From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
-blast \-blast\ [Gr. blasto`s sprout, shoot.]
A suffix or terminal formative, used principally in
biological terms, and signifying growth, formation; as,
bioblast, epiblast, mesoblast, etc.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Blast \Blast\ (bl[.a]st), n. [AS. bl[=ae]st a puff of wind, a
blowing; akin to Icel. bl[=a]str, OHG. bl[=a]st, and fr. a
verb akin to Icel. bl[=a]sa to blow, OHG. bl[^a]san, Goth.
bl[=e]san (in comp.); all prob. from the same root as E.
blow. See Blow to eject air.]
1. A violent gust of wind.
[1913 Webster]
And see where surly Winter passes off,
Far to the north, and calls his ruffian blasts;
His blasts obey, and quit the howling hill.
--Thomson.
[1913 Webster]
2. A forcible stream of air from an orifice, as from a
bellows, the mouth, etc. Hence: The continuous blowing to
which one charge of ore or metal is subjected in a
furnace; as, to melt so many tons of iron at a blast.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The terms hot blast and cold blast are employed to
designate whether the current is heated or not heated
before entering the furnace. A blast furnace is said to
be in blast while it is in operation, and out of blast
when not in use.
[1913 Webster]
3. The exhaust steam from and engine, driving a column of air
out of a boiler chimney, and thus creating an intense
draught through the fire; also, any draught produced by
the blast.
[1913 Webster]
4. The sound made by blowing a wind instrument; strictly, the
sound produces at one breath.
[1913 Webster]
One blast upon his bugle horn
Were worth a thousand men. --Sir W.
Scott.
[1913 Webster]
The blast of triumph o'er thy grave. --Bryant.
[1913 Webster]
5. A sudden, pernicious effect, as if by a noxious wind,
especially on animals and plants; a blight.
[1913 Webster]
By the blast of God they perish. --Job iv. 9.
[1913 Webster]
Virtue preserved from fell destruction's blast.
--Shak.
[1913 Webster]
6. The act of rending, or attempting to rend, heavy masses of
rock, earth, etc., by the explosion of gunpowder,
dynamite, etc.; also, the charge used for this purpose.
"Large blasts are often used." --Tomlinson.
[1913 Webster]
7. A flatulent disease of sheep.
[1913 Webster]
Blast furnace, a furnace, usually a shaft furnace for
smelting ores, into which air is forced by pressure.
Blast hole, a hole in the bottom of a pump stock through
which water enters.
Blast nozzle, a fixed or variable orifice in the delivery
end of a blast pipe; -- called also blast orifice.
In full blast, in complete operation; in a state of great
activity. See Blast, n., 2. [Colloq.]
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Blast \Blast\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Blasted; p. pr. & vb. n.
Blasting.]
1. To injure, as by a noxious wind; to cause to wither; to
stop or check the growth of, and prevent from
fruit-bearing, by some pernicious influence; to blight; to
shrivel.
[1913 Webster]
Seven thin ears, and blasted with the east wind.
--Gen. xii. 6.
[1913 Webster]
2. Hence, to affect with some sudden violence, plague,
calamity, or blighting influence, which destroys or causes
to fail; to visit with a curse; to curse; to ruin; as, to
blast pride, hopes, or character.
[1913 Webster]
I'll cross it, though it blast me. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
Blasted with excess of light. --T. Gray.
[1913 Webster]
3. To confound by a loud blast or din.
[1913 Webster]
Trumpeters,
With brazen din blast you the city's ear. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
4. To rend open by any explosive agent, as gunpowder,
dynamite, etc.; to shatter; as, to blast rocks.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Blast \Blast\, v. i.
1. To be blighted or withered; as, the bud blasted in the
blossom.
[1913 Webster]
2. To blow; to blow on a trumpet. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
Toke his blake trumpe faste
And gan to puffen and to blaste. --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]