blowoff

Noun

blowoff (plural blowoffs)

1. Something that is blown off.
   • It is evident that if the outlet pipes were only of the same total area as the blowoff from the boiler the pressure in the tank would very soon equal that in the boiler .1910 July 12, Wilbur Arnold, “Blowoff Tank”, in Power and the Engineer, volume 32, page 1265
   • However, the cirrus blowoff from the top of the cumulonimbus clouds indicates an easterly component, or less of a westerly component, in the upper troposphere.1974, Skylab 4 Visual Observations Project Report, pages 12-4
2. The explosive separation of part of a rocket etc in order to prevent its destruction and allow for retrieval
3. The act of blowing off (steam, water, atmosphere, etc.)
   • All blowoffs were effected by slowly decreasing the burner pressure at intervals of air temperature, airflow, and fuel flow.1959, Robert J. Bacigalupi, Erwin A. Lezberg, Blowoff of Propane and Hydrogen Diffusion Flames at High Mach Number, Ramjet Conditions, page 4
   • Some investigators claim that snow blowoff from cropland in prairie areas not protected by shelterbelts may be as much as 50 to 75 percent (Gorshenin et al. 1934), and, as a consequence, protected fields get 2½ to 3 times as much moisture from snow as unprotected land.1962, John Milton Webber, Fiber Qualities and Culture of Phormium in California, page 4
4. A line or pipe for draining a siphon (for cleaning, inspection, etc.)
   • The blowoff line runs from the lowest water drum, or mud drum, as it is commonly known, to the sewer , river or circulating water discharge .1918, The Au Sable News - Volumes 4-5, page 22
   • The level of fluid in the main trap will have moved down the same distance the level in the blowoff trap has moved .1945, Division of Agriculture, University of Arkansas, Report Series - Agricultural Experiment Station, page 5
5. The removal of excess foam and carbon dioxide from the fermentation vessel during the active fermentation stage.
   • I performed several experiments to determine the effect of the blowoff method of fermentation on bitterness, protein, and higher alcohols.1997, Al Korzonas, Homebrewing, page 347
   • This blowoff method is wasteful because you lose a couple of quarts of beer, but it is the best way to reconcile the sanitation advantages of a closed fermenter with the behavior of top cropping yeast strains.2012, Dave Miller, Dave Miller's Homebrewing Guide
6. A period of rapid and usually unsustainable increase (or, sometimes, decrease) in market prices.
   • Often this throwing-in-the-towel mentality is pure crowd following and results in entry at the blowoff phase of the trend .2005, Richard L. Weissman, Mechanical Trading Systems, page 68
   • A crash in china would reverberate across Asia, and a blowoff that resulted in political instability would have dire consequences.2014, Barton Biggs, Biggs on Finance, Economics, and the Stock Market, page 221
7. A curt or uninterested dismissal; a failure to respond adequately.
   • He tried to get it fixed but they gave him the blowoff.
   • People have no trouble detecting, and resenting, a blowoff.2012, Virgil Scudder, Ken Scudder, World Class Communication, page 26
8. (crime) The stage in a con game in which one gets rid of the mark after taking his or her money.
   • Then comes the blowoff, by which they get rid of him .1956, Chic Conwell, Edwin Hardin Sutherland, The Professional Thief, page 65
   • White grifters call it the blowoff.1969, Iceberg Slim (,Robert Beck), Trick Baby, page 123
9. The exit of a crowd from a circus or carnival act.
   • The most dramatic blowoff I have witnessed was at the single-O side-show featuring Atasha the Gorilla Girl, which actually frightened patrons out of the show.2005, Joe Nickell, Secrets of the Sideshows, page 77
   • Margarita is going to hire you to sell her toys in the ring, so she can run the toy stand out in the midway and catch the blowoff crowd when people leave the big top.2016, Elizabeth Carter Wellington, Circus Girl
10. An extra attraction offered to the audience of a sideshow or carnival act, usually hidden behind a curtain and requiring an additional payment; aftershow.
    • Not in the girlie shows, stripping naked for the yokenecks who give up a couple of bucks for the blowoff. The aftershow.1969, Henry W. Clune, O'Shaughnessy's Cafe, page 216
    • Some showmen reserve their best acts or exhibits for the blowoff.2005, Joe Nickell, Secrets of the Sideshows, page 77
11. A finale.
    • All the way, we played cards, smoked, and laughed over how Gloria and this other skater got in this fight for every night's blowoff .2005, D. Bordner, Roller Babes, page 83
    • Patterson, who had just come off the Alley Fight blowoff to his feud with Sarge, was looking for something new to do, and had decided that a feud with Mosca would be his next adventure.2015, Bob Backlund, Robert H. Miller, Backlund
12. A fight that marks the culmination of a long period of antagonism.
    • The blowoff came when Johnny went to bat again in the sixth frame .1950, Caary Paul Jackson, Rookie First Baseman, page 157
    • The unwilling storm center of last year's Army-McCarthy blowoff, Civilian Schine planned to take up his chores ( for which he drew handsome salaries throughout his Army days) as president and general manager of his father's nation-spanning chain of five hotels (e.g. Forida's Boca Raton, Los...1955, “People”, in Time, volume 66, page 30