blow away the cobwebs




blow away the cobwebs :




blow someone away

kill, destroy or defeat someone

have a very strong effect on someone – informal

1998 - Times - It blows me away the way she [a 13-year-old] is already moving through her life.



blow away the cobwebs = clear away the cobwebs

banish a state of lethargy

enliven or refresh yourself



blow your cool

lose your composure

become angry or agitated – informal



blow the doors off

be considerably better or more successful than - North American informal



blow a fuse = blow a gasket

lose your temper – informal

The metaphor is of the failure of an electrical circuit or engine as a result of overheating.



blow the gaff

reveal or let out a plot or secret

The word gaff is recorded from the early 19th century, but its origins are uncertain.



blow great guns

be very windy - informal



blow hot and cold

alternate inconsistently between two moods, attitudes or courses of action

be sometimes enthusiastic, sometimes unenthusiastic about something

This phrase refers to a fable involving a traveller who was offered hospitality by a satyr and offended his host by blowing on his cold fingers to warm them and on his hot soup to cool it.



blow the lid off

remove means of restraint and allow something to get out of control – informal

1995 - Daily Express - Fleiss was taken to court on prostitution charges and threatened to blow the lid off Hollywood by revealing names of all her superstar clients.



blow someone's mind

affect someone very strongly – informal

Blow someone's mind was originally a mid 20th-century expression for the effect of hallucinatory drugs such as LSD.



blow off steam = let off steam

get rid of pent-up energy or emotion – informal

The image here is of the release of excess steam from a steam engine through a valve.



blow your own horn = blow your own horn

talk boastfully about yourself or your achievements – North American



blow your own trumpet

talk openly and boastfully about your achievements

1998 - Spectator - I only mention this to blow my own trumpet. IT was a source of great pride to be reinstated at the specific behest of Britain's most distinguished black radical journalist.



blow a raspberry

make a derisive or contemptuous sound with your lips

This expression is from rhyming slang, where raspberry tart means a fart.

1996 – Observer - It is unthinkable that, this close to a general election, the party is going to blow a raspberry at its leader.



blow someone's socks off = knock someone's socks off

amaze or impress someone – informal

1991 - Barbara Anderson - Girls High Years ago she saw a Hockney. The few lines which sketched the owlish face knocked her socks off.



blow something sky-high

destroy something completely in an explosion – informal



blow your top

lose your temper

Two, chiefly North American, variants are blow your lid and blow your stack.



blow up in your face

(of an action, plan or situation) go drastically wrong with damaging effects to yourself.



blow the whistle on

bring an illicit activity to and end by informing on the person responsible – informal

This idiom comes from football in which the referee blows a whistle to indicate that a player has broken the rules. Those who inform on others engaged in an illicit activity are now referred to as whistle-blowers.



blow with the wind

act according to prevailing circumstances rather than a consistent plan



soften the blow = cushion the blow

make it easier to cope



which way the wind blows

how a situation is likely to develop




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