explosive
Americanadjective
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of, involving, or characterized by an explosion or explosions
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capable of exploding or tending to explode
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potentially violent or hazardous; dangerous
an explosive situation
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phonetics another word for plosive
noun
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a substance that decomposes rapidly under certain conditions with the production of gases, which expand by the heat of the reaction. The energy released is used in firearms, blasting, and rocket propulsion
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a plosive consonant; stop
Other Word Forms
- explosively adverb
- explosiveness noun
- nonexplosive adjective
- nonexplosively adverb
- nonexplosiveness noun
- unexplosive adjective
- unexplosively adverb
- unexplosiveness noun
Etymology
Origin of explosive
First recorded in 1660–70; explos(ion) + -ive
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.
Despite their potential for destruction, these explosive encounters remain poorly understood.
From Science Daily
The Titans can be explosive at times, but I like Steve Spagnuolo drawing up schemes against a rookie quarterback, so give the visitors the edge.
From Los Angeles Times
They specialize in different types of technology, but the growth could be explosive for all three, says a team of analysts at Jefferies.
From Barron's
Such issues had just led to the explosive bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers that same month.
The transformation has been enabled by increasingly compact electronics, batteries and explosives.
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.
