detonation

noun det·o·na·tion \ ˌde-tᵊn-ˈā-shən , ˌde-tə-ˈnā- \

|Updated on: 16 Jun 2018

Examples: detonation in a Sentence

Definition of detonation

1 : the action or process of detonating

2 : rapid combustion in an internal combustion engine that results in knocking

Examples of detonation in a Sentence

there was a series of detonations around the base of the condemned building, causing it to come crashing down in a matter of minutes

Recent Examples of detonation from the Web

The plot, which involved the detonation of an electrical tower, had casino operators nervous — might that actually work? — but the publicity proved irresistible.

— seth abramovitch, The Hollywood Reporter, "Hollywood Flashback: How Sinatra and the Men of 'Ocean's 11' Made Vegas "Pop" in 1960," 31 May 2018
The southern and western portals could still support detonations, even if the northern side was badly damaged over the five nuclear tests conducted there, 38 North said April 30.

— Fortune, "Why Closing North Korea's Test Site Won't Hinder Kim Jong Un's Nuke Plans," 15 May 2018
Dearborn's team modeled how a one-megaton device, detonated away from the surface of the asteroid Bennu — this is known as stand-off detonation, to direct a blast wave of X-rays toward the target — would affect its trajectory.

— Popular Mechanics, "The Asteroid Hunters," 11 Nov. 2015
Five dropped onto red-hot flows, splashing lava 200 feet into the air upon detonation (which then punched holes through one of the bombers’ wings).

— adam rogers, WIRED, "The Implacable Power of Volcanic Lava," 10 May 2018
The gas hits its neighbor like a hammer, triggering an explosion on the star’s surface that sends a shock wave deep below, igniting a second—the Type Ia detonation—in and around the star’s core.

— shannon hall, Scientific American, "The Milky Way's Speediest Stars Could Solve a 50-Year-Old Mystery," 9 May 2018
The materials appear to show Iranian scientists conducting feasibility studies on the detonation of nuclear bombs and the mounting of warheads on Iran's largest missiles.

— author: joby warrick, Anchorage Daily News, "Muzzled watchdog: How killing the nuclear deal could make it easier for Iran to pursue the bomb in secret," 8 May 2018
Chinese geologists claimed in a study the cavity caused by last September's nuclear test collapsed shortly after the detonation, causing a powerful tremor.

— joshua berlinger, CNN, "North Korea monitors claim nuclear test site dismantling has begun," 15 May 2018
However, two separate groups of Chinese scientists now say Mount Mantap did in fact collapse after that detonation.

— david meyer, Fortune, "That's One Reason To Suspend Nuclear Tests: North Korea's Most Recent Blast Collapsed a Mountain," 25 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'detonation.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.