implode
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
verb
-
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
A fear in markets has been that if these companies start selling crypto, one of the year’s most popular trades could implode.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 9, 2025
If she missed any of them, her plan would implode.
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
"The idea the labor market has turned a corner implodes with this report."
From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2026
One less thing for Kraken to worry about in rearview mirror as “feel good” story implodes under weight of seven straight losses and expected word of a move to Salt Lake City.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 16, 2024
But when Iyi implodes, Jasper’s actions tell a different story, one that threatens the future of Iyi and the lives of the sisters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2023
“What CU did is ensure their future. Whether the Pac-12 implodes now or whether the Pac-12 implodes in 2030 or whether the Pac-12 stays together, CU is set,” Thompson said.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 28, 2023
The core implodes violently, the exterior rebounds and a supernova explosion results.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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
I want to be careful about what I’m not saying: I am not saying private credit is the next subprime market, which imploded in 2008.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 22, 2026
Ludvig Aberg held a three-shot overnight lead, but the Swede, who still led the field by three with nine to play, imploded; his hopes sunk in a couple of the course's many lakes.
From BBC ● Mar. 15, 2026
His attention network took on a predictable load as his performance imploded.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
When hotel- and sales-tax revenue began imploding weeks later due to pandemic shutdowns, city leaders laid off more than 400 municipal employees, roughly 20% of its workforce.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
The big question is whether there’s a risk of it suddenly imploding.
From MarketWatch ● May 17, 2026
New Jersey started imploding the day after Christmas in 2024.
From Slate ● Oct. 17, 2025
The UN's environment chief insists that a landmark global treaty tackling plastic pollution remains achievable, despite talks twice imploding without agreement, and the chair suddenly resigning this week.
From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2025
And I like imagining that I am there sometimes, in a spherical metal submersible with windows that are 30 cm thick to stop them from imploding under the pressure.
From "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon
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.
