Blow Up

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Meaning 1 of 3
Definition

To inflate something

Example sentence
"I need to blow up the balloons before the party."
Real video usage
Three clips showing this meaning in natural speech.
Clip 1
⏱ Timestamp
1:55 Mins
Open on YouTube
Clip 2
⏱ Timestamp
58:31 Mins
Open on YouTube
Clip 3
⏱ Timestamp
25:54 Mins
Open on YouTube
Ng
Common collocations
Natural word pairings to memorize.
  • blow up a balloon
  • blow up an air mattress
  • blow up a tire
  • blow up a beach ball
Separable usage
Can the object split the verb? Compare correct vs incorrect.
  • She blew up the tire.
  • She blew the tire up.
Meaning 1 of 3
Definition

Explode, destroy by exploding

Example sentence
"The bomb blew up the building"
Real video usage
Three clips showing this meaning in natural speech.
Clip 1
⏱ Timestamp
3:02 Mins
Open on YouTube
Building
Clip 2
⏱ Timestamp
18:23 Mins
Open on YouTube
Building
Clip 3
⏱ Timestamp
16:32 Mins
Open on YouTube
Bomb
Common collocations
Natural word pairings to memorize.
  • blow up a building
  • blow up a bridge
  • blow up a car
  • blow up a bomb
  • blow up the lab
Separable usage
Can the object split the verb? Compare correct vs incorrect.
  • They blew up the building. They blew the building up.
Meaning 1 of 3
Definition

To become very angry

Example sentence
"He blew up when he found out I crashed his car."
Real video usage
Three clips showing this meaning in natural speech.
Clip 1
⏱ Timestamp
22:28 Mins
Open on YouTube
Clip 2
⏱ Timestamp
4:40 Mins
Open on YouTube
Clip 3
⏱ Timestamp
4:55 Mins
Open on YouTube
This one also has clam up!
Common collocations
Natural word pairings to memorize.
  • blow up at someone
  • suddenly blow up
  • blow up over a mistake
  • blow up during an argument
  • completely blow up
Separable usage
Can the object split the verb? Compare correct vs incorrect.
  • (cross)He blew up during the meeting.
  • He blew during the meeting up.
Meaning 1 of 3
Definition

Sudden popularity

Example sentence
"Her TikTok account really blew up overnight"
Real video usage
Three clips showing this meaning in natural speech.
Clip 1
⏱ Timestamp
4:58 Mins
Open on YouTube
Clip 2
⏱ Timestamp
16:24 Mins
Open on YouTube
Clip 3
⏱ Timestamp
22:09 Mins
Open on YouTube
Common collocations
Natural word pairings to memorize.
  • song/video/account blows up
  • blow up on social media
  • blow up overnight
  • blow up on TikTok
  • blow up online
Separable usage
Can the object split the verb? Compare correct vs incorrect.
  • The video blew up online.
  • (cross)The video blew online up.