explosion
Other forms: explosions
Whether it's a bursting balloon or a detonating bomb, you're sure to notice an explosion. An explosion involves a sudden and often violent burst of energy.
The noun explosion is useful when you're talking about a watermelon smashing on the pavement or the burst of fireworks overhead, but it can also describe a sudden increase in something, like an explosion of excitement at a birthday party when the pony arrives. Originally, explosion was used to mean "scornful rejection," from its root in the Latin explodere, "hiss off the stage," and a disappointed audience today might still be described as "exploding with boos."
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the act of exploding or bursting“the explosion of the firecrackers awoke the children”
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synonyms:
burst
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types:
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detonation
the act of detonating an explosive
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fulmination
the act of exploding with noise and violence
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percussion
the act of exploding a percussion cap
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type of:
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change of integrity
the act of changing the unity or wholeness of something
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detonation
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a violent release of energy caused by a chemical or nuclear reaction
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synonyms:
blowup, detonation
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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
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the noise caused by an explosion“the explosion was heard a mile away”
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type of:
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noise
sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound)
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noise
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a sudden outburst“an explosion of laughter”“an explosion of rage”
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type of:
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blowup, ebullition, effusion, gush, outburst
an unrestrained expression of emotion
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blowup, ebullition, effusion, gush, outburst
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a sudden great increase“the population explosion”“the information explosion”
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type of:
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increase
a change resulting in an increase
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increase
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the terminal forced release of pressure built up during the occlusive phase of a stop consonant
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synonyms:
plosion
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type of:
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release, tone ending
(music) the act or manner of terminating a musical phrase or tone
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release, tone ending
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a golf shot from a bunker that typically moves sand as well as the golf ball
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type of:
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golf shot, golf stroke, swing
the act of swinging a golf club at a golf ball and (usually) hitting it
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golf shot, golf stroke, swing
/ɛkˈsploʊʒɪn/
/ɛksˈpləʊʃən/
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