Wiktionary

detonate

English

edit

Etymology

edit

Borrowed from Latin dētonō, dētonātus, which meant "to stop thundering", e.g. as in weather (dē- (“from”) +‎ tonāre (“thunder”)). The current English meaning seems to be a new formation in postclassical times.

Pronunciation

edit

Verb

edit

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 or decompose supersonically via shock compression.
  2. (transitive) To cause to explode.
    The engineers detonated the dynamite and watched the old building collapse.
  3. (intransitive, figurative) 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

edit

Antonyms

edit
  • (antonym(s) of “with respect to speed of prorogation”): deflagrate

Hypernyms

edit

Derived terms

edit
edit

Translations

edit

Anagrams

edit

Ido

edit

Adverb

edit

detonate

  1. adverbial present passive participle of detonar

Italian

edit

Etymology 1

edit

Verb

edit

detonate

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

Etymology 2

edit

Participle

edit

detonate f pl

  1. feminine plural of detonato

Anagrams

edit

Latin

edit

Verb

edit

dētonāte

  1. second-person plural present active imperative of dētonō

Spanish

edit

Verb

edit

detonate

  1. second-person singular voseo imperative of detonar combined with te
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=detonate&oldid=82335109"
  NODES
Note 1