Blower
Encyclopedia
Blower may refer to:
- USS Blower (SS-325)USS Blower (SS-325)USS Blower , a Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the blower, a fish of the Atlantic coast of the United States and the West Indies....
, a submarine of the United States Navy - a ducted centrifugal fanCentrifugal fanA centrifugal fan is a mechanical device for moving air or other gases. It has a fan wheel composed of a number of fan blades, or ribs, mounted around a hub. As shown in Figure 1, the hub turns on a driveshaft that passes through the fan housing...
, especially when used in a heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning system - a superchargerSuperchargerA supercharger is an air compressor used for forced induction of an internal combustion engine.The greater mass flow-rate provides more oxygen to support combustion than would be available in a naturally aspirated engine, which allows more fuel to be burned and more work to be done per cycle,...
on an internal-combustion engine - a device to increase the draught of a locomotive (see blastpipeBlastpipeThe blastpipe is part of the exhaust system of a steam locomotive that discharges exhaust steam from the cylinders into the smokebox beneath the chimney in order to increase the draught through the fire.- History :...
) - the telephoneTelephoneThe telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
, for which the blower is a slang term, especially in the United Kingdom. The slang came from the Royal Naval ships prior to telephones. Communication was direct, through a voice pipe. The pipe had a whistle inserted at each end. When a message was to be passed, the caller would remove the whistle at his end, place his mouth into the cavity, sealing it. He would then blow hard. The whistle at the other end would attract the man on watch. He would remove his whistle and call into the pipe. Conversations over, both whistles were replaced. - Party blowerParty hornA party horn, also known as a blow-out, blower, noisemaker or a squeaker, is a horn formed from a paper tube, often one that is flattened and rolled into a coil, and which unrolls when blown into, producing a horn-like noise. Modern variations have a plastic mouthpiece, which prevents the swift...
a device for making noises at a party. - Leaf blowerLeaf blowerA leaf blower is a gardening tool that propels air out of a nozzle to move yard debris such as leaves. Leaf blowers are usually powered by two-stroke engine or an electric motor, but four-stroke engines were recently introduced to partially address air pollution concerns. Leaf blowers are...
, a gardening tool - Heterodon platirhinos, a.k.a. the eastern hog-nosed snake, a non-venomous snake found in North America.
- Henry BlofeldHenry BlofeldHenry Calthorpe Blofeld is a sports journalist. He is best known as a cricket commentator for Test Match Special on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra.Blofeld had an exceptional career as a schoolboy cricketer, cut short by injury...
(born 1939), British sports journalist nicknamed "Blowers" - a braggart, or loud talker. [Slang] --Bartlett. [1913 Webster]