What does "blast away" mean (sense 1)?

To fire weapons continuously or repeatedly without stopping. Example: "The soldiers blasted away at the enemy position for hours before the ceasefire."

What does "blast away" mean (sense 2)?

To attack or demolish something with explosive or powerful force. Example: "They blasted away at the old building for days before the walls finally came down."

What does "blast away" mean (sense 3)?

To work at something with great energy and enthusiasm, or for music to play at high volume continuously. Example: "She blasted away at the report all evening and finally finished it at midnight."

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blast away

B2 informal inseparable intransitive

To fire weapons continuously; to attack or demolish something with great force; or to proceed energetically at a task.

In plain English

To keep shooting a gun, OR to attack something very hard, OR to keep doing something with lots of energy.

What does "blast away" mean?

3 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.

1 B2 neutral

uncommon

To fire weapons continuously or repeatedly without stopping.

"The soldiers blasted away at the enemy position for hours before the ceasefire."

inseparable

2 B2 neutral

uncommon

To attack or demolish something with explosive or powerful force.

"They blasted away at the old building for days before the walls finally came down."

inseparable

3 B2 idiomatic informal

rare

To work at something with great energy and enthusiasm, or for music to play at high volume continuously.

"She blasted away at the report all evening and finally finished it at midnight."

inseparable

Literal vs figurative

Words literally mean

To blast (explode or shoot) continuously in all directions.

Actually means

To keep shooting a gun, OR to attack something very hard, OR to keep doing something with lots of energy.

Usage tip

The shooting sense is common in action contexts, news reporting, and fiction. The figurative 'work hard at something' sense is less common but used in informal speech. Can also describe loud music playing continuously. The particle 'away' adds the sense of continuous or sustained action.

Words that pair with "blast away"

Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.

guns enemies keyboard music target critics

How to conjugate "blast away"

The five tense forms you'll use most often.

Base

blast away

I/you/we/they

3rd person

blasts away

he/she/it

Past simple

blasted away

yesterday

Past participle

blasted away

have + pp

-ing form

blasting away

continuous

Hear "blast away" in the wild

Listen to native speakers using "blast away" in real YouTube videos — click a clip to watch it on Looplines.

Keep exploring

Jump to every phrasal verb built on the same verb, particle, or level.

All phrasal verbs with "blast" All phrasal verbs with "away" More B2-level phrasal verbs