deflagrate

American  

[def-luh-greyt] / ˈdɛf ləˌgreɪt /

verb (used with or without object)

deflagrated, deflagrating

1. to burn, especially suddenly and violently.

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deflagrate British  

/ ˈdɛfləˌɡreɪt, ˈdiː- /

verb

1. to burn or cause to burn with great heat and light

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Other Word Forms

• deflagrability noun
• deflagrable adjective
• deflagration noun

Etymology

Origin of deflagrate

1720–30; < Latin dēflagrātus (past participle of dēflagrāre to burn down), equivalent to dē- de- + flagr ( āre ) to burn + -ātus -ate ¹

Example Sentences

They deflagrate when sprinkled on fused nitre, forming carbonate of potash.

From A Text-book of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. by Beringer, Cornelius

They are usually made of short slips of metal foil or wire, which melt or deflagrate when the current is too strong, and thus interrupt the circuit.

From The Story of Electricity by Munro, John

The current induced in the secondary wire of a coil by the discharge of the condenser through the primary, was also sufficiently intense to deflagrate wires of considerable length and thickness.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 275, April 9, 1881 by Various

The salts containing nitric acid deflagrate when heated on charcoal.

From A System of Instruction in the Practical Use of the Blowpipe Being A Graduated Course Of Analysis For The Use Of Students And All Those Engaged In The Examination Of Metallic Combinations by Anonymous

In making this test the student must remember that sulphur and, in fact, all oxidisable bodies similarly deflagrate, but it is only in the case of carbon compounds that carbonate of potash is formed.

From A Text-book of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. by Beringer, Cornelius