implode
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
verb
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to collapse or cause to collapse inwards in a violent manner as a result of external pressure
the vacuum flask imploded
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(tr) to pronounce (a consonant) with or by implosion
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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implodesimple
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implodessimple
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have implodedperfect
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has implodedperfect
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am implodingprogressive
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are implodingprogressive
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is implodingprogressive
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have been implodingperfect progressive
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has been implodingperfect progressive
Past
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implodedsimple
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had implodedperfect
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was implodingprogressive
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were implodingprogressive
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had been implodingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of implode
Explanation
When something implodes, it explodes inward — instead of outward. With extremely large buildings, it helps to implode them rather than explode them, because by falling inward they take up less space. Why bother to have a word like implode when you already have explode? Well, imagine there is something deep beneath the sea, being subjected to the intense pressure there. If the pressure is high enough that the object bursts, it would collapse in rather than out. It would, in fact, implode. People also sometimes use implode to describe a person subjected to intense pressures who, emotionally at least, bursts inward: "All that stress just made Jess implode."
Vocabulary lists containing implode
100 SAT Words Beginning with "I"
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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
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50 Great Words from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon
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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.
See Examples For:
If there is a third consecutive failure, the treaty "might not implode overnight" said Christopher King, the conference's secretary-general.
From Barron's ● Apr. 25, 2026
As history has proved, titans of industry often share a regrettable tendency to make a lot of money from leveraging enthusiasm and then leaving others to clean up the mess when the markets implode.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026
They're waiting and waiting for the Premiership leaders to implode but there's little sign of it.
From BBC ● Mar. 8, 2026
“I’ve watched companies implode for decades. This one has all the warning signs,” he wrote.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 21, 2026
Leo’s chest felt like it might implode from guilt.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
"The idea the labor market has turned a corner implodes with this report."
From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2026
Part 1 of the fourth season, which was released last month, finally saw Gabriel and Emily rekindle their romance just as his chance at a coveted Michelin star implodes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2024
It is essential, especially as we all watch in grief as the Middle East implodes, to hasten our way to renewable energy sources and clean transit options.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 20, 2023
The epistemological and ontological nihilism of the closed cube argument frankly implodes upon itself.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 14, 2023
And it’s like something inside of me implodes.
From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman
The company imploded and the stock went to zero “with little preamble,” Grantham wrote.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
Over that time, Paulson and Pakistan-born Fahad Ghaffar have traded lawsuits—and cutting barbs—detailing how their once-promising partnership imploded so spectacularly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
The squad almost imploded when Jonathan Rowe and Adrien Rabiot clashed in the dressing room, and De Zerbi's uncompromising style alienated certain players.
From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2026
The company imploded after a dispute with bank partners revealed a massive shortfall in customer funds and a failure to keep accurate ledgers, according to court filings in Synapse’s bankruptcy proceeding.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 17, 2026
But just because your parents’ marriage imploded doesn’t mean you can’t be happy with a boy.”
From "Keep It Together, Keiko Carter" by Debbi Michiko Florence
The big question is whether there’s a risk of it suddenly imploding.
From MarketWatch ● May 17, 2026
One way or another it will fall, either through toppling or imploding from within.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026
The boom in companies holding large stocks of cryptos has been a hot play this year, but that trade is now at risk of imploding and dragging down the rest of the sector with it.
From Barron's ● Oct. 25, 2025
New Jersey started imploding the day after Christmas in 2024.
From Slate ● Oct. 17, 2025
They constantly shifted configuration, some expanding by swarming over their neighbors, others imploding when their constituent villages seceded and joined other polities.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
