fulminate

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To issue a thunderous verbal attack or denunciation: fulminated against political chicanery.
2. v. To explode or detonate.
3. v. To issue (a denunciation, for example) thunderously.
4. v. To cause to explode.
5. n. An explosive salt of fulminic acid, especially fulminate of mercury.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To lighten; flash with detonation.
2. Hence To explode with a loud noise; detonate.
3. Figuratively, to issue threats, denunciations, censures, and the like, with or as with authority.
4. In refining, to become suddenly bright and uniform in color: said of melted gold mixed with antimony.
5. To cause to explode.
6. Figuratively, to utter or send out, as a denunciation or censure; especially, to send out, as a menace or censure, by ecclesiastical authority.
7. n. A compound formed by the union of a base with fulminic acid. The fulminates are very unstable bodies, exploding with great violence by percussion or heating. Fulminate of mercury, or fulminating mercury, is used in percussion-caps and detonators for nitroglycerin preparations.
8. n. An explosion; a sudden and explosive action.

Wiktionary

1. v. intransitive, figuratively To make a verbal attack.
2. v. transitive, figuratively To issue a denunciation.
3. v. To strike with lightning; to cause to explode.
4. n. chemistry Any salt or ester of fulminic acid; mostly explosive.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To thunder; hence, to make a loud, sudden noise; to detonate; to explode with a violent report.
2. v. To issue or send forth decrees or censures with the assumption of supreme authority; to thunder forth menaces.
3. v. To cause to explode.
4. v. To utter or send out with denunciations or censures; -- said especially of menaces or censures uttered by ecclesiastical authority.
5. n. A salt of fulminic acid. See under fulminic.
6. n. A fulminating powder.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. cause to explode violently and with loud noise
2. v. come on suddenly and intensely
3. v. criticize severely
4. n. a salt or ester of fulminic acid