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bluster - 6 dictionary results

blus⋅ter

  [bluhs-ter]
Use bluster in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to roar and be tumultuous, as wind.
2. to be loud, noisy, or swaggering; utter loud, empty menaces or protests: He blusters about revenge but does nothing.
–verb (used with object)
3. to force or accomplish by blustering: He blustered his way through the crowd.
–noun
4. boisterous noise and violence: the bluster of the streets.
5. noisy, empty threats or protests; inflated talk: bluff and bluster.
Origin:
1520–30; perh. < LG blustern, blüstern to blow violently; cf. ON blāstr blowing, hissing

Related forms:
blus⋅ter⋅er, noun
blus⋅ter⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
blus⋅ter⋅y, blus⋅ter⋅ous, adjective
blus⋅ter⋅ous⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
2. rant, brag, boast, gloat. 3. threaten, storm, bully.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To bluster
blus·ter   (blŭs'tər)   
v.   blus·tered, blus·ter·ing, blus·ters

v.   intr.
  1. To blow in loud, violent gusts, as the wind during a storm.
    1. To speak in a loudly arrogant or bullying manner.
    2. To brag or make loud, empty threats.
v.   tr.
To force or bully with swaggering threats.
n.  
  1. A violent, gusty wind.
  2. Turbulence or noisy confusion.
  3. Loud, arrogant speech, often full of empty threats.

[Middle English blusteren, from Middle Low German blüsteren.]
blus'ter·er n., blus'ter·y, blus'ter·ous adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Bluster

Blus"ter\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Blustered; p. pr. & vb. n. Blustering.] [Allied to blast.]

1. To blow fitfully with violence and noise, as wind; to be windy and boisterous, as the weather.

And ever-threatening storms Of Chaos blustering round. --Milton.

2. To talk with noisy violence; to swagger, as a turbulent or boasting person; to act in a noisy, tumultuous way; to play the bully; to storm; to rage.

Your ministerial directors blustered like tragic tyrants. --Burke.

Bluster

Blus"ter\, v. t. To utter, or do, with noisy violence; to force by blustering; to bully.

He bloweth and blustereth out . . . his abominable blasphemy. --Sir T. More.

As if therewith he meant to bluster all princes into a perfect obedience to his commands. --Fuller.

Bluster

Blus"ter\, n. 1. Fitful noise and violence, as of a storm; violent winds; boisterousness.

To the winds they set Their corners, when with bluster to confound Sea, air, and shore. --Milton.

2. Noisy and violent or threatening talk; noisy and boastful language. --L'Estrange.

Syn: Noise; boisterousness; tumult; turbulence; confusion; boasting; swaggering; bullying.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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bluster 
c.1494, from M.L.G. blüstren "to blow violently" (see blow (v.1)).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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