detonate
- 01 C1 Advanced
to explode suddenly and with great force.
to explode or ignite with sudden violence. Used intransitively when the subject is the explosive itself.
Simple“The old bomb detonated unexpectedly while the workers were digging.”
In context“The unstable chemical compound detonated the moment it was exposed to direct sunlight, shattering the reinforced glass of the laboratory container.”
- 02 C2 Proficiency
to suddenly become very angry and start shouting.
to react with a sudden, violent outburst of emotion or anger. Figurative and intransitive use.
Simple“The manager detonated when he saw the mistakes in the final report.”
In context“After weeks of suppressed frustration, he finally detonated during the board meeting, accusing his colleagues of gross negligence.”
“The issue with wrecks loaded with munitions is that detonating them underwater can, in certain cases, disperse the contamination and worsen the problem.”
“All water mines have been removed or detonated,” Trump posted.”
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.