detonate

Verb

Verb Forms: detonated, detonating, detonates

To cause a bomb or explosive to go off.
cause to burst with a violent release of energy
burst and release energy as through a violent chemical or physical reaction
- "the bomb detonated at noon"
To explode, blow up
To explode, blow up
To combust or decompose supersonically via shock compression.
To cause to explode.
To express sudden anger.

Examples

His unexpected bingo threatened to DETONATE a chain reaction of high-scoring plays.
The engineers detonated the dynamite and watched the old building collapse.

Origin / Etymology

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.

Synonyms

blow up, explode, set off, blast#Verb, fulminate, thunder#Verb

Antonyms

deflagrate

Scrabble Score: 9

detonate: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
detonate: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
detonate: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 10

detonate: valid Words With Friends Word