Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To explode or cause to explode.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To cause to explode; specifically, to cause to explode with great suddenness and with a loud report.
- To explode with great suddenness and with a loud noise: as, niter detonates with sulphur.
Wiktionary
- v. intransitive To explode; to blow up. Specifically, to combust supersonically via shock compression.
- v. transitive To cause an explosion.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To explode with a sudden report.
- v. To cause to explode; to cause to burn or inflame with a sudden report.
WordNet 3.0
- v. cause to burst with a violent release of energy
- v. burst and release energy as through a violent chemical or physical reaction
Etymologies
- From Latin detonāre. It meant "to stop thundering", e.g. as in weather (de- = "from", tonare = "to thunder"). The current English meaning seems to be a new formation in postclassical times. (Wiktionary)
- Latin dētonāre, dētonāt-, to thunder down : dē-, de- + tonāre, to thunder; see (s)tenə- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“I couldn't have been more confused had they used the word "detonate.”
The Huffington Post: Jody Melto: Does This Car Seat Smell Bad To You?
“One, a car bombing that was found in the -- a car bomb I should say, it did not detonate, which is the good news -- found in the Haymarket Theatre district as smoke coming out the passenger side of that vehicle.”
“It was theorized that a round with much less than full case capacity of powder may sometimes "detonate" en mass instead of the normal burn from one end of the powder column to the other, this detonation produces a instant pressure spike that is so sudden that the bullet's inertia cannot be overcome quickly enough to let the pressure lower.”
An Expert Gunsmith on Over-Pressure Rounds and Exploding Handguns
“Make the grenade "detonate" and anything within a certain radius would pick this signal up and register a kill, anything beyond this radius would not pick up the signal.”
“Leland: When I first read "a pressure switch in the seat to denote a person", I thought you wrote "detonate".”
Requiring digital cameras and camera phones to make an audible click.
“With power already supplied, the only thing that’s needed to detonate is to complete the electrical circuit.”
“The mine will "detonate" with 10lbs of pressure, and will produce a loud report.”
“When the total number of addresses on the list reaches some threshold-10 million, perhaps - the servers "detonate," and all on their lists receive an email in the morning instructing them to converge in the center of their city that same afternoon.”
“Some beam rider systems may be able to send commands to the missile, most commonly "detonate" or "turn on proximity fuze".”
“If I check it in as luggage, should I inform the check-in desk about the content so that I don't create some national security incident where they close down the airport and bring remote controlled robots to "detonate" my poor lamp?”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘detonate’.
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SPOR - Olympic glossary
weightlift, orbitale, figure skate, speed skate, synchronizer, equestrian sport, bobsleigh, starting block, diesis, ligne, piste, water ski and 521 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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SEDE - weapons
ammunition, anti-aircraft mac..., anti-vehicle mine, automatic machine..., ballistic missile..., bazooka, biological weapons, booby trap, bunker-busting bomb, chemical weapons, cluster bomb, light battleship and 218 more...
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Steampunk
Words used quite often in steampunk
ansible, airship, chymical, valve, clockwork, dirigible, thaumaturgy, copper, bronze, difference engine, gear, rivets and 516 more...
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nytimes
rigor, endemic, nonchalance, aspire, illusion, doozie, Herculean, cacophony, rectify, chip in, proponent, vanguard and 16 more...
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slumry's Words
cattywampus, ingratiate, lackadaisical, exactitude, exfoliate, fulminate, circumnavigation, circuitous, debride, sidle, sequester, chicory and 1002 more...
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everythingecstatic's Words
cadence, frenetic, eloquence, paradigm, nocturne, elusive, effervescence, soliloquy, plethora, elision, aqueous, transcend and 166 more...
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kingofbash's Words
bash, poleaxed, salacious, libertine, charlatan, aplomb, fortuitous, finagle, apoplectic, debutante, carte blanche, aardvark and 472 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, D
dodecahedron, din, diglyceride, dysphotopsia, decoction, deboss, diatonic, dithyramb, divagate, discalced, dishdasha, daft and 281 more...
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The things they carried (List 2)
Listening to this as an audio book for the second time. Tim O'Brien uses simple words and phrases to great effect. Very few unfamilar and big words . The writing style reminds me of words from Joh...
The, Things, They, Carried, meant, fond, By necessity,, presented to him, far beyond, against the brick..., reaching, taut and 2940 more...
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Idioms or Phrases or "expressions"
like nobody's bui..., soap up, plug away, country club, horse whisperer, cease and desist, eye of the beholder, small-claims court, nut job, heebie-jeebies, hole in the wall, black-tie and 101 more...
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introduction to death
words that cause death,or defines death.
detonate, explosive, ammunition, rocket, shrapnel, grenade, nitroglycerin, propellant, fireworks, fuel, combustible, electricity and 62 more...
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KollaKolla's Words
spatula, sanguinary, phylactery, colour, favourite, velocity, blockhead, cookie, insatiable, deviant, expunge, irrational and 45 more...
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