- a hard hit with the hand, a weapon, etc.
- She received a severe blow on the head.
- He was knocked out by a single blow to the head.
- The two men were exchanging blows.
- He landed a blow on Hill's nose.
Extra Examples- He felt a stinging blow across the side of his face.
- It was the gardener who delivered the fatal blow.
- Jack caught him a glancing blow on the jaw.
- The blow knocked him to the ground.
- The force of the blow knocked him out.
- He rained heavy blows on the intruder.
- The man went down in a hail of blows.
- two blows of the axe
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- hard
- heavy
- nasty
- …
- flurry
- get
- receive
- suffer
- …
- fall
- land
- knock somebody down, over, etc.
- …
- blow of
- blow on
- blow to
- …
- come to blows
- the force of the blow
Definitions on the go
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- blow (to somebody/something) a sudden event that hurts or damages somebody/something, causing the people affected to be sad or disappointed
- Losing his job came as a terrible blow to him.
- It was a shattering blow to her pride.
- The new cuts will be seen as a crippling blow for people on low incomes.
- The recent bomb attacks are a serious blow for the peace process.
- The blow came at a meeting on Saturday.
- The news came as a bitter blow to the staff.
- a mortal blow to British industry
- Can you stay with Cathy tonight? She's had a bit of a blow.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- big
- great
- huge
- …
- deal (somebody/something)
- deliver
- strike
- …
- come
- fall
- blow for
- blow to
- a bit of a blow
- the action of blowing
- Give your nose a good blow (= clear it completely).
- Try to put the candles out in one blow.
- I’ll give three blows on the whistle as a signal.
Word Originnoun late Middle English: of unknown origin.
Idioms
See blow in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee blow in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englisha blow-by-blow account, description, etc. (of something)
- (informal) a description of an event that gives you all the details in the order in which they happen
- He insisted on giving us a blow-by-blow account of what had happened.
- She gave us a blow-by-blow account of the incident.
come to blows (over something)
- to start fighting because of something
- We almost came to blows over what colour the new carpet should be.
- The children came to blows over the new toy.
deal somebody/something a blow | deal a blow to somebody/something (formal)
- to shock somebody/something very much; to be very harmful to somebody/something
- Her sudden death dealt a blow to the whole country.
- to hit somebody/something
soften/cushion the blow
- to make something that is unpleasant seem less unpleasant and easier to accept
- I should try to soften the blow of this news.
- The chancellor may try to soften the blow somewhat with a cut in interest rates.
strike a blow for/against/at something
- to do something in support of/against a belief, principle, etc.
- He felt that they had struck a blow for democracy.
Check pronunciation:
blow