detonate

[ det-n-eyt ]

verb (used without object)

, det·o·nat·ed, det·o·nat·ing.

1. to explode with suddenness and violence.

verb (used with object)

, det·o·nat·ed, det·o·nat·ing.

1. to cause (something explosive) to explode.

detonate

/ ˈdɛtəˌneɪt /

verb

1. to cause (a bomb, mine, etc) to explode or (of a bomb, mine, etc) to explode; set off or be set off

Other Words From

• det·o·na·ble [det, -n-, uh, -b, uh, l], deto·nata·ble adjective
• deto·na·bili·ty deto·nata·bili·ty noun
• non·deto·nating adjective
• un·deto·nated adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of detonate¹

1720–30; < Latin dētonātus thundered forth (past participle of dētonāre ), equivalent to dē- de- + ton ( āre ) to thunder + -ātus -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of detonate¹

C18: from Latin dētonāre to thunder down, from de- + tonāre to thunder

Example Sentences

Any one of them could have—and still may—detonate the deal if the negotiated plan falls apart.

From Time

Another way would be to fly a grenade immediately to where the enemy is positioned, detonating it on contact.

From Popular-Science

The leak in Amuay, Venezuela, was slow but kept leaking for more than an hour before the vapor detonated.

From Washington Post

Instead, a man detonated 80 pounds of explosives as part of an elaborate gender-reveal party stunt, the Kingston Police Department told the New Hampshire Union Leader.

From Washington Post

The first H-bomb, detonated by the United States in 1952, was 1,000 times as powerful as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

From Science News

His target splits with a satisfying rumble, and then the fragments detonate as he strafes them with more bullets.

From The Daily Beast

Operators on the ground chose to detonate the rocket shortly after launch once it was established that there were problems.

From The Daily Beast

He was referring to the lone wolves such as ISIS is now urging online to detonate pipe bombs in Times Square.

From The Daily Beast

Al-Shahzad failed to properly detonate his bomb and was reported to the New York police by a Muslim-American street vendor.

From The Daily Beast

That a suicide bomber will detonate himself in the middle of Fifth Avenue?

From The Daily Beast

He then unscrewed the fuze and threw it away before it could detonate the shell.

From Project Gutenberg

They are very difficult to detonate, and if set on fire do not explode like gunpowder.

From Project Gutenberg

The depth-charge had fouled a trailing wire from some of my ‘stage scenery sky’ and been dragged along to detonate close astern.

From Project Gutenberg

I decided to send three balls down each, leave 12 in the cavern, then detonate them all at once.

From Project Gutenberg

In fact guncotton in the colloid state may be hammered on an anvil, and, as a rule, only the portion struck will detonate or fire.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• blast
• blow up
• burst
• explode