detonate
to explode with suddenness and violence.
to cause (something explosive) to explode.
Origin of detonate
1Other words from detonate
- det·o·na·ble [det-n-uh-buhl], /ˈdɛt n ə bəl/, det·o·nat·a·ble, adjective
- det·o·na·bil·i·ty, det·o·nat·a·bil·i·ty, noun
- non·det·o·nat·ing, adjective
- un·det·o·nat·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use detonate in a sentence
This missive could just be read as your standard step-around; an attempt to dismantle a potential PR bomb before it detonates.
The arms dealer sells it to a mysterious neo-Nazi cabal, which then detonates it in Baltimore.
Want To Know What America Thinks of Itself? Watch Jack Ryan on Wall Street | Andrew Romano | January 18, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTA little placed on an anvil detonates with a loud report, when struck with a hammer.
The fresh oil detonates slightly when mixed with iodine, with the production of a yellow cloud.
A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines | Andrew UreWhen a quantity of high explosive detonates, a wave of atmospheric compression is sent outward in all directions by the explosion.
Dynamite Stories | Hudson Maxim
Mixed with carbonate of potassa, it is inflamed by a stroke of the hammer, and detonates violently.
Being mixed with nitrate of potassa and inflamed, it detonates with vehemence.
British Dictionary definitions for detonate
/ (ˈdɛtəˌneɪt) /
to cause (a bomb, mine, etc) to explode or (of a bomb, mine, etc) to explode; set off or be set off
Origin of detonate
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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