Exploded Suddenly Explode Bomb Sense ɪkˈspləʊd Device Verb

• a second bomb exploded in a crowded market.
• the firework exploded in his hand.
• bomb disposal experts exploded the device under controlled conditions.
• there was a huge bang as if someone had exploded a rocket outside.

explode

Word Family

• explode verb
• explosion noun
• explosive adjective noun
• unexploded adjective

Verb Forms

1. to burst (= break apart) or make something burst loudly and violently, causing damage
• SYNONYM blow up
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/blow-up_1
• A second bomb exploded in a crowded market.
• The firework exploded in his hand.
• Bomb disposal experts exploded the device under controlled conditions.
• There was a huge bang as if someone had exploded a rocket outside.

Extra Examples

• The chemical is liable to explode on contact with water.
• A blast bomb was thrown but the device failed to explode.
• The jet smashed into a hillside and exploded.
• My heart was nearly exploding in fright.
2. to suddenly become very angry or dangerous
• Tension between the two sides could explode at any time.
• Suddenly Charles exploded with rage.
• The protest exploded into a riot.
• ‘Of course there's something wrong!’ Jem exploded.

Extra Examples

• She almost exploded with anger.
• A disagreement over public spending is set to explode.
3. to suddenly express an emotion
• We all exploded into wild laughter.
4. to suddenly and quickly do something; to move suddenly with a lot of force
• After ten minutes the game exploded into life.
• He suddenly exploded into action.
5. to make a sudden very loud noise
• Thunder exploded overhead.
6. to increase suddenly and very quickly in number
• the exploding world population
7. to show that something is not true, especially something that people believe
• At last, a women's magazine to explode the myth that thin equals beautiful.
• The report explodes the theory that there was a conspiracy.

Word Origin

• mid 16th cent. (in the sense ‘reject scornfully’): from Latin explodere ‘drive out by clapping, hiss off the stage’, from ex- ‘out’ + plaudere ‘to clap’. Sense (7) is derived from the original sense of the word. Sense (1) (late 18th cent.) evolved via an old sense ‘expel with violence and sudden noise’, perhaps influenced by obsolete displode ‘burst with a noise’.