Word.ws English Dictionary

detonates

detonates is the third-person singular simple present indicative of detonate.

Meaning of detonate

Verb

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

  1. (intransitive) To explode, blow up
    Synonyms:
    blast
    1. (especially, intransitive) 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. (figuratively, intransitive) 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
    Synonyms:
    fulminate, thunder

Questions about detonates

What is detonates the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Detonates is the third-person singular simple present indicative of detonate.

Words near detonates in the dictionary

  1. detonable
  2. detonatability
  3. detonatable
  4. detonate
  5. detonated
  6. detonates
  7. detonating
  8. detonating cord
  9. detonating cords
  10. detonation
  11. detonation cord

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: detonates (page history and authors); detonate (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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Cite this entry: “detonates.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/detonates. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.