[f. BLOW v.1 + -ING2.] That blows (see the vb.); esp. windy.
Blowing adder, snake, a snake of Virginia, remarkable for inflating and extending the surface of its head before it bites.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 87. Eislic swei . and blawende beman.
1604. Friar Bacon’s Proph., 290, in Hazl., E. P. P., IV. 278. No butcher now can keepe His flesh from blowing flies.
1678. Lond. Gaz., No. 1365/1. His Majesties Ships … are kept in this Harbor by the blowing weather.
1688. J. Clayton, in Phil. Trans., XVIII. 134. The Blowing-Snake, an absolute Species of a Viper.
1794. Nelson, in Nicolas, Disp. (1845), I. 411. It had the appearance of blowing weather.
1845. Gard. Chron., 107. Blowing-Sands … or hills of moveable sand which are accumulated by the winds.
1870. Swinburne, Ess. & Stud. (1875), 347. With rounded mouth and blowing hair.
1884. Public Opinion, 5 Sept., 305/1. The blowing adder was formerly common in … Orange County, New York.
