Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To cover by being blown by the wind.
  • transitive verb To blow (a wind instrument) so as to produce an overtone instead of a fundamental tone.
  • transitive verb To exaggerate or overreact to.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To blow over; pass over; pass away.
  • To blow hard or with too much violence.
  • To blow over or across.
  • To blow away; dissipate by or as by wind.
  • To blow or play (a musical wind-instrument) with sufficient force to sound one of the harmonics of the tube instead of its fundamental tone.
  • To cover with blossoms or flowers.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb rare To blow over, or be subdued.
  • intransitive verb (Mus.) To force so much wind into a pipe that it produces an overtone, or a note higher than the natural note; thus, the upper octaves of a flute are produced by overblowing.
  • transitive verb To blow away; to dissipate by wind, or as by wind.
  • transitive verb To ascribe an unwarranted importance to.
  • transitive verb (Music) To blow into (a wind instrument) too strongly, so as to produce predominantly overtones.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To cover with blossoms or flowers.
  • verb intransitive, obsolete To blow over; pass over; pass away.
  • verb intransitive To blow hard or with much violence.
  • verb transitive To blow over or across.
  • verb transitive To blow away; dissipate by or as by wind.
  • verb transitive To exaggerate the significance of something.
  • verb transitive (music) To blow a wind instrument hard to produce a higher pitch than usual.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Sense 3, back-formation from overblown.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From over- +‎ blow (“to flower, bloom”).

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English overblowen, equivalent to over- +‎ blow.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word overblow.

Examples

  • A spokeswoman for the US-led International Security Assistance Force said that coalition was "cautiously optimistic" about the Sangin deal but were reluctant to "overblow" its importance.

    The Guardian World News Jon Boone 2011

  • If you do not overblow your expectations here you will discover great beauty but if you expect more than you will find here you will leave disappointed.

    The Veracruz You Do Not Know 2009

  • And a personal insult to our secretary of state is just as ignorant as anyone of our enemies 'attempt to overblow their own importance.

    North Korea: Clinton 'funny lady, by no means intelligent' 2009

  • If you do not overblow your expectations here you will discover great beauty but if you expect more than you will find here you will leave disappointed.

    The Veracruz You Do Not Know 2009

  • Sure, on The X Factor the judges are in competition with one another, but unless Simon starts hiring hit men to take out LA's acts, let's not overblow the dueling critiques.

    Why The X Factor Bloodbath Is Good News — And Hopefully Just a Starting Point 2012

  • If you do not overblow your expectations here you will discover great beauty but if you expect more than you will find here you will leave disappointed.

    The Veracruz You Do Not Know 2009

  • If you do not overblow your expectations here you will discover great beauty but if you expect more than you will find here you will leave disappointed.

    The Veracruz You Do Not Know 2009

  • If you do not overblow your expectations here you will discover great beauty but if you expect more than you will find here you will leave disappointed.

    The Veracruz You Do Not Know 2009

  • If you do not overblow your expectations here you will discover great beauty but if you expect more than you will find here you will leave disappointed.

    The Veracruz You Do Not Know 2009

  • If you do not overblow your expectations here you will discover great beauty but if you expect more than you will find here you will leave disappointed.

    The Veracruz You Do Not Know 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • A by-product of mold blowing; the overblow is the portion of the parison that remains outside the mold. Also called moil.

    November 9, 2007