blister

Etymology

From Middle English blister, from Old French blestre, from a Germanic source. Compare Middle Dutch blyster (“swelling”), Old Norse blastr (“a blowing”).

noun

1. A small bubble between the layers of the skin that contains watery or bloody fluid and is caused by friction and pressure, burning, freezing, chemical irritation, disease or infection.
   Inspect them for rub marks and blisters; tape or bandage rub marks; clean the skin around a blister, use a sterilised needle to puncture it at its outer edge and press out the fluid, then bandage. 1967, Donald Howard Grainger, Don't Die in the Bundu
2. A swelling on a plant.
3. (medicine) Something applied to the skin to raise a blister; a vesicatory or other applied medicine.
4. A bubble, as on a painted surface.
5. (roofing) An enclosed pocket of air, which may be mixed with water or solvent vapor, trapped between impermeable layers of felt or between the membrane and substrate.
6. A type of pre-formed packaging made from plastic that contains cavities.
   blister card
   blister pack
7. A cause of annoyance.
   I couldn't help thinking how dashed happy I could have contrived to be in this place if only Aunt Agatha and the other blisters had been elsewhere. 1923, Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, The Inimitable Jeeves, page 39
   I will say, however, that we fanned her well — her and her old blister of a mother and a bewhiskered old goat named Boris. 1933, Collier's Illustrated Weekly, volume 91, page 14
   'We mustn't laugh about it, my boy. It's no joking matter. It's very wrong to shoot Mr Baxter.' 'But he's a blister.' 'He is a blister,' agreed Lord Emsworth, always fairminded. 'Nevertheless. . . . Remember, he is your tutor.' 2013, P.G. Wodehouse, Blandings: TV Tie-In, page 126
   Willie suddenly realized the heat really wasn't off the criminal persons, and he sprang into action. The blonde blister also recovered surprisingly fast and threw the big wordy tome at the Klump coco . 2017, Joe Archibald, The Willie Klump MEGAPACK®, page 302
8. (uncountable) A form of smelted copper with a blistered surface.

verb

1. (transitive) To raise blisters on.
   a chemical agent that blisters the skin
2. (cooking, transitive) To sear after blaching.
3. (intransitive) To have a blister form.
   A poorly formulated mortar mixture will result in plaster that blisters and cracks. 1980, Robert M. Jones, editor, Walls and Ceilings, Time-Life Books, page 26
   An overfired glaze often blisters by the volatilization of part of its composition. It also reaches a stage where its viscosity is too low to keep it on the pot. 2004, Frank Hamer, Janet Hamer, The Potter's Dictionary of Materials and Techniques, 5th edition, London, Philadelphia, Penn.: A & C Black; University of Pennsylvania Press, page 248
4. (transitive) To criticise severely.
5. (intransitive) To break out in blisters.