detonate
/ˈdɛtəneɪt/US/ˈdɛtəˌneɪt/
detonate verb: to explode, blow up.
Verb
detonate (third-person singular simple present detonates, present participle detonating, simple past and past participle detonated)
- To explode, blow up
- Synonyms:
- blast
- To combust or decompose supersonically via shock compression.
- To cause to explode.
- The engineers detonated the dynamite and watched the old building collapse.
- To express sudden anger.
- 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? […]2013, Michael J. Restrepo, The Custody Officer, page 116
detonate meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada
detonate in Tamil
- வெடி, வெடிக்கச் செய்
detonate in Urdu
- دھماکا کرنا, پھاڑنا
detonate in Malayalam
- ഉണ്ടാവുക, വെടി പൊട്ടിക്കുക, സ്ഫോടനം, ഭയങ്കരശബ്ദത്തോടെ പൊട്ടിത്തെറിക്കുക
detonate in Kannada
- ಸಿಡಿಸು, ಸ್ಫೋಟಮಾಡು, ಸ್ಫೋಟವಾಗು
Examples of detonate in a sentence
- He wired the cap to the bundle of dynamite, then detonated it remotely.
- Ammonium nitrate can detonate if severely shocked.
- The bomb was detonated by remote control.
Synonyms of detonate
Antonyms
Forms of detonate
| third-person singular present | detonates |
|---|---|
| present participle | detonating |
| past participle | detonated |
| past | detonated |
Origin of detonate
First attested in 1729; either borrowed from French détoner or directly from Latin dētonātus, perfect passive participle of dētonō (“to thunder down (strongly); (figuratively, of a person) to thunder, speak threateningly, to rage; to stop thundering”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from dē- (“off, from”) + tonō (“to thunder”)). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tenh₂-. The current interlingual meaning seems to be a new formation in postclassical times (to thunder → make a large noise → explode), compare explode.
Words formed from detonate
Questions about detonate
- What does detonate mean?
- Detonate means to explode, blow up.
- What is detonate in Tamil?
- Detonate in Tamil is வெடி, வெடிக்கச் செய். See Detonate meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is detonate?
- Detonate is a verb.
- How do you pronounce detonate?
- Detonate is pronounced /ˈdɛtəneɪt/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of detonate?
- The past tense of detonate is detonated.
Words near detonate in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: detonate (page history and authors); detonate (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); detonate (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); detonate (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); detonate (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-detonate.wav.
Cite this entry: “detonate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/detonate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.