detonate
verbattested in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ˈdɛtəneɪt//
- Canada//ˈdɛtəˌneɪt//
- Canada/[ˈdɛɾəˌneɪt]/
- Canada/[ˈdɛʔ.əˌneɪt]/
- Australia//ˈdetənæɪt//
To explode, blow up
verb
- 1
To explode, blow up
- 2
To explode, blow up To combust or decompose supersonically via shock compression.
- 3
To cause to explode.
The engineers detonated the dynamite and watched the old building collapse.
- 4
figurativeTo express sudden anger.
As Oscar turned to greet Yvonne, she could see every muscle in his body contract in anger. Then he detonated. “What the hell are you doing here without an appointment? […]
Etymology
First attested in 1729; either borrowed from French détoner or directly from Latin dētonātus, perfect passive participle of dētonō (“to thunder down (strongly); (figuratively, of a person) to thunder, speak threateningly, to rage; to stop thundering”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from dē- (“off, from”) + tonō (“to thunder”)). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tenh₂-. The current interlingual meaning seems to be a new formation in postclassical times (to thunder → make a large noise → explode), compare explode.
Forms
- past tense
- detonated
- past participle
- detonated
- present participle
- detonating
- third person singular
- detonates