Definition

1. Noun:
   • A device that produces a current of air: A machine, often a fan run by an electric motor, used to move air or gas.
   • A large aquatic mammal: (Informal, chiefly British) A term for a whale, dolphin, porpoise, or similar cetacean.
   • A person who blows: Someone who operates a device that requires blowing, such as a glassblower.

Usage and Examples

• As a device:
  • We used a leaf blower to clear the driveway.
  • The furnace is equipped with a powerful blower.
• As an aquatic mammal (informal):
  • We spotted a blower off the coast; it was a humpback whale.
• As a person:
  • He is a master blower of fine crystal glassware.

Advanced Usage

• On the blower: (British slang) On the telephone.
  • He's been on the blower to head office all morning.
• Whistle-blower: While a compound word, it relates to the core idea of "blowing" a whistle to expose wrongdoing. It is not a direct synonym for "blower" itself.

Variants and Related Words

• Glassblower (n): A person who shapes molten glass by blowing air into it through a tube.
• Leaf blower (n): A portable garden tool that uses an air current to move leaves.
• Snow blower (n): A machine that clears snow by blowing it to the side.
• Blow (v): The root verb meaning to expel air.

Synonyms

• Fan: A device with rotating blades that creates an air current.
• Ventilator: A device that circulates fresh air.
• Cetacean: (For the biological meaning) The formal term for whales, dolphins, etc.

Phrasal Verbs / Related Phrases

• Blow out: To extinguish by blowing or, for a device, to fail.
  • The strong wind will blow out the candles. (This uses the root verb "blow," not the noun "blower").
• Blow up: To inflate or explode.
  • He used a pump to blow up the balloons. (This uses the root verb "blow," not the noun "blower").

Related Idioms

• A four-pipe blower: (Nautical slang, archaic) A whale.
• Ring the blower: (Slang) To make a telephone call.

Noun

1. large aquatic carnivorous mammal with fin-like forelimbs no hind limbs, including: whales; dolphins; porpoises; narwhals
2. a fan run by an electric motor
3. a device that produces a current of air