to blow”), Danish blæst (“wind”), French blaser (“to blunt, dull”). More at blow.
From Middle English blasten, blesten, from Old English blǣstan (“to blow, blast”), from Proto-West Germanic blēstijan, from Proto-Germanic blēstijaną. Possibly related to Middle High German blesten (“to stand out, plop, splash”).
From Ancient Greek βλαστός (blastós, “germ or sprout”).
From BLAST (an acronym for Basic Local Alignment Search Tool).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.