implosion

American  

[im-ploh-zhuhn] / ɪmˈploʊ ʒən /

noun

1. the act of imploding; a bursting inward (explosion ).

2. Phonetics.

   1. the occlusive phase of stop consonants.

   2. (of a stop consonant) the nasal release heard in the common pronunciation of eaten, sudden, or mitten, in which the vowel of the final syllable is greatly reduced.

   3. the ingressive release of a suction stop.

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implosion British  

/ ɪmˈpləʊʒən /

noun

1. the act or process of imploding

   the implosion of a light bulb

2. phonetics the suction or inhalation of breath employed in the pronunciation of an ingressive consonant

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Etymology

Origin of implosion

First recorded in 1875–80; im- ¹ + (ex)plosion

Example Sentences

Evidence that Girardi, a power broker in California politics and the law, had misappropriated millions of dollars in settlement money from the Indonesians led to the implosion of his law firm five years ago.

From Los Angeles Times

Argentina opens a trial on Tuesday into a submarine implosion that killed 44 sailors in November 2017, the country's worst naval disaster in decades, and whose circumstances remain unclear.

From Barron's

AI will accelerate the timeline for implosion of the weakest credits at the weakest managers.

From Barron's

Instead of an implosion we saw Scotland reversing the narrative.

From BBC

But the larger question, which may take many years to unfold, is whether a version of the Anglo-European political implosion is already happening here, or has already happened.

From Salon

Related Words

• bankruptcy
• breakdown
• collapse
• decline
• defeat
• deficiency
• deterioration
• failing
• loss
• misstep