blow up
BothSense-dependent: some meanings take an object and split, others take none. Check the sense you mean.
How to say it
Stress the particle, not the verb: blow UP. Saying “BLOW up” is the clearest learner tell — the verb stays light and the particle carries the beat.
A glide appears. Two vowels meet, so American English slips a /w/ between them: “blow up” → “blow-wup”. You do not insert it deliberately — it falls out of not stopping between the words.
4 meanings
- 1
To explode, or to destroy something with an explosion.
- “The bomb blew up, causing massive destruction.”
- “They blew up the old bridge before building the new one.”
Similar: explode, detonate
- 2
To inflate something with air.
- “Can you blow up the balloons before the guests arrive?”
- “It took twenty minutes to blow the air mattress up.”
Similar: inflate
- 3
To lose your temper suddenly.
informal- “He blew up when he heard the project had been cancelled.”
- “Don't blow up at her — she was only passing on the message.”
Similar: lose it, explode
- 4
To enlarge a photograph or image.
- “Blow the picture up so we can read the sign in the background.”
Similar: enlarge