implode
Americanverb (used without object)
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implodes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
imploded,
past participle, past
-
imploding
present participle
verb (used with object)
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implodes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
imploded,
past participle, past
-
imploding
present participle
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
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "I"
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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:
In these experiments, powerful lasers create shock waves that force a tiny diamond capsule to implode.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026
Watching Graham Platner’s campaign implode was like watching that expensive red sports car get totaled.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
In 2008, it had to reverse course rapidly as banks imploded, and again in 2011 as the entire euro system threatened to implode.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 5, 2026
They're waiting and waiting for the Premiership leaders to implode but there's little sign of it.
From BBC ● Mar. 8, 2026
Leo’s chest felt like it might implode from guilt.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
If the AI trade implodes, that case only gets stronger.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
"The idea the labor market has turned a corner implodes with this report."
From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2026
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 accident comes uncannily to mind revisiting “The Abyss,” in which a damaged submersible implodes after sinking beyond its crush depth.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2023
And it’s like something inside of me implodes.
From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman
Supermarket chain Albertsons ACI 1.31%increase; green up pointing triangle wants its top rival Kroger KR 1.02%increase; green up pointing triangle to pay it at least $8 billion after their grocery megadeal imploded two years ago.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
The rest of the story we’re all familiar with: Platner built a movement, and then imploded personally, leaving Jackson as the warm body to fill the ballot line.
From Slate ● Oct. 10, 2026
It earned plaudits from Questlove and Snoop Dogg, won a Grammy for progressive R&B album, and hung on as the record business imploded and rebuilt in the streaming era.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
However, she lost a tight three-set Australian Open final to Rybakina before she imploded at the French Open.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
Leo pulled the Argo II out of the cavern seconds before the entire place imploded, taking the rest of the parking lot with it.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
I was both watching and reading about all these groups imploding; it was companies, friend groups, church groups, Boy Scout troops.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
He made his name in Brazil's first division with Cruzeiro, a huge club who - after a highly successful few years - were imploding under the weight of debts and off-the-field scandals.
From BBC ● May 27, 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
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
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
