The Nautical Encyclopedia

Patterson’s Illustrated Nautical Encyclopedia — Howard Patterson, 1891

⚓ The Superstition Locker ⚓

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Home ⚓ Letter B ⚓ Blowing Off

Blowing Off

Engineering

Discharging dirty or super-salted water from a boiler.

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2026 Editor's Note: Blowing off — venting boiler water and pressure — gave English 'blowing off steam,' the idiom every stressed landsman uses without knowing the piping. Boiler blowdown is still daily practice. See blowdown. (Ed: BR 2026-06-23)

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The Nautical Encyclopedia (1891) is in the public domain; this digital edition © 2026 PhotoOpAI.