Adjacent Words

Detonation definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DETONATION, n. An explosion or sudden report made by the inflammation of certain combustible bodies, as fulminating gold. Detonation is not decrepitation.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a violent release of energy caused by a chemical or nuclear reaction [syn: explosion, detonation, blowup]
2: the act of detonating an explosive

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 1686 1. the action or process of detonating 2. rapid combustion in an internal combustion engine that results in knocking

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a the act or process of detonating. b a loud explosion. 2 the premature combustion of fuel in an internal-combustion engine, causing it to pink. Etymology: F détonation f. détoner (as DETONATE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Detonation Det`o*na"tion, n. [Cf. F. d['e]tonation.] An explosion or sudden report made by the instantaneous decomposition or combustion of unstable substances' as, the detonation of gun cotton.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(detonations) 1. A detonation is a large or powerful explosion. (FORMAL) N-COUNT 2. Detonation is the action of causing a device such as a bomb to explode. (FORMAL) ...accidental detonation of nuclear weapons.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Explosive report, bursting noise.

Moby Thesaurus

backfire, bang, bark, blast, blowout, blowup, boom, bowshot, bullet, burst, cannon, crack, discharge, ejection, explosion, flare, flash, fulguration, fulmination, fusillade, gun, gunfire, gunshot, pop, potshot, report, salvo, shot, spray, stoneshot, tattoo, volley