as in explosions
the act or an instance of exploding
there was a series of detonations around the base of the condemned building, causing it to come crashing down in a matter of minutes
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Recent Examples of detonations
Dailey traveled to Gralphs' Madison, Wisconsin, home in 2019, and learned about his experiences in Operation Crossroads, a pair of nuclear tests that took place at Bikini Atoll in 1946, marking the first nuclear detonations since the bombs dropped on Japan.
—
Hope Hodge Seck, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
Energy Secretary Chris Wright later clarified that the tests would not include actual detonations, as had been carried out in the past.
—Ryan Chan, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
Those detonations had the explosive equivalent of one Hiroshima-sized atomic bomb every day for 20 years, according to a 2025 report from the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER).
—Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 4 Nov. 2025
Israel did not confirm its involvement in the immediate aftermath of the detonations, which came after months of Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel, which had ratcheted up in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attacks on Southern Israel.
—Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 28 Oct. 2025
Controlled detonations were expected to continue throughout the day.
—Evan Mealins, Nashville Tennessean, 12 Oct. 2025
The Global Burst Detection system, a set of specialized payloads hosted on US GPS satellites, has been monitoring the planet for signs of nuclear detonations for over 60 years.
—Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering, 26 Sep. 2025
Following the detonations, black rains fell, sticky and radioactive—a type of nuclear fallout.
—R. Daniel Foster, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
Some thought experiments, if truly wrestled with, can act like inner detonations.
—Shai Tubali, Big Think, 5 Aug. 2025
Hope Hodge Seck, USA Today, 6 Nov. 2025
Energy Secretary Chris Wright later clarified that the tests would not include actual detonations, as had been carried out in the past.
—Ryan Chan, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
Those detonations had the explosive equivalent of one Hiroshima-sized atomic bomb every day for 20 years, according to a 2025 report from the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER).
—Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 4 Nov. 2025
Israel did not confirm its involvement in the immediate aftermath of the detonations, which came after months of Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel, which had ratcheted up in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attacks on Southern Israel.
—Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 28 Oct. 2025
Controlled detonations were expected to continue throughout the day.
—Evan Mealins, Nashville Tennessean, 12 Oct. 2025
The Global Burst Detection system, a set of specialized payloads hosted on US GPS satellites, has been monitoring the planet for signs of nuclear detonations for over 60 years.
—Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering, 26 Sep. 2025
Following the detonations, black rains fell, sticky and radioactive—a type of nuclear fallout.
—R. Daniel Foster, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
Some thought experiments, if truly wrestled with, can act like inner detonations.
—Shai Tubali, Big Think, 5 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for detonations
Noun
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The children grow before the camera’s eye, taking their first steps and speaking their first words to the backdrop of explosions—moving from tent to tent, clinging to life, and longing for their mother’s embrace.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
10 Nov. 2025
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For soldiers caught in explosions, survival often comes at a steep physical cost.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Several eruptions of energy from the sun, known as coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, are expected to reach Earth’s magnetic field over the next two nights.—
Briana Waxman,
CNN Money,
12 Nov. 2025
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Hazards from eruptions at Kilauea include high levels of volcanic gas, ash, pumice, scoria and reticulite and Pele's hair -- strands of volcanic glass produced by lava fountaining that can be carried more than 10 miles from the vent, according to the USGS.—
Julia Jacobo,
ABC News,
10 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Detonations.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/detonations. Accessed 24 Nov. 2025.
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