explosion

noun

ex·​plo·​sion ik-ˈsplō-zhən 

1

: the act or an instance of exploding

injured in a laboratory explosion

2

: a large-scale, rapid, or spectacular expansion or bursting out or forth

the explosion of suburbia

an explosion of red hair

3

: the release of occluded breath that occurs in one kind of articulation of stop consonants

Synonyms

• blast
• blowup
• burst
• bursting
• detonation
• eruption
• outburst

Examples of explosion in a Sentence

The filmmakers staged the car's explosion.

The island was rocked by a series of volcanic explosions.

The region has experienced a population explosion.

His comments prompted an explosion of laughter from the crowd.

Recent Examples on the Web

Kwame Oppong, Bank of Ghana's head of fintech and innovation banking, pointed to fears around regulatory shortfalls amid an explosion of companies and technologies in recent years. —Lucinda Shen, Axios, 23 Oct. 2024

In the Tianjin port, an initial explosion of nitrocellulose led to a much bigger detonation of eight hundred pounds of ammonium nitrate. —Hazlitt, 23 Oct. 2024

Megan Schnapp and her partner Joshua Jeffries lived in the home where the explosion occurred. —Marina Watts, People.com, 22 Oct. 2024

This degree of enthusiasm reminds me of earlier bubbles, like the dot-com explosion, in which speculative investments divorced from reality. —Jim Osman, Forbes, 21 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Latin explosion-, explosio act of driving off by clapping, from explodere

First Known Use

1681, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing explosion

• population explosion

Kids Definition

explosion

noun

ex·​plo·​sion ik-ˈsplō-zhən 

1

: the act or an instance of exploding

2

: a violent outburst of feeling

Medical Definition

explosion

noun

ex·​plo·​sion ik-ˈsplō-zhən 

: the act or an instance of exploding