What does blew mean?
Blew is the simple past tense of the common English verb "to blow." Its most basic meaning concerns moving air: wind blew through the trees, or a person blew out the candles on a birthday cake. From this literal core, the word has developed several well-established figurative senses. It can describe wasting or ruining an opportunity, as when someone blows a job interview; sudden bursting, as when a tire blows on the highway; or losing one's temper, captured in the phrase "blew his top." Because these figurative uses are so widespread in everyday conversation, "blew" often carries a colloquial, informal flavor even though its literal sense is entirely neutral. The word is easily confused in writing with "blue," which sounds identical but refers to a color. Traced back through Old English "blawan," it belongs to one of the oldest verb families in the language.
verbBlew is the simple past tense of the verb "blow," meaning that air or wind moved forcefully, or that someone forced air out of their mouth. It also extends figuratively to mean wasted or ruined an opportunity.
- The simple past tense of blow: air or wind moved, or someone forced air out of their mouth.
- (Figurative) Wasted or lost an opportunity, as in 'she blew her chance.'
- (Figurative) Burst or exploded suddenly, as in 'the tire blew.'
- (Figurative) Made a serious error or failed badly, as in 'he blew the interview.'
"The wind blew hard all night, rattling the shutters until dawn."
"A cold wind blew across the moors as the sun went down."
"He blew his entire savings on a car he couldn't afford."
Blew and blue are pronounced identically — one describes what the wind does, the other the color of the sky it moves through.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of blew
Blew derives from the Old English strong verb "blawan," meaning to blow, which traces back through Proto-Germanic to the Indo-European root *bʰleh₁-, a root concerned with blowing and swelling. The same Germanic lineage produced "blast" and "bluster" within English, while the broader Indo-European root surfaces in Latinate borrowings such as "inflate" and "conflate." It has been part of English since its earliest recorded stages, changing little beyond the regular sound shifts that shaped modern strong-verb past tenses.
Related word forms
How blew is actually used
Blew appears only as a past-tense verb form; it is never used as an independent present-tense word. In informal speech it frequently carries figurative meanings about failure or waste ('blew it,' 'blew the game'), giving it a slightly colloquial register in those uses, while its literal use about wind is neutral.
Easily confused with blew
"Blew" is the past tense of the verb blow, while "blue" is a color or adjective describing sadness.