Blew

Blew is the simple past tense of the verb blow. It describes the action of moving air by wind, exhalation, or an explosive force, and is used to narrate events that happened in the past. The past participle form is blown, used in perfect tenses and passive constructions. Examples include "The wind blew all night," "She blew out the candles," and "The whistle blew."

Beyond literal air movement, blew appears in idiomatic and phrasal uses. For instance, "to blow a chance" or "to blow a lead" means to fail to maintain an advantage; "to blow up" can mean to explode, to inflate, or to suddenly become very popular or large. "The crowd blew away the competition" is less common but illustrative. In everyday speech, "blew it" means to perform poorly in a situation.

Etymology: The form is irregular and derives from Old English and Proto-Germanic roots, with cognates in other Germanic languages. The past tense is blew, while the past participle remains blown. This pattern—irregular past tense with blown as the participle—is characteristic of the verb blow in English.

Usage notes: Blew is restricted to past contexts; present tense uses blow (e.g., "The wind blows"). The phrase blew up has multiple senses depending on context (explode, enlarge, or intensify), while blown as the participle participates in perfect constructions (have blown) or adjectival phrases (blown fuse).

See also: Blow (verb); blown; irregular verbs.