Blowback

Quick meaning: Blowback is a noun meaning (figurative) An unintended adverse result, especially of covert political action.

Meaning

(figurative) An unintended adverse result, especially of covert political action.

More Meanings

1. (rail transport) On a steam locomotive, the reversal of exhaust gases when the regulator is closed without using the blower.
2. (computing) Synonym of backscatter.
3. (firearms) A type of action where the pressure from the fired cartridge blows a sliding mechanism backward to extract the fired cartridge, chamber another cartridge, and cock the hammer.
4. (slang) The act of shotgunning (inhaling from a pipe etc. and exhaling into another smoker's mouth).

Example Sentences

Paranoid I was being ripped off, I 'tested' the potency of the skunk on a wasp by trapping it under a glass, and giving it a blowback.

The Israeli UZI submachine gun, one the most easily recognized examples of a blowback firearm, is well known for its simplicity, ease of manufacture, low maintenance, and utter reliability.

It is a story about blowback from Sunni Islamist extremists who went to Syria from various Arab countries and were allowed to assemble there in the aftermath of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The Boulogne stop lasted a few minutes, during which I was surprised to see no use was made of the blower. In this country, if you shut the regulator without the blower on, the odds are there will be a blowback.

Word Forms

• blowbacks
• blow-back

Synonyms for blowback

Depending on context, synonyms include fallout, backscatter.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include backblast, kickback, backfire, knockback, knock-back, flip.

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