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high explosive

noun
  1. a class of explosive, as TNT, in which the reaction is so rapid as to be practically instantaneous, used in shells and bombs.
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Origin of high explosive

First recorded in 1875–80
Related formshigh-ex·plo·sive, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for high explosive

Historical Examples of high explosive

  • They are fools who hold that a ton of high-explosive is worth all the rhetoric of Cicero.

    The Orchard of Tears

    Sax Rohmer

  • At the end of that trailing cable was a powerful charge of high-explosive.

    A Sub and a Submarine

    Percy F. Westerman

  • The missile fired was a 75 millimetre or 3-inch high-explosive shell.

  • This time Kirkwood released three of the high-explosive missiles.

    Billy Barcroft, R.N.A.S.

    Percy F. Westerman

  • The others were to close in toward each other, pushing a high-explosive barrage five miles ahead of them.

    Armageddon--2419 A.D.

    Philip Francis Nowlan

British Dictionary definitions for high explosive

high explosive

noun
  1. an extremely powerful chemical explosive, such as TNT or gelignite
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012