BLOWUP

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does blowup mean? 

• BLOWUP (noun)
  The noun BLOWUP has 3 senses:

1. a violent release of energy caused by a chemical or nuclear reaction

2. an unrestrained expression of emotion

3. a photographic print that has been enlarged

  Familiarity information: BLOWUP used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BLOWUP (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A violent release of energy caused by a chemical or nuclear reaction

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

blowup; detonation; explosion

Hypernyms ("blowup" is a kind of...):

discharge (the sudden giving off of energy)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "blowup"):

airburst (an explosion in the atmosphere)

blast (an explosion (as of dynamite))

backfire (a loud noise made by the explosion of fuel in the manifold or exhaust of an internal combustion engine)

big bang ((cosmology) the cosmic explosion that is hypothesized to have marked the origin of the universe)

backfire; blowback (the backward escape of gases and unburned gunpowder after a gun is fired)

fragmentation (the scattering of bomb fragments after the bomb explodes)

inflation ((cosmology) a brief exponential expansion of the universe (faster than the speed of light) postulated to have occurred shortly after the big bang)

Derivation:

blow up (cause to burst with a violent release of energy)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An unrestrained expression of emotion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

blowup; ebullition; effusion; gush; outburst

Hypernyms ("blowup" is a kind of...):

expression; manifestation; reflection; reflexion (expression without words)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "blowup"):

acting out (a (usually irritating) impulsive and uncontrollable outburst by a problem child or a neurotic adult)

cry (a fit of weeping)

explosion (a sudden outburst)

flare (a sudden outburst of emotion)

Derivation:

blow up (get very angry and fly into a rage)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A photographic print that has been enlarged

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

blowup; enlargement; magnification

Hypernyms ("blowup" is a kind of...):

exposure; photo; photograph; pic; picture (a representation of a person or scene in the form of a print or transparent slide or in digital format)

Derivation:

blow up (make large)

 Context examples 

If you find yourself in the middle of an explosive blowup with your romantic steady or a friend, and you’re not sure how you got there, that is warrior Mars opposite unpredictable Uranus.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)