blow [intransitive, transitive] to be moved by the wind, somebody’s
breath, etc.; to move something in this way
adv./prep. My hat blew off.
adj. The door blew open.
blow somebody/something + adv./prep.
I was almost blown over by the wind.
She blew the dust off the book.
The ship was blown onto the rocks.
The bomb blast blew two passers-by across the street.blow something + adj.
The wind blew the door shut.
I want to use the structure "blow something + preposition" with "the candles", but I don't know the preposition that express "to make a fire stop burning".
- off (preposition) down or away from a place or at a distance in space or time
- I fell off the ladder.
- Keep off the grass!
- used to say that something has been removed
- You need to take the top off the bottle first!
- I want about an inch off the back of my hair.
- away from work or duty
- He's had ten days off school.
"off" is a preposition, but the dictionary doesn't say anything about fire, I also think about the adjective "extinguished", but it sounds bizarre.
Can we say "to blow the candles off" or "extinguished"?
Best Answer
Extinguish is the verb that means to cause a fire or light to cease to burn or shine.
"Put out" is a more casual, and possibly wider-used way of saying the same thing.
These can refer to almost any method of extinguishing a fire, such as smothering it, using water, or a fire-extinguisher.
"Blow out" is the idiomatic way of stating that a fire has extinguished by a sudden gust of air. This is most commonly used when people blow out a candle with their own breath, but it can also happen to a fire in a fireplace if a gust of wind suddenly comes down the chimney. It would be very unusual for this to happen to a large fire.