blow
verb [ T ]
uk/bləʊ/ usblew | blownto spend a lot of money on something that is not important or effective:
Central Bank blew $900m of foreign-exchange reserves in the first two weeks of October alone.
blow the whistle (on sb/sth)
to tell someone in authority about something harmful or illegal that someone is doing:
If two of the firm's employees hadn't blown the whistle, the scandal would never have become known.
blow the lid on/off sth
to tell people the real and unpleasant facts about something that were previously not known:
The report blew the lid on the culture of secrecy surrounding the company's new range of fizzy-drink products.
blow a hole in sth
to cause serious harm or damage to something:
Defeat would blow a hole in the club's finances.
blow
noun [ C ]
uk/bləʊ/ ussomething that causes serious problems or spoils your chances of success:
be a blow to sth The loss of 1000 jobs is another blow to the country's manufacturing sector.
come as a blow (to sb/sth) Unemployment figures will come as a blow to the Chancellor as he prepares next week's budget.
deal/deliver a blow (to sb/sth) Rising pollution levels threaten to deal a blow to the state's billion-dollar tourism industry.
a major/devastating/bitter blow We have suffered a major blow.
soften/cushion the blow
to make the bad effects of something seem to be not as bad as they could have been:
If things go wrong there are no mechanisms to soften the blow.