implosion
Americannoun
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the act of imploding; a bursting inward (opposed to explosion).
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Phonetics.
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the occlusive phase of stop consonants.
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(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.
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the ingressive release of a suction stop.
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noun
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the act or process of imploding
the implosion of a light bulb
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phonetics the suction or inhalation of breath employed in the pronunciation of an ingressive consonant
Etymology
Origin of implosion
First recorded in 1875–80; im- 1 + (ex)plosion
Explanation
An implosion is the abrupt, violent collapse of something large. When an old building needs to be removed to make way for new structures, implosion is often used as a controlled way to destroy it. A real scientific implosion happens when the pressure inside and outside of an object vary so much that the object is crushed, or collapses in on itself. This can happen, for example, to a submarine under the water or to a collapsing star in the galaxy. The implosion of a building involves careful, small explosions that make the middle fall as the sides collapse inwardly.
Vocabulary lists containing implosion
The Graveyard Book
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Darius the Great Is Not Okay
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Grounded
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Appeared in the November 20, 2025, print edition as 'The FTC’s Meta Antitrust Implosion'.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 19, 2025
Soon after Implosion Friday across the Pac-12, Washington State president Kirk Schulz identified the most immediate task: Determining which schools had voting rights and control of the conference’s assets.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 7, 2023
Alternatively, you can read Louis Nizer’s harrowing description of the executions of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in “The Implosion Conspiracy.”
From Washington Post • Mar. 22, 2022
The mercurial guitarist is best known for his work with the Folk Implosion and before that, the indie-punk band Lowercase.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2017
Toward the end, Mr. Barlow played “Natural One,” from yet another Barlow group, the Folk Implosion, which had capped off the grunge era as a fluke Top 40 success in 1995.
From New York Times • Mar. 30, 2012
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
