fulminate

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Latin fulminare, to strike like lightning

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /fʌlˈmɪn.eɪt/, SAMPA: /fVl"mIn.eIt/

• Audio (US)

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Verb

fulminate (third-person singular simple present fulminates, present participle fulminating, simple past and past participle fulminated)

1. (intransitive, figuratively) To make a verbal attack.
2. (transitive, figuratively) To issue a denunciation.
3. (now rare) To strike with lightning; to cause to explode.
   • 2009, Thomas Pynchon, Inherent Vice, Vintage 2010, p. 235:

     the present owners couldn't afford the electric bills anymore, several amateur gaffers, sad to say, having already been fulminated trying to bootleg power in off the municipal lines.

Synonyms

• (verbal attack): berate, condemn, criticize, denounce, denunciate, vilify

Noun

fulminate (plural fulminates)

1. (chemistry) Any salt or ester of fulminic acid; mostly explosive.

Related terms

• fulmination
• fulminator
• fulminatory
• fulminic
• mercury fulminate

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Italian

Verb

fulminate

1. second-person plural present indicative of fulminare
2. second-person plural imperative of fulminare
3. Feminine plural of fulminato