See blow hot and cold in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "From Aesop's fable The Satyr and the Traveller, in which a satyr declares he cannot trust a man who blows hot (to warm his hands) and cold (to cool his food) with the same breath.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "blows hot and cold",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "blowing hot and cold",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "blew hot and cold",
"tags": [
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "blown hot and cold",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "blow<,,blew,blown> hot and cold"
},
"expansion": "blow hot and cold (third-person singular simple present blows hot and cold, present participle blowing hot and cold, simple past blew hot and cold, past participle blown hot and cold)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
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"name": "English predicates",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Entries with translation boxes",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations",
"parents": [
"Terms with redundant transliterations",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with 1 entry",
"parents": [],
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},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with French translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with German translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Icelandic translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Latin translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Polish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Russian translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1852 July 1, “New-York University: Commencement Ceremonies-Anniversaries of the Literary Societies”, in New York Times:",
"text": "He blows hot and cold. He will speak for or against.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1968 October 25, “A Goat, Twins and a Virgin”, in Time:",
"text": "Geminis, like air, blow hot and cold. They go this way today and another way tomorrow.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2002 May 12, “China says DPP is only welcome if it changes platform”, in Taipei Times, retrieved 2008-07-09:",
"text": "The Xinhua commentary said that Chen \"blows hot and cold, behaves capriciously and is a hard man to trust.\"",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To behave inconsistently; to vacillate or to waver, as between extremes of opinion or emotion."
],
"id": "en-blow_hot_and_cold-en-verb-m3yUtkVG",
"links": [
[
"behave",
"behave"
],
[
"inconsistently",
"inconsistently"
],
[
"vacillate",
"vacillate"
],
[
"waver",
"waver"
],
[
"extreme",
"extreme"
],
[
"opinion",
"opinion"
],
[
"emotion",
"emotion"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(intransitive, idiomatic) To behave inconsistently; to vacillate or to waver, as between extremes of opinion or emotion."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "run hot and cold"
},
{
"word": "suck and blow"
}
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic",
"intransitive"
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "kolebaja se",
"sense": "inconsistent behavior",
"word": "колебая се"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "zhāosānmùsì",
"sense": "inconsistent behavior",
"word": "朝三暮四"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "inconsistent behavior",
"word": "oikkuilla"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "inconsistent behavior",
"word": "ailahdella"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "inconsistent behavior",
"word": "souffler le chaud et le froid"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "inconsistent behavior",
"word": "einmal hü und einmal hott sagen"
},
{
"code": "is",
"lang": "Icelandic",
"sense": "inconsistent behavior",
"word": "bera kápuna á báðum öxlum"
},
{
"code": "la",
"lang": "Latin",
"sense": "inconsistent behavior",
"word": "duabus sellis sedeo"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "inconsistent behavior",
"word": "Panu Bogu świeczkę i diabłu ogarek"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "inconsistent behavior",
"word": "siedzieć na dwóch stołkach"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "inconsistent behavior",
"word": "siedzieć jednym tyłkiem na dwóch stołkach"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "semʹ pjátnic na nedéle",
"sense": "inconsistent behavior",
"word": "семь пя́тниц на неде́ле у кого-либо"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "inconsistent behavior",
"word": "una de cal y otra de arena"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"The Satyr and the Traveller"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-au-blow hot and cold.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/29/En-au-blow_hot_and_cold.ogg/En-au-blow_hot_and_cold.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/En-au-blow_hot_and_cold.ogg"
}
],
"word": "blow hot and cold"
}
{
"etymology_text": "From Aesop's fable The Satyr and the Traveller, in which a satyr declares he cannot trust a man who blows hot (to warm his hands) and cold (to cool his food) with the same breath.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "blows hot and cold",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "blowing hot and cold",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "blew hot and cold",
"tags": [
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "blown hot and cold",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "blow<,,blew,blown> hot and cold"
},
"expansion": "blow hot and cold (third-person singular simple present blows hot and cold, present participle blowing hot and cold, simple past blew hot and cold, past participle blown hot and cold)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English idioms",
"English intransitive verbs",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English predicates",
"English terms derived from Aesop's Fables",
"English terms with quotations",
"English verbs",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries",
"Terms with Bulgarian translations",
"Terms with Finnish translations",
"Terms with French translations",
"Terms with German translations",
"Terms with Icelandic translations",
"Terms with Latin translations",
"Terms with Mandarin translations",
"Terms with Polish translations",
"Terms with Russian translations",
"Terms with Spanish translations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1852 July 1, “New-York University: Commencement Ceremonies-Anniversaries of the Literary Societies”, in New York Times:",
"text": "He blows hot and cold. He will speak for or against.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1968 October 25, “A Goat, Twins and a Virgin”, in Time:",
"text": "Geminis, like air, blow hot and cold. They go this way today and another way tomorrow.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2002 May 12, “China says DPP is only welcome if it changes platform”, in Taipei Times, retrieved 2008-07-09:",
"text": "The Xinhua commentary said that Chen \"blows hot and cold, behaves capriciously and is a hard man to trust.\"",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To behave inconsistently; to vacillate or to waver, as between extremes of opinion or emotion."
],
"links": [
[
"behave",
"behave"
],
[
"inconsistently",
"inconsistently"
],
[
"vacillate",
"vacillate"
],
[
"waver",
"waver"
],
[
"extreme",
"extreme"
],
[
"opinion",
"opinion"
],
[
"emotion",
"emotion"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(intransitive, idiomatic) To behave inconsistently; to vacillate or to waver, as between extremes of opinion or emotion."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic",
"intransitive"
],
"wikipedia": [
"The Satyr and the Traveller"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-au-blow hot and cold.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/29/En-au-blow_hot_and_cold.ogg/En-au-blow_hot_and_cold.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/En-au-blow_hot_and_cold.ogg"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "run hot and cold"
},
{
"word": "suck and blow"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "kolebaja se",
"sense": "inconsistent behavior",
"word": "колебая се"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "zhāosānmùsì",
"sense": "inconsistent behavior",
"word": "朝三暮四"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "inconsistent behavior",
"word": "oikkuilla"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "inconsistent behavior",
"word": "ailahdella"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "inconsistent behavior",
"word": "souffler le chaud et le froid"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "inconsistent behavior",
"word": "einmal hü und einmal hott sagen"
},
{
"code": "is",
"lang": "Icelandic",
"sense": "inconsistent behavior",
"word": "bera kápuna á báðum öxlum"
},
{
"code": "la",
"lang": "Latin",
"sense": "inconsistent behavior",
"word": "duabus sellis sedeo"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "inconsistent behavior",
"word": "Panu Bogu świeczkę i diabłu ogarek"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "inconsistent behavior",
"word": "siedzieć na dwóch stołkach"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "inconsistent behavior",
"word": "siedzieć jednym tyłkiem na dwóch stołkach"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "semʹ pjátnic na nedéle",
"sense": "inconsistent behavior",
"word": "семь пя́тниц на неде́ле у кого-либо"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "inconsistent behavior",
"word": "una de cal y otra de arena"
}
],
"word": "blow hot and cold"
}
Download raw JSONL data for blow hot and cold meaning in English (4.6kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-02-08 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-02-02 using wiktextract (f90d964 and 9dbd323). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.