Literary notes about blistering (AI summary)
The term “blistering” functions in literature as an intensifier that conveys extreme heat, rapid movement, or a harsh, stinging quality. It is often used to evoke the oppressive, scorching conditions of an environment, such as a desert or a sun-baked cityscape, where the heat is palpable and almost tangible ([1], [2], [3]). Beyond literal temperature, it also qualifies violent forces and actions—a blistering curve in a sporting context illustrates the speed and virulence of a ball's trajectory ([4]), while a “blistering tongue” or “blistering words” underscores a sharp, hurtful tone in character dialogue ([5], [6]). Additionally, its use in medical or chemical descriptions, as in treating wounds or poisoning agents, lends the word a dual sense of physical damage and potent effectiveness ([7], [8]). Thus, “blistering” enriches descriptive language by blending sensory extremity with metaphorical impact.
- To get from there to Jerusalem she had to cross a country infested with bandits, and go across blistering deserts.
— from New Tabernacle Sermons by T. De Witt (Thomas De Witt) Talmage - The reservation was blistering hot in summer and wind-blasted in winter.
— from The Story of Geronimo by Jim Kjelgaard - Presently Mr. Hennage paused and glanced across the blistering half-mile of desert, to where the sun glinted on the dun walls of the Hat Ranch.
— from The Long Chance by Peter B. (Peter Bernard) Kyne - Conrad shot the ball back at his opponent in a blistering curve impossible to intercept.
— from Beyond Bedlam by Wyman Guin - What Caesar possibly had to endure from Mam' Lyddy, only those could imagine who knew her blistering tongue.
— from Mam' Lyddy's Recognition1908 by Thomas Nelson Page - Freddy Farmer glared and pursed his lips as though he were striving to hold back the blistering words that rose in his throat.
— from Dave Dawson at Casablanca by Robert Sidney Bowen - In China, a bug, Heuchis sanguinea , belonging to the family Cicadidæ, is used like the Meloidæ, to produce blistering, and often causes poisoning.
— from Handbook of Medical Entomology by O. A. (Oskar Augustus) Johannsen - The patient is kept quiet and in the course of two weeks an active blistering agent is employed over the region affected.
— from Lameness of the HorseVeterinary Practitioners' Series, No. 1 by John Victor Lacroix