blow hot and cold
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Alternate inconsistently.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Leicester continue to blow hot and cold, although one of the reasons they looked a little below par in their first game was because they were playing a Gloucester side that could be a dark horse for the title.
IN our many dealings with the police we have found that they can blow hot and cold.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “blow hot and cold” mean?
Alternate inconsistently.
Is “blow hot and cold” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.