plosive

[ ploh-siv ]
See synonyms for plosive on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. (of a stop consonant or occlusive) characterized by release in a plosion; explosive.

noun
  1. Also called explosive. a plosive speech sound.

Origin of plosive

1
First recorded in 1895–1900; shortened form of explosive

Words Nearby plosive

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use plosive in a sentence

  • We might mount a machine-gun in each quadrant, shooting X-plosive bullets, through pressure gaskets in the walls.

    The Skylark of Space | Edward Elmer Smith and Lee Hawkins Garby
  • Luckily, the enemy knows nothing of the object-compass or the X-plosive, and we must keep them in ignorance.

    The Skylark of Space | Edward Elmer Smith and Lee Hawkins Garby
  • From its rarity I infer that the plosive stock has not multiplied lavishly on the earth.

    All Men are Ghosts | L. P. Jacks
  • They found that the X-plosive came fully up to expectations.

    The Skylark of Space | Edward Elmer Smith and Lee Hawkins Garby

British Dictionary definitions for plosive

plosive

/ (ˈpləʊsɪv) phonetics /


adjective
  1. articulated with or accompanied by plosion

noun
  1. a plosive consonant; stop

Origin of plosive

1
C20: from French, from explosif explosive

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012