Adjacent Words

Detonate definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DETONATE, v.t. [L., to thunder.] In chemistry, to cause to explode; to burn or inflame with a sudden report.
DETONATE, v.i. To explode; to burn with a sudden report. Niter detonates with sulphur.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: cause to burst with a violent release of energy; "We exploded the nuclear bomb" [syn: explode, detonate, blow up, set off]
2: burst and release energy as through a violent chemical or physical reaction;"the bomb detonated at noon"; "The Molotov cocktail exploded" [syn: detonate, explode, blow up]

Merriam Webster's

verb (-nated; -nating) Etymology: French détoner to explode, from Latin detonare to expend thunder, from de- + tonare to thunder — more at thunder Date: 1729 intransitive verb to explode with sudden violence transitive verb 1. to cause to detonate <detonate a bomb> — compare deflagrate 2. to set off in a burst of activity ; spark <programs that detonated controversies> • detonatable adjective • detonative adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.intr. & tr. explode with a loud noise. Derivatives: detonative adj. Etymology: L detonare detonat- (as DE-, tonare thunder)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Detonate Det"o*nate, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Detonated; p. pr. & vb. n. Detonating.] [L. detonare, v. i., to thunder down; de + tonare to thunder; akin to E. thunder. See Thunder, and cf. Detonize.] To explode with a sudden report; as, niter detonates with sulphur.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Detonate Det"o*nate, v. t. To cause to explode; to cause to burn or inflame with a sudden report.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(detonates, detonating, detonated) If someone detonates a device such as a bomb, or if it detonates, it explodes. France is expected to detonate its first nuclear device in the next few days... An explosive device detonated on the roof of the building. VERB: V n, V

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. n. Explode with a loud report, detonize. II. v. a. Detonize, cause to explode or burst with a loud report.

Moby Thesaurus

backfire, bang, bark, blast, blow out, blow up, burst, bust, charge, coal, cock, crack, discharge, drop, eject, explode, feed, fell, fill up, fire, fire off, fuel, fuel up, fulminate, go off, gun, gun for, hit, let fly, let off, load, mushroom, oil, pelt, pepper, pick off, pistol, plug, pop, pot, potshoot, potshot, prime, refuel, riddle, set off, shoot, shoot at, shoot down, snipe, stoke, strike, take a potshot, top off, torpedo, touch off