Wiktionary

detonate

English

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin dētonō, dētonātus, which meant "to stop thundering", e.g. as in weather (dē- (“from”) ‎ tonāre (“thunder”)). The current English meaning seems to be a new formation in postclassical times.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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detonate (third-person singular simple present detonates, present participle detonating, simple past and past participle detonated)

  1. (intransitive) To explode; to blow up. Specifically, to combust or decompose supersonically via shock compression.
  2. (transitive) To cause to explode.
    The engineers detonated the dynamite and watched the old building collapse.
  3. (intransitive, figurative) To express sudden anger.
    • 2013, Michael J. Restrepo, The Custody Officer, page 116:
      As Oscar turned to greet Yvonne, she could see every muscle in his body contract in anger. Then he detonated. “What the hell are you doing here without an appointment? […]

Synonyms

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Antonyms

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  • (antonym(s) of “with respect to speed of prorogation”): deflagrate

Hypernyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Anagrams

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Ido

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Adverb

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detonate

  1. adverbial present passive participle of detonar

Italian

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Etymology 1

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Verb

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detonate

  1. inflection of detonare:
    1. second-person plural present indicative
    2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

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Participle

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detonate f pl

  1. feminine plural of detonato

Anagrams

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Latin

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Verb

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dētonāte

  1. second-person plural present active imperative of dētonō

Spanish

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Verb

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detonate

  1. second-person singular voseo imperative of detonar combined with te
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