BLA'AST, noun [Eng. blaze, which is primarily a blowing or swelling.] 1. A gust or puff of wind; or a sudden gust of wind. 2. The sound made by blowing a wind instrument. 3. Any pernicious or destructive influence upon animals or plants. 4. The infection of any thing pestilential; a blight on plants. 5. A sudden compression of air, attended with a shock, caused by the discharge of cannon. 6. A forcible stream of air from the mouth, from a bellows or the like. 7. A violent explosion of gun powder, in splitting rocks, and the explosion of inflammable air in a mine. 8. The whole blowing of a forge necessary to melt one supply of ore; a common use of the word among workmen in forges in American.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI