dynamite

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See also: dynamité

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology[edit]

Coined by Alfred Nobel in 1867. Ultimately from Ancient Greek δύναμις (dúnamis, “power”) +‎ -ite, most likely under the influence of dynamo or dynamic.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈdaɪ.nəˌmaɪt/
  • (obsolete) IPA(key): /ˈdɪ.nəˌmaɪt/[1]
  • Audio (AU)(file)

Noun[edit]

dynamite (usually uncountable, plural dynamites)

  1. A class of explosives made from nitroglycerine in an absorbent medium such as kieselguhr, used in mining and blasting.
  2. (informal, proscribed) A stick of trinitrotoluene (TNT).
  3. (figuratively, slang, uncountable) Anything exceptionally dangerous, exciting or wonderful.
    • 2005, Alex Turner (lyrics and music), “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor”, performed by Arctic Monkeys:
      And your shoulders are frozen (Cold as the night) / Oh, but you're an explosion (You're dynamite)
    • 2016, Kit Moulton, Annabella (page 108)
      That girl was dynamite. Dark hair with killer blue eyes, bronze skin, and an exquisite full-figured body.
      He warned us: "That issue about what's been happening at that factory, is political dynamite. Keep the lid on it."
  4. (slang) A strong drug, in particular heroin, cocaine or potent marijuana.

Synonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

dynamite (third-person singular simple present dynamites, present participle dynamiting, simple past and past participle dynamited)

  1. To blow up with dynamite or other high explosive.
    • 1960 February, R. C. Riley, “The London-Birmingham services - Past, Present and Future”, in Trains Illustrated, page 101:
      [...] on Sunday, August 23, the L.N.W.R. tunnel was closed to enable the old brickwork to be dynamited away, traffic being diverted meanwhile through the M.R. tunnel.
  2. (figuratively) To dismantle or destroy.
  3. (transitive, of brakes) To apply maximum pressure to very quickly.
    • 2009, Claude M. Pearson, Portia Rising, page 50:
      Juan dynamited the brakes and the car skidded to a halt.
    • 2014, Mike Davis, Hunting Men: The Career of an Oregon State Police Detective, page 6:
      The 1977 Pontiacs had a tendency of dying if you were at high speed and dynamited the brakes.
    • 2018, Laird Barron, Blood Standard:
      At the critical moment I'd learned from countless action flicks I dynamited the brakes and felt the impact of the sedan against my rear bumper.
    dynamite the brakes
  4. (intransitive, of brakes) To lock up from being invoked too suddenly.
    the brakes will dynamite

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Hall, Joseph Sargent (March 2, 1942), “2. The Vowel Sounds of Unstressed and Partially Stressed Syllables”, in The Phonetics of Great Smoky Mountain Speech (American Speech: Reprints and Monographs; 4), New York: King's Crown Press, DOI:10.7312/hall93950, →ISBN, § II.1, page 60.

Further reading[edit]

French[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

dynamite

  1. inflection of dynamiter:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative
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