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Glite Dictionary
to blast off

to blast off

10 4.1
To send a rocket up into the sky or space
  • phrasal verb
  • /blæst ɔf/
translation icon : despegar
  • My rocket blasts off perfectly, straight up into the clouds.
  • rocket blasts off
  • shuttle blasting off
  • space shuttle blasting off

We got our cacaos, Sir, and we're about to blast off.

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Examples

  • 10... 9... 8... Rene's breath went short... 7... 6... Dani's stomach flipped... 5... 4... 3... Gale's hands got numb... 2... 1... BLAST OFF!

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Blast off!

    Dr. No (1962)

  • Are you ready to blast off?

    Dark Waters (2019)

  • Three, two, one, blast off.

    Mainstream (2021)

  • In three, two, one, blast off!

    Princess and the Pony (2011)

  • Hi friends, Are you ready to blast off into outer space?

  • They're waiting to blast off.

    The Black Hole (1979)

  • And every Apollo mission, we watched the rockets blast off.

    Blog text (26)

  • Prepare to blast off!

    Garfield (2004)

  • In three, two, one, blast off!

Synonyms

to take off
vsto blast off
478 1.9

To leave the ground and begin to fly

applies to spacecraft launches into air or space rather than planes or birds
to lift off
vsto blast off
20 3.9

To rise into the air from the ground like a plane or rocket

is used for spacecraft and rocket launches into air and space
to rocket
vsto blast off
  • Specialized
12 4.2

To send something quickly up using a powerful engine

focuses on launch destination rather than propulsion method

Antonyms

to land
∞ 1.0

To come down and rest on a surface

How Forceful

to blast off
10 4.1
to launch
∞ 3.4
to lift off
20 3.9

Surface Forms

blast off infinitive
blasted off past
blasted off past participle
blasting off present participle
blasts off third person singular

Morphology

blast + off

The meaning 'to launch or take off' is directly derivable from combining 'blast' (a forceful explosive propulsion) with 'off' (away/from a surface). The image of being propelled away by a blast maps clearly onto a rocket or spacecraft launch, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words should be able to infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Blast off comes from the image of a loud blast pushing something off the ground, like a rocket leaving the launch pad. So, it now means 'to launch' or 'to take off' into the air or space.