detonate

Meaning

Verb

• To explode; to blow up. Specifically, to combust supersonically via shock compression.
• To cause to explode.

Related

Similar words

• blast
• discharge
• fulminate

Opposite words

• deflagrate

Broader meaning words

• combust

Origin

• Borrowed from Latin detono. It meant "to stop thundering", e.g. as in weather (de- = "from", tonare = "to thunder"). The current English meaning seems to be a new formation in postclassical times.