detonate

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin detonō, detonātus. 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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛtəneɪt/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Verb

detonate (third-person singular simple present detonates, present participle detonating, simple past and past participle detonated)

1. (intransitive) To explode; to blow up. Specifically, to combust supersonically via shock compression.
2. (transitive) To cause to explode.

   The engineers detonated the dynamite and watched the old building collapse.

3. (intransitive, figuratively) To express sudden anger.
   • 2013, Michael J. Restrepo, The Custody Officer (page 116)

     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? […]

Synonyms

• blast
• discharge
• fulminate

Antonyms

• (with respect to speed of prorogation): deflagrate

Hypernyms

• combust

Related terms

• detonatable
• detonation
• detonator

Translations

to explode

• Bulgarian: избухвам (bg) (izbuhvam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 爆炸 (zh) (bàozhà)

• Finnish: räjähtää (fi), pamahtaa (fi)
• French: détonner (fr)
• Hebrew: התפוצץ‎ (hitpotséts)

• Ido: detonar (io)
• Italian: detonare (it), esplodere (it)
• Portuguese: detonar (pt), explodir (pt)
• Romanian: exploda (ro)
• Russian: взрыва́ться (ru) impf (vzryvátʹsja), взорва́ться (ru) pf (vzorvátʹsja)
• Swedish: detonera (sv)

to cause to explode

• Bulgarian: възпламенявам (bg) (vǎzplamenjavam)
• Chechen: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 引爆 (zh) (yǐnbào)

• Finnish: räjäyttää (fi)
• French: détoner (fr), détonner (fr)
• German: detonieren (de)

• Hebrew: פוצץ‎ (potséts)
• Ido: detonar (io)
• Italian: far detonare, far esplodere
• Japanese: 爆発させる (ja) (ばくはつさせる, bakuhatsu saseru)
• Maori: whakapakū
• Portuguese: detonar (pt)
• Romanian: detona (ro), a face să explodeze
• Russian: взрыва́ть (ru) impf (vzryvátʹ), взорва́ть (ru) pf (vzorvátʹ), детони́ровать (ru) impf (detonírovatʹ)

Anagrams

• denotate

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Ido

Adverb

detonate

1. adverbial present passive participle of detonar

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Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

detonate

1. inflection of detonare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

detonate f pl

1. feminine plural of detonato

Anagrams

• denotate

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Latin

Verb

dētonāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of dētonō