▪ I. † aˈblow, v. Obs.
[f. a- prefix 1 intensive + blaw-an to blow.]
1. To blow or breathe upon or into. lit. and fig.
| c 1000 ælfric Gen. ii. 7 God..on ableow on his ansine lifes orðunge. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 99 Crist ableow þana halȝa gast ofer þa apostlas..þe helende ableu his gast on his apostlas. c 1320 Arthour & Merlin 8546 Aswon tho sche ouer threwe Wawain sone hir ablewe. |
2. intr. and trans. To puff up, swell. lit. and fig.
| c 1000 Saxon Leechdoms II. 250 Eft, þonne se milte ablawen wyrð, sona he aheardian. Ibid. 168 Ablawunge & aheardunge þæs blodes on þam milte. c 1315 Shoreham Poems 160 Thos he [the devil] gan hyre herte ablowe, And hy sey that frut..Was fayr and god. Ibid. 166 Þet was ablowe þorȝ þe fenim of þe fende. |
▪ II. ablow, adv. or pred. a.
(əˈbləʊ)
[a prep.1 + blow v.1 or v.2]
Blooming; blowing.
| 1893 W. B. Yeats Poems (1957) 743 For dreams are the flowers ablow. 1912 C. Mackenzie Carnival xxiv. 268 A black mushroom hat a-blow with rosebuds. 1921 W. de la Mare Crossings 12 The tide's aflow, the wind ablow. |