dynamite

[dahy-nuh-mahyt]

noun

1. a high explosive, originally consisting of nitroglycerin mixed with an absorbent substance, now with ammonium nitrate usually replacing the nitroglycerin.

2. any person or thing having a spectacular effect.

verb (used with object)

dynamited, dynamiting 

1. to blow up, shatter, or destroy with dynamite.

   Saboteurs dynamited the dam.

2. to mine or charge with dynamite.

adjective

1. Informal.,  creating a spectacular or optimum effect; great; topnotch.

   a dynamite idea; a dynamite crew.

dynamite

/ ˈdaɪnəˌmaɪt /

noun

1. an explosive consisting of nitroglycerine or ammonium nitrate mixed with kieselguhr, sawdust, or wood pulp

2. informal,  a spectacular or potentially dangerous person or thing

verb

1. (tr) to mine or blow up with dynamite

dynamite

1. A powerful explosive used in blasting and mining. It typically consists of nitroglycerin and a nitrate (especially sodium nitrate or ammonium nitrate), combined with an absorbent material that makes it safer to handle.

Other Word Forms

• dynamiter noun
• dynamitic adjective
• dynamitically adverb
• undynamited adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of dynamite¹

From Swedish dynamit, introduced by Alfred Bernhard Nobel ( def. ), its inventor in 1867; dynam-, -ite ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of dynamite¹

C19 (coined by Alfred Nobel): from _dynamo- + _-ite ¹

Example Sentences

The artwork depicts Kahlo sleeping in a bed that appears to float through the sky, beneath a skeleton with its legs wrapped in sticks of dynamite.

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Overwhelming firepower dislodged them in June, but the militants blew the bridge connecting the two settlements as they withdrew -- using so much dynamite that there was barely a scrap left to scavenge.

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Gunshots, dynamite, fire: none of it seems to leave a lasting mark.

Read more on Salon

Much of that resolve was forged thanks to a childhood game that Easley called dynamite pigskin.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

As Bert walks up, a monkey in a tree lowers a stick of dynamite on a string.

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Related Words

• nitroglycerin