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detonate

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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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.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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

  1. (intransitive) To explode, blow up
    Synonym: blast
    1. (especially) To combust or decompose supersonically via shock compression.
      Antonym: deflagrate
  2. (transitive) To cause to explode.
    The engineers detonated the dynamite and watched the old building collapse.
  3. (intransitive, figurative) To express sudden anger.
    Synonyms: fulminate, thunder
    • 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? []

Hypernyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Anagrams

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Ido

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Adverb

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detonate

  1. adverbial present passive participle of detonar

Italian

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Etymology 1

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Verb

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detonate

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

Etymology 2

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Participle

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detonate f pl

  1. feminine plural of detonato

Anagrams

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Latin

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Verb

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dētonāte

  1. second-person plural present active imperative of dētonō

Spanish

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Verb

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detonate

  1. second-person singular voseo imperative of detonar combined with te