blowing charge (bloingcharj)

In gunnery, a small charge of powder in a shell, sufficient to blow out the fuse-plug but not to burst the shell. It is used in firing for practice, or for testing time-fuses when it is desired to recover the shells and use them again. If it is desired to fill the cavity of the shell, coaldust is added to the charge to increase its volume. blowing-cylinder (blo'ing-sil"in-der), n. The air-cylinder of a blowing-engine or other form of blast-machine. A revolving