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What is "to blow hot and cold"

The Collaborative International Dictionary
To blow hot and cold

Blow \Blow\, v. i. [imp. Blew (bl[=u]); p. p. Blown (bl[=o]n); p. pr. & vb. n. Blowing.] [OE. blawen, blowen, AS. bl[=a]wan to blow, as wind; akin to OHG. pl[=a]jan, G. bl["a]hen, to blow up, swell, L. flare to blow, Gr. 'ekflai`nein to spout out, and to E. bladder, blast, inflate, etc., and perh. blow to bloom.]

  1. To produce a current of air; to move, as air, esp. to move rapidly or with power; as, the wind blows.

    Hark how it rains and blows !
    --Walton.

  2. To send forth a forcible current of air, as from the mouth or from a pair of bellows.

  3. To breathe hard or quick; to pant; to puff.

    Here is Mistress Page at the door, sweating and blowing.
    --Shak.

  4. To sound on being blown into, as a trumpet.

    There let the pealing organ blow.
    --Milton.

  5. To spout water, etc., from the blowholes, as a whale.

  6. To be carried or moved by the wind; as, the dust blows in from the street.

    The grass blows from their graves to thy own.
    --M. Arnold.

  7. To talk loudly; to boast; to storm. [Colloq.]

    You blow behind my back, but dare not say anything to my face.
    --Bartlett.

  8. To stop functioning due to a failure in an electrical circuit, especially on which breaks the circuit; sometimes used with out; -- used of light bulbs, electronic components, fuses; as, the dome light in the car blew out.

  9. To deflate by sudden loss of air; usually used with out; -- of inflatable tires. To blow hot and cold (a saying derived from a fable of [AE]sop's), to favor a thing at one time and treat it coldly at another; or to appear both to favor and to oppose. To blow off, to let steam escape through a passage provided for the purpose; as, the engine or steamer is blowing off. To blow out.

    1. To be driven out by the expansive force of a gas or vapor; as, a steam cock or valve sometimes blows out.

    2. To talk violently or abusively. [Low]

      To blow over, to pass away without effect; to cease, or be dissipated; as, the storm and the clouds have blown over.

      To blow up, to be torn to pieces and thrown into the air as by an explosion of powder or gas or the expansive force of steam; to burst; to explode; as, a powder mill or steam boiler blows up. ``The enemy's magazines blew up.''
      --Tatler.