misblow

English

Etymology

From mis- +‎ blow.

Pronunciation

• (noun) IPA^(key): /ˈmɪsbləʊ/
• (verb) IPA^(key): /mɪsˈbləʊ/

Noun

misblow (plural misblows)

1. A blow that lands incorrectly.
   • 1905, Geological Survey (U.S.), The Production of Precious Stones, page 30:

     A misblow at any point would have meant a loss of thousands of dollars; but such was the skill of the accomplished cleavers that not once did this occur.

   • 2006, Quincy Allen, The Outdoor Chums After Big Game, →ISBN, page 19:

     "Can he have fainted from loss of blood?" said Bluff, still having in mind a picture of a woodsman who had severed an artery by a misblow of his ax.

   • 2009, Owen Rhoscomyl, The Lady of Castell March, →ISBN, page 116:

     Now, therefore, holding my breath in dread lest I should rouse the castle with a misblow, I began to swing and strike each blow heavier and more confident than the last.

   • 2017, M. T. Richardson, Practical Blacksmithing, →ISBN:

     It has an eye large enough to admit a small sledge handle, and the handle should be made of good hickory with some surplus stock near the eye, as it is liable to get many bruises from careless handling and misblows.

2. An instance of blowing incorrectly.
   • 1958, Pulp and Paper Manual of Canada, page 33:

     Also we changed our method of blowing to eliminate misblows.

   • 1966, Technical Papers - Society of Plastics Engineers - Volume 12, page 3:

     Soon it was discovered that one of the governing factors was the temperature of the pin prior to blowing. Above 220°F, the thermoplastic stuc to the pin and resulted in a misblow.

   • 1989, ASM Handbook Committee, Metals handbook - Volume 5, page 189:

     Misblows, caused by clogged vents or by improper closure of pattern halves due to sand grains on the pattern parting lines, result in a high percentage of scrapped molds.

Verb

misblow (third-person singular simple present misblows, present participle misblowing, simple past misblew, past participle misblown)

1. To blow incorrectly.
   • 1967, The British Foundryman - Volume 60, page 100:

     These requirements imply the use of a sand mixture having a sufficiently long bench life without tendency to crusting in order to avoid misblowing, machine downtime and the cleaning out of the blowhead and blowing holes.

   • 1978, Toshio Nanjyo, Akinori Nakamura, Furnace wall structure capable of tolerating high heat load for use in electric arc furnace (US Patent 4,122,295):

     They are also easily adversely affected by the misblowing of oxygen.

   • 2013, Michael Craft, Boy Toy, →ISBN:

     The sounds from Barb's clarinet began to take the shape of a melody, played quietly at first, hesitantly, with a misblown note here and there.