explosion

American  

[ik-sploh-zhuhn] / ɪkˈsploʊ ʒən /

noun

1. an act or instance of exploding; a violent expansion or bursting with noise, as of gunpowder or a boiler (implosion ).

2. the noise itself.

   The loud explosion woke them.

3. a violent outburst, as of laughter or anger.

4. a sudden, rapid, or great increase.

   a population explosion.

5. the burning of the mixture of fuel and air in an internal-combustion engine.

6. Phonetics. plosion.

---

explosion British  

/ ɪkˈspləʊʒən /

noun

1. the act or an instance of exploding

2. a violent release of energy resulting from a rapid chemical or nuclear reaction, esp one that produces a shock wave, loud noise, heat, and light Compare implosion

3. a sudden or violent outburst of activity, noise, emotion, etc

4. a rapid increase, esp in a population

5. phonetics another word for plosion

---

explosion Scientific  

/ ĭk-splō′zhən /

1. A violent blowing apart or bursting caused by energy released from a very fast chemical reaction, a nuclear reaction, or the escape of gases under pressure.

---

Other Word Forms

• postexplosion adjective
• preexplosion noun

Etymology

Origin of explosion

First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin explōsiōn-, stem of explōsiō, from explōs(us) “driven off by clapping” (past participle of explōdere “to drive off by clapping, drive away”; explode ) + -iō -ion

Example Sentences

Swansea and Preston's players were still warming up when Snoop emerged to an explosion of noise and colour.

From BBC

The surge in agentic coding, as illustrated by the explosion in Claude Code’s popularity, is now spreading to the rest of knowledge work, from finance to legal, sales, human resources, design and operations, he said.

From The Wall Street Journal

He doubled down Monday on US accusations that China carried out a low-yield nuclear test in 2020 and of preparing more explosions with larger yields.

From Barron's

Mr. Yeaw, an assistant secretary at State, added details: “The probable explosion occurred right near the Lop Nur nuclear test site” in China.

From The Wall Street Journal

"Later, when a second crew arrived, another explosion went off," it added.

From BBC

Related Words

• blast
• burst
• detonation
• firing
• outbreak
• outburst