blowout
/ˈbləʊaʊt
/noun
1An occasion when a tyre on a vehicle bursts or an electric fuse melts.You never know when you are going to suffer a tyre blowout or when another driver is just going to be plain careless....
- Tyre blowouts are common on a lot of trips and this is an area that weight can have a huge effect on.
- Most roads are gravel, meaning accidents and tyre blowouts are not uncommon.
Synonyms
puncture, flat tyre, burst tyre
informal flat
1.1An uprush of oil or gas from a well: [as modifier]: a blowout preventer...
- Even after the blowout had been brought under control, the oil continued to seep out of the ocean floor, he says.
- A similar blowout event also occurred in the onshore Seria Field in 1953.
- Successional patterns will be truncated or prevented in sites with frequent major disturbances, e.g. blowouts, water level changes, etc.
1.2North American informal An outburst of anger or an argument: that exchange led to a big blowout five years ago...
- I had a big blowout with the federal government.
- If you can't talk about this without a big blowout, write her a letter explaining how you feel.
- Letting frustrations fester is a real good way to ensure blowouts and fits of anger later on, so best to get it all out in the open.
2 informal A large or lavish meal or social gathering: it is difficult to imagine the slim person going for a real blowout...
- He was still crowing over the success of his Dallas showroom expansion and the blowout coming-out party.
- But before we can weigh anchor, Flores erupts into Festa do Emigrante, a blowout party celebrating Azorean emigrants' annual return to the islands, beginning in July.
- Despite the minor grumbles, we had a superb meal - especially with palates so jaded after the festive blowout.
Synonyms
party, feast, banquet, celebration, binge
informal shindig, shindy, do
British informal beanfeast, beano, bunfight, thrash, nosh-up, scoff, slap-up meal, tuck-in
3North American An event at which goods are sold at heavily discounted prices: the purpose of the blowout is to motivate new customers to visit [as modifier]: the local store is having a big blowout sale—everything 65 per cent off...
- Their major buyers raid their blowout bins, put them in boxes and ship them to the States.
- If sales are strong, what will the blowout deals do to earnings?
- Woe to the promotion manager who doesn't ace the Christmas blowout.
4North American informal An easy victory in a sporting contest or election: the game had been a blowout...
- Only the Vikings broke the barrier in a blowout victory over the Packers.
- Gus was tenacious defensively; even in a blowout victory he wouldn't let the other team have an inch of space.
- While the first two games were both blowouts, the first playoff game in Memphis' history was highly competitive with the Spurs never leading by more than 6 points.
5North American An act or instance of blow-drying hair: you can’t do a blowout with super wet hair...
- Stylist Marvin Carrington decided to revamp her shoulder-length, naturally wavy hair with a sleek blowout, defined layers and blond highlights.
- So it was only a matter of time before shoulder pads, designer jeans, leg warmers, wide belts, layered peasant skirts and big, broad, blowout hair started to look good to us again.
- In between blowouts, use a reactivating spray to reshape your style.
6A hollow eroded by the wind.Parabolic dunes are formed when the wind causes a blowout, that is, begins to gouge sand out from around a patch of vegetation that has weakened its grip....
- The crater resulting from the blowout was measured at 34m long, 15m wide and 6m deep.
- This one-side riddled basin can even persist beyond the blowout bifurcation, contrary to the previously reported riddled basins which exist only below the blowout transition.