exploding

present participle of explode
1
as in detonating
to break open or into pieces usually because of internal pressure the building was wrecked when a powerful bomb exploded

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2
as in shattering
to cause to break open or into pieces by or as if by an explosive the bomb was so powerful that it exploded windows in several neighboring buildings

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3

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of exploding If civilian use of wireless technologies is exploding, military applications are also rising, and everything from drones to armored vehicles is now part of the larger set of attack units. — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 1 Oct. 2026 Viard watched firsthand as fashion ballooned into a global industry, designers becoming celebrities unto themselves and budgets exploding. — Olivier Bouchara, Vanity Fair, 30 Sep. 2026 And all while the rest of us pay the price for his outrageous tariffs, exploding debt, loss of 100,000 manufacturing jobs, soaring interest rates, gutting of our healthcare system, and runaway energy costs. — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 28 Sep. 2026 Launched in 2004, the $364-million observatory is designed to pivot quickly — as its name suggests — to capture gamma ray bursts, exploding stars and other fast-breaking cosmic action. — Marcia Dunn, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2026 Launched in 2004, the $364 million observatory is designed to pivot quickly -- as its name suggests -- to capture gamma ray bursts, exploding stars and other fast-breaking cosmic action. — Arkansas Online, 26 Sep. 2026 The launch abort system ripped the Soyuz capsule free of its rocket with so much force, Titov and Strekalov were subjected to 20Gs (or 20 times the force of gravity) as the capsule streaked away from the exploding rocket. — Tariq Malik, Space.com, 26 Sep. 2026 But as the cost of producing a unit of intelligence collapses, the amount businesses consume is exploding. — Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 23 Sep. 2026 For Virgin-Morgan, that means more consistently exploding off the line of scrimmage and winning the edge or gap. — Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 23 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for exploding
Verb
  • Akhtar the author, though, is conducting a stealthy psyop aimed at detonating the certainties of combatants on both sides.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Jentleson compares the power of fusing race and these questions of fairness to detonating a nuclear warhead.
    — Isaac Arnsdorf, New Yorker, 18 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • Man searching with metal detector unearths massive Viking Age fortune, shattering records.
    — , FOXNews.com, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Last week a number of concerned mathematicians, many of them at the top of their subject, launched the Association for Human Mathematics (AHM)—an effort that was underway even before the earth-shattering Navier-Stokes news.
    — Joseph Howlett, Scientific American, 14 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • The Hunga caldera is thought to have collapsed even as the volcano was erupting.
    — Yook Ji Hun, ArsTechnica, 23 Sep. 2026
  • However, this doesn't seem to be the case with the jets erupting from blazar 3C 345.
    — Robert Lea, Space.com, 21 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • But after an initial surge in interest in Turning Point, with new chapters popping up at high schools and colleges across the country, the future of the organization in a fracturing MAGA movement now seems less certain one year later.
    — Clara Molot, Vanity Fair, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Lawmakers’ growing reluctance to fulfill Hegseth’s eye-popping budget request reflects real intraparty concerns about his leadership, his relationship with Congress, and the ongoing war with Iran.
    — Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 28 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • One panel was falling, then smashing on the path, lead relinquishing its long grip on the glass.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2026
  • The helicopter crashed in a driveway between two warehouses, smashing into a pair of truck cargo containers while the news crew tried grabbing video footage of a serious collision involving a Metro bus that also left two people dead.
    — Carlos De Loera, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • The one in the middle is blowing a bubble, with her legs stretched out and propped up on the chair of the girl in front of her.
    — Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2026
  • During El Nino, low-level surface winds blowing from east to west across the Pacific are weakened or sometimes reversed.
    — John Raby, Chicago Tribune, 25 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • This is not the first time a coach in LAUSD has gotten into trouble trying to improve a facility, with the district issuing disciplinary action and demolishing the improvement because it was not authorized.
    — Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2026
  • On Thursday, the judge ordered the Kennedy Center to provide 30 days' notice before making any major physical changes to the building, including demolishing it.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 20 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • Morgan Stanley shrugged off the bubble-bursting concerns, with its Global Investment Committee reiterating a year-end S&P 500 target of 8,000 and a mid-2027 target of 8,300—bullish territory, not a bust.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 14 Sep. 2026
  • For a child bursting with energy, few things are more fun than hurtling through a bouncy castle, launching into the air, and ping-ponging between every surface.
    — Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 11 Sep. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Exploding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/exploding. Accessed 2 Oct. 2026.

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