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EXPLOSION
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The act of exploding or bursting
Example:
the burst of an atom bomb creates enormous radiation aloft
Synonyms:
burst; explosion
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("explosion" is a kind of...):
change of integrity (the act of changing the unity or wholeness of something)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "explosion"):
detonation (the act of detonating an explosive)
fulmination (the act of exploding with noise and violence)
Derivation:
explode (burst outward, usually with noise)
explode (cause to burst with a violent release of energy)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A golf shot from a bunker that typically moves sand as well as the golf ball
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("explosion" is a kind of...):
golf shot; golf stroke; swing (the act of swinging a golf club at a golf ball and (usually) hitting it)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A sudden outburst
Example:
an explosion of rage
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("explosion" is a kind of...):
blowup; ebullition; effusion; gush; outburst (an unrestrained expression of emotion)
Derivation:
explode (be unleashed; emerge with violence or noise)
Sense 4
Meaning:
The terminal forced release of pressure built up during the occlusive phase of a stop consonant
Synonyms:
explosion; plosion
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("explosion" is a kind of...):
release; tone ending ((music) the act or manner of terminating a musical phrase or tone)
Holonyms ("explosion" is a part of...):
occlusive; plosive; plosive consonant; plosive speech sound; stop; stop consonant (a consonant produced by stopping the flow of air at some point and suddenly releasing it)
Derivation:
explode (cause to burst as a result of air pressure; of stop consonants like /p/, /t/, and /k/)
Sense 5
Meaning:
A violent release of energy caused by a chemical or nuclear reaction
Synonyms:
blowup; detonation; explosion
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("explosion" is a kind of...):
discharge (the sudden giving off of energy)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "explosion"):
airburst (an explosion in the atmosphere)
blast (an explosion (as of dynamite))
backfire (a loud noise made by the explosion of fuel in the manifold or exhaust of an internal combustion engine)
big bang ((cosmology) the cosmic explosion that is hypothesized to have marked the origin of the universe)
backfire; blowback (the backward escape of gases and unburned gunpowder after a gun is fired)
fragmentation (the scattering of bomb fragments after the bomb explodes)
inflation ((cosmology) a brief exponential expansion of the universe (faster than the speed of light) postulated to have occurred shortly after the big bang)
Derivation:
explode (cause to burst with a violent release of energy)
Sense 6
Meaning:
The noise caused by an explosion
Example:
the explosion was heard a mile away
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural events
Hypernyms ("explosion" is a kind of...):
noise (sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound))
Sense 7
Meaning:
A sudden great increase
Example:
the information explosion
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural events
Hypernyms ("explosion" is a kind of...):
increase (a change resulting in an increase)
Derivation:
explode (increase rapidly and in an uncontrolled manner)
Context examples:
Gazing over the edge, they looked down upon the horrible destruction which had been caused by the explosion.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Over three days, the Cow produced a sudden explosion of light at least 10 times brighter than a typical supernova, and then it faded over the next few months.
(Mysterious Blast Studied with NASA Telescopes, NASA)
Amy teased Jo, and Jo irritated Amy, and semioccasional explosions occurred, of which both were much ashamed afterward.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
He scrambled backward, bursting out in an astonished explosion of ki-yi's.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
A small explosion vaporizes and ionizes the sample.
(Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry, NCI Thesaurus)
When a volcano begins erupting beneath a sheet of ice on Earth, the rapidly generated steam typically leads to explosions that punch through the ice and propel ash high into the sky.
(Clues about Volcanoes Under Ice on Ancient Mars, NASA)
Oaths flew like hailstones, and every now and then there came forth such an explosion as I thought was sure to end in blows.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
Device problems related to the energy storage system (e.g. the rechargeable battery, charging system, or capacitor) and includes problems such as premature power source depletion and battery explosions.
(Device Energy Storage System Problem Evaluation Result, Food and Drug Administration)
While stars more massive than eight solar masses end their lives in dramatic supernovae explosions, less massive stars like this one gradually expel their outer layers, resulting in beautiful planetary nebulae.
(Giant Bubbles on Red Giant Star’s Surface, ESO)
So, is the X-ray glow that fills the sky a sign of peaceful "charge exchange" in the solar system or evidence of terrifying explosions in the distant past?
(Evidence for supernovas near Earth, NASA)
