overblow
overblow verb: to cover with blossoms or flowers.
Verb (1)
overblow (third-person singular simple present overblows, present participle overblowing, simple past overblew, past participle overblown)
- To cover with blossoms or flowers.
Verb (2)
overblow (third-person singular simple present overblows, present participle overblowing, simple past overblew, past participle overblown)
- To blow over or across.
- To blow away; dissipate by or as by wind.
- To exaggerate the significance of something.
- if you do print the DUI story and sensationalize and overblow it2006, Jock Lauterer, Community Journalism: Relentlessly Local
- To blow a wind instrument (typically a whistle, recorder or flute) hard to produce a higher pitch than usual.
- The upper octaves of the flute's compass are produced by overblowing.1909, Leander Jan Bekker, Stokes' Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians
- Of a wind instrument, to move from its lower to its higher register.
- The oboe overblows at the octave; the clarinet at the twelfth.
- Of the wind: to blow very hard, often resulting in ships unable to carry full sail.
- Finding it was like to overblow, we took in our Sprit-ſail, and ſtood by to hand the Fore-ſail; but making foul Weather, we look'd the Guns were all faſt, and handed the Miſſen.1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “A Great Storm Described, the Long-Boat Sent to Fetch Water, the Author Goes with It to Discover the Country. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the...
- “The wind blows frisking,” the mate cried, scrambling up the ladder and joining the master.
“Yea, it is like to over-blow. She took a shrewd plunge but now. We shall further our voyage by striking every sail. Go thou, mate, and have them secure the spritsail-yard, then take thy station on the...1923, Charles Boardman Hawes, The Dark Frigate, Chapter 8
- To blow over; pass over; pass away.
- But art thou not drown'd, Stephano? I hope now thou are / not drown'd. Is the storm overblown?1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
Forms of overblow
| third-person singular present | overblows |
|---|---|
| present participle | overblowing |
| past | overblew |
| past participle | overblown |
Origin of overblow
From over- + blow (“to flower, bloom”).
From Middle English overblowen, equivalent to over- + blow.
Words formed from overblow
Questions about overblow
- What does overblow mean?
- Overblow means to cover with blossoms or flowers.
- What part of speech is overblow?
- Overblow is a verb.
- What is the past tense of overblow?
- The past tense of overblow is overblew.
Words near overblow in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: overblow (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “overblow.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/overblow. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.