detonation
detonations
A detonation is an explosion, usually done on purpose. Nuclear weapons cause massive detonations, and cities sometimes plan a careful detonation of an abandoned building in order to make room for a new structure.
Detonation can be two things: the actual moment someone presses the button that creates the explosion, and then there’s the explosion itself. Its root word is the Latin detonare, which means “thunder down,” and if you’ve ever heard a detonation you understand that phrase well. Not all detonations are bad — like beautiful fireworks or the hilarious detonation of an exploding cigar.
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the act of detonating an explosive
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types:
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percussion
the act of exploding a percussion cap
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percussion
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a violent release of energy caused by a chemical or nuclear reaction
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types:
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airburst
an explosion in the atmosphere
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blast
an explosion (as of dynamite)
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backfire
a loud noise made by the explosion of fuel in the manifold or exhaust of an internal combustion engine
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big bang
(cosmology) the cosmic explosion that is hypothesized to have marked the origin of the universe
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backfire, blowback
the backward escape of gases and unburned gunpowder after a gun is fired
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fragmentation
the scattering of bomb fragments after the bomb explodes
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inflation
(cosmology) a brief exponential expansion of the universe (faster than the speed of light) postulated to have occurred shortly after the big bang
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bomb blast
the explosion of a bomb
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back-blast, backblast
backfire from a recoilless weapon
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type of:
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discharge
the sudden giving off of energy
Vocabulary lists containing detonation
In the last book of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy, Katniss struggles to be more than just a pawn in the fight for the future of Panem. Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–9, Chapters 10–13, Chapters 14–18, Chapters 19–22, Chapter 23–Epilogue Here are links to our lists for the trilogy: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay Here is a link to our lists for Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins.
A man struggles to reunite with his wife as England is laid to waste during an extraterrestrial invasion. Read the full text here.
This list focuses on the Great Depression, the New Deal, FDR, and World War II (1933-1945). Here are links to all the chapters in Part Five, Struggling for Justice at Home and Abroad: Chapters 28-29, Chapters 30-32, Chapters 33-35 Here are links to all the parts of the textbook published by Houghton Mifflin: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six
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