detonate
v.v. to cause an explosion. You use this when something like a bomb or a gas tank suddenly bursts and releases a lot of energy.
v. to cause an explosion or to explode. Often used in technical or military contexts to describe the controlled release of energy from an explosive device.
The technician detonated the charge to clear the path.
The safety team waited for the signal to detonate the explosives safely away from the historic building.
The chemical reaction was so rapid that it detonated the entire laboratory, causing significant structural damage to the facility and requiring a full cleanup operation.
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.