as in to explode
to break open or into pieces usually because of internal pressure
the bomb detonated with a thunder that could be heard for blocks in all directions
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Recent Examples of detonate
The agency also said that North Korean soldiers have been ordered to commit suicide by detonating explosives to avoid being captured, according to the lawmakers.
—
Stella Kim, NBC News, 13 Jan. 2025
Investigators continue to uncover more details about the New Year's Day attack in New Orleans and the suspect's apparent plot to detonate explosives in addition to the deadly truck-ramming incident.
—Julia Reinstein, ABC News, 6 Jan. 2025
The explosion was caused by a combination of fireworks, gas tanks and camping fuel in the bed of the vehicle detonated by a device controlled by the driver.
—Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 6 Jan. 2025
The driver of the vehicle is believed to have shot himself in the head shortly before detonating the vehicle.
—Niall Stanage, The Hill, 3 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for detonate 
Stella Kim, NBC News, 13 Jan. 2025
Investigators continue to uncover more details about the New Year's Day attack in New Orleans and the suspect's apparent plot to detonate explosives in addition to the deadly truck-ramming incident.
—Julia Reinstein, ABC News, 6 Jan. 2025
The explosion was caused by a combination of fireworks, gas tanks and camping fuel in the bed of the vehicle detonated by a device controlled by the driver.
—Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 6 Jan. 2025
The driver of the vehicle is believed to have shot himself in the head shortly before detonating the vehicle.
—Niall Stanage, The Hill, 3 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for detonate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for detonate
Verb
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The Heat never looked back, exploding for 46 points in the third quarter to take a 24-point lead into the fourth quarter.—
Anthony Chiang,
Miami Herald,
20 Jan. 2025
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Meanwhile, Trump's net worth was about to explode from an asset that, up to that point, didn't exist.—
MacKenzie Sigalos,
CNBC,
20 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Is this a lot of hocus pocus or a computational paradigm that might blow current capabilities out of the water and make NVDA look like, well, Intel of prior years?—
Vineer Bhansali,
Forbes,
23 Jan. 2025
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The Eagles defense also uncharacteristically blew several coverages in Week 16, including on two of Daniels’ five touchdown passes.—
Ted Nguyen,
The Athletic,
23 Jan. 2025
Verb
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The Chinese tech giant popped 2% after dropping a new version of its artificial intelligence model Qwen.—
Alex Harring,
CNBC,
29 Jan. 2025
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Besides Cohen, Mel Brooks and Ron Howard pop in for seemingly unnecessary vocal cameos.—
Marshall Heyman,
Vulture,
28 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near detonate
Cite this Entry
“Detonate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/detonate. Accessed 1 Feb. 2025.
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