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Glite Dictionary
to blow the doors off

to blow the doors off

1 7.2
To do much better than people expect
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : superar las expectativas
  • With their innovative marketing strategy, the new product launch blew the doors off previous sales records.

Examples

  • Her performance in the talent show completely blew the doors off, leaving the audience in awe.

  • And if you do and you blow the doors off, it's like, wow, OK, people really want to see this project.

  • But if you wanted AMD to blow the doors off NVIDIA, well, you might be a little disappointed.

  • "What we have here in Wisconsin is a ground game that will blow the doors off of political history," the Kenosha native and former Republican Party of Wisconsin chairman told Wisconsin Reporter in a phone interview Saturday evening.

    Blog text (4)

  • The team exceeded all expectations and really blew the doors off their competitors at the championship.

Synonyms

to pull off
vsto blow the doors off
301 4.1

To manage to do something difficult or unexpected

describes outstanding success that goes well beyond just managing
to hit the jackpot
vsto blow the doors off
24 4.0

To have a big, unexpected success because of luck

is about surpassing expectations often through skill or effort not luck
to hit a home run
vsto blow the doors off
  • Informal
17 3.4

To have a big success people do not expect

is focused on dramatic success that greatly beats expectations
to crush it
vsto blow the doors off
  • Informal
15 7.9

Do very well in a competition or challenge

means exceptional success often far beyond what was expected
to blow something out of the water
vsto blow the doors off
  • Informal
12 6.0

To beat someone or something completely by a lot

is about outstanding success itself rather than only beating someone
to hit it big
vsto blow the doors off
  • Informal
9 5.1

To become very successful, often quickly

is about surpassing expectations dramatically, not just career success
to hit the big time
vsto blow the doors off
  • Informal
7 4.5

To become very successful and famous in your work

is about extreme success beyond expectations, not only fame
to overachieve
vsto blow the doors off
1 5.3

To do better than people expect and have more success

describes very large success that exceeds expectations by a margin
to bring off
vsto blow the doors off
1 6.1

To succeed in doing something difficult

means exceptional success or greatly surpassing expectations overall
to hit one out of the ballpark
vsto blow the doors off
  • Informal
1 7.4

Do much better than expected

is about surpassing expectations often by a very large margin
to pop off
vsto blow the doors off
  • Slang
1 8.4

To suddenly perform very well, often in games or music

denotes wide lasting success rather than a single sudden moment
to beat all expectations
vsto blow the doors off
3.9

To do much better than people expected

is focused on strikingly large success beyond predictions
to knock out of the box
vsto blow the doors off
  • Informal
8.0

To impress many people by doing something very well

is about exceeding expectations, not merely impressing people
to outkick one's coverage
vsto blow the doors off
  • Informal
9.6

To get someone or something better than you deserve

covers outstanding success in general, not only relative to status
to blow the pants off
vsto blow the doors off
  • Informal
8.8

To make someone very impressed or be much better than something

expresses outstanding success without the casual slangy tone

Antonyms

to fail
898 1.0

Not succeed in doing something you wanted to do

to disappoint
492 1.0

Fail to do what someone hoped for

How Impressive

to dominate
213 3.8
to blow the doors off
  • Informal
1 7.2
to excel
58 3.7
to outperform
30 4.8
to succeed
846 2.0
to do well
520 1.2

Surface Forms

blow the doors off infinitive
blowing the doors off present participle
blows the doors off third person singular
blew the doors off past
blown the doors off past participle

Morphology

blow + the + door + off

The literal words 'blow' + 'doors' + 'off' create a vivid image of forcefully removing doors, so a learner could infer a strong impact or overwhelming effect from the constituents. However, extending that physical image to the specific sense 'achieve outstanding success' is a figurative/metaphorical jump that is not fully predictable for a B1 learner without prior exposure, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Blow the doors off may come from the image of a big explosion that actually blows the doors off their hinges, leaving everything wide open from the force. So it now means 'to do much better than expected'.