blew up

Definition of blew upnext
past tense of blow up
1
2
as in exploded
to break open or into pieces usually because of internal pressure the building blew up because of a gas leak

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

3
as in shattered
to cause to break open or into pieces by or as if by an explosive blew up the biggest rocks and then cleared them away

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

4

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of blew up That story blew up the baseball world for a little while, with questions raised about your reputation as a teammate and clubhouse presence. Annie Heilbrunn, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Apr. 2026 The short sentiment blew up in 2025 when West Ada School District leaders told a teacher to take down her sign emblazoned with those words, ahead of the Legislature’s passage of a bill barring religious, political and ideological flags or banners in public schools. Idaho Statesman, 23 Apr. 2026 One of those blew up on its landing attempt while another was purposefully expended to get its payload to a higher orbital insertion. Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 19 Apr. 2026 He got separated, then un-separated, then his wife gave birth during a car crash, then his wife blew up. Bethy Squires, Vulture, 17 Apr. 2026 Nine Vicious blew up for a reason. Olivier Lafontant, Pitchfork, 16 Apr. 2026 Less than two weeks later another X post blew up when Kadri followed actress Megan Fox. Joshua Kloke, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2026 Doing so would require the help of at least some Democrats, who've lost no love with their GOP colleagues after House Republicans, led by Johnson, blew up a bipartisan deal the Senate passed unanimously to fully fund all of DHS except immigration enforcement. Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 31 Mar. 2026 Levy blew up the old model, replacing a system of scarcity with one built on abundance. Maxwell Adler, Vanity Fair, 31 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for blew up
Verb
  • The verdict on the lesser charge angered Diller’s colleagues in the NYPD.
    John Annese, New York Daily News, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Trump faces record-low approval ratings, while Washington’s war on Iran, which has sent US gasoline prices spiking, has further angered voters.
    Jeronimo Gonzalez, semafor.com, 21 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • And that crowd exploded again when Hutson ended it in overtime.
    Arpon Basu, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2026
  • Perhaps relieved from the heavy themes that preceded it, the crowd exploded into a euphoric celebration of singing and dancing.
    Ben Crandell, Sun Sentinel, 24 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • She was spurred in part by the election of Kurt Waldheim as president of Austria in 1986; revelations of his Nazi past shattered the myth that the country had been an innocent victim of Hitler.
    Ben Davis, The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2026
  • Bullets shattered a glass refrigerator door behind Marquise, who fell to the ground right next to the store’s counter.
    Rebecca White, New York Daily News, 25 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Is tofu all it's cracked up to be?
    Sam Woodward, USA Today, 26 Mar. 2026
  • Here, Lauren Houser, vice president of marketing at cleaning solutions company Zep in Atlanta, Georgia, highlights six common hacks that really aren't all they're cracked up to be.
    Sarah Lyon, Southern Living, 27 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • Archaeologists have uncovered a mortar shell from the bloodiest battle in Scotland's history — a shell that never detonated.
    Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 24 Apr. 2026
  • The court sided with a soldier who was badly injured when a Taliban operative working at the Bagram Airfield detonated a suicide bomb.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • One assistant said Rudin threw a phone at him, and another said Rudin smashed a computer monitor on his head, among other allegations.
    Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Rinku then smashed four consecutive sixes off wrist spinner Digvesh Rathi.
    ABC News, ABC News, 26 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Buckingham Palace announced Sunday that the visit would proceed as previously planned.
    Kathryn Palmer, USA Today, 28 Apr. 2026
  • The rookie award was the sixth to be announced by the NBA since the end of the regular season.
    Schuyler Dixon, Chicago Tribune, 28 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • The talks planned for Saturday come as much of the world is on edge over a war that has snarled crucial energy exports through the Strait of Hormuz, clouded the global economic picture and left thousands dead across the Middle East.
    Munir Ahmed, Chicago Tribune, 24 Apr. 2026
  • Onshore projects can get snarled in land permitting issues, political blowback, and policy volatility; offshore projects, in contrast, can just get moved somewhere else.
    Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 23 Apr. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Blew up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/blew%20up. Accessed 1 May. 2026.

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