blister

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)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.”

2. (countable, uncountable)A swelling on a plant.
3. (countable, uncountable)Something applied to the skin to raise a blister; a vesicatory or other applied medicine.

   “'T is written in the Hebrew Chronicle, / How the physicians, leaving pill and potion, / Prescribed, by way of blister, a young belle, / When old King David's blood grew dull in motion, / And that the medicine answered very well […]”

4. (countable, uncountable)A bubble, as on a painted surface.
5. (countable, uncountable)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. (countable, uncountable)A type of pre-formed packaging made from plastic that contains cavities.

   “blister card”

   “blister pack”

7. (countable, uncountable)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.”

   “I will say, however, that we fanned her well — her and her old blister of a mother and a bewhiskered old goat named Boris.”

   “'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.'”

   “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 .”

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”

   “Caliban: As wicked dewe, as ere my mother bruſh'd / With Rauens feather from vnwholeſome Fen / Drop on you both : A Southweſt blow on yee, / And bliſter you all ore.”

2. (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.”

   “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.”

4. (transitive)To criticise severely.
5. (intransitive)To break out in blisters.