Dictionary

detonate en · VERB

Pronunciation

• [ˈdɛʔ.əˌneɪt] (Canada, General-American)
• /ˈdɛtəˌneɪt/ (Canada, General-American)
• /ˈdɛtəneɪt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈdetənæɪt/ (Australia, New-Zealand)
• (Southern-England) audio
• [ˈdeɾənæɪt] (Australia, New-Zealand)
• [ˈdɛɾəˌneɪt] (Canada, General-American)

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.

Meanings

1. (intransitive) To explode, blow up
2. (especially, intransitive) To explode, blow up ▸ To combust or decompose supersonically via shock compression.
3. (transitive) To cause to explode.
   • The engineers detonated the dynamite and watched the old building collapse.
4. (figuratively, intransitive) To 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? […] 2013, Michael J. Restrepo, The Custody Officer, page 116:

Forms

Antonyms

deflagrate

Deriveds

detonator · detonation · detcord · undetonated · detonative · nondetonating · detonatable

Hypernyms

combust

Relateds

stentorian · thunder · Thor · Thursday

Synonyms

blast · thunder · fulminate · blast

Translations (43)

ru взорва́ть (to cause to explode) · ru взрыва́ться (to explode) · fi räjähtää (to explode) · hu felrobbant (to cause to explode) · it esplodere (to explode) · cmn 爆炸 (to explode) · ru детони́ровать (to cause to explode) · mi pohū (to explode) · he התפוצץ (to explode) · ja 爆発させる (to cause to explode) · izh revittää (to cause to explode) · fi pamahtaa (to explode) · bg избухвам (to explode) · ru взрыва́ть (to cause to explode) · pt detonar (to cause to explode) · ru взорва́ться (to explode) · fi räjäyttää (to cause to explode) · io detonar (to cause to explode) · es detonarse (to explode) · bg възпламенявам (to cause to explode) · izh reppiä (to explode) · mi pakū (to explode) · hu kirobbant (to cause to explode) · hu robban (to explode) · ro exploda (to explode) · io detonar (to explode) · sv detonera (to explode) · it detonare (to explode) · it far detonare (to cause to explode) · it far esplodere (to cause to explode) · he פוצץ (to cause to explode) · fr détoner (to cause to explode) · de detonieren (to cause to explode) · ro detona (to cause to explode) · mi whakapakū (to cause to explode) · pt explodir (to explode) · es detonar (to cause to explode) · pt detonar (to explode) · ro a face să explodeze (to cause to explode) · cmn 引爆 (to cause to explode) · hu robbant (to cause to explode) · hu felrobban (to explode) · fr détoner (to explode)