blowout

/ˌbloʊˈaʊt/

/ˈblʌʊaʊt/

Other forms: blowouts

When something stops working or breaks down, you can call it a blowout. The blowout of a city's electrical system can be a particularly big problem.

A blowout most often involves air or gas pressure — a blowout when you're driving on the highway is a popped tire. You can also use the word to mean a really easy victory in sports, like your favorite football team's blowout victory over its rival. Yet another meaning of blowout is a fabulous party: "Let's have a blowout to celebrate your twenty-first birthday!" The original, colloquial American meaning of blowout was "outburst," or what might today be called a "blow up."

Definitions of blowout

1. noun

   an easy victory
   synonyms: laugher, romp, runaway, shoo-in, walkaway

   type of:

   triumph, victory

   a successful ending of a struggle or contest
2. noun

   a sudden malfunction of a part or apparatus
   “the right front tire had a blowout”

   “as a result of the blowout we lost all the lights”

   type of:

   glitch, malfunction

   a failure to work normally
3. noun

   a joyful festivity
   synonyms: gala, gala affair, jamboree

   type of:

   celebration, festivity

   any joyous diversion