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
-
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
Without getting too complicated into how volatility is calculated, consider this scenario: You’re a money manager and the stock market begins to implode in August.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 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
At a nearby bakery, hungry men gathered in front of the plate-glass window separating them from racks of freshly baked bread, hoping the window would implode.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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
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
“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
And it’s like something inside of me implodes.
From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman
The amount supermarket chain Albertsons wants its top rival Kroger to pay after their grocery megadeal imploded two years ago.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 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
Even Graham Platner, the scruffy Maine oyster farmer, was winning Obama-esque praise before his Senate candidacy imploded.
From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2026
The company imploded and the stock went to zero “with little preamble,” Grantham wrote.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
It was quite possible that Artemis would have sat like that for some time, totally detached from the situation at hand, had not the front door imploded, shaking the manor to its foundations.
From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
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
The pandemic and China’s imploding housing market ended the good times.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 1, 2026
New Jersey started imploding the day after Christmas in 2024.
From Slate ● Oct. 17, 2025
The jockey lived hard and lean and tended to die young, trampled under the hooves of horses or imploding from the pressures of his vocation.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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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.
