Explode Meaning
/ɪkˈspləʊd/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo fly apart with sudden violent force; to blow up, to burst, to detonate, to go off.
verbTo destroy with an explosion.
Sentence Examples
The news caused him to explode with anger.
Steam boilers may explode.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The old gas cylinder might ____ if it gets too hot in the sun.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
If the pressure inside the tank becomes too high, it could potentially ____ and cause damage.
Word Origin & History
First recorded around 1538, from the Latin verb explōdere (“drive out or off by clapping”). The meaning was originally theatrical, "to drive an actor off the stage by making noise," hence meaning to "to drive out" or "to reject". From ex- (“out”) + plaudere (“to clap; to applaud”). In English it used to mean to "drive out with violence and sudden noise" (from around 1660), and later meaning to "go off with a loud noise" (from around 1790). The sense of "bursting with destructive force" is first recorded around 1882.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"But signalman Bridges was never to answer driver Gimbert's desperate question. A deafening, massive blast blew the wagon to shreds, the 44 high-explosive bombs exploding like simultaneous hits from the aircraft they should have been dropped from. The station was instantly reduced to bits of debris, and the line to a huge crater."
— 2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 43:
"Dobbin […] fell back in the crowd, crowing and sputtering until he reached a safe distance, when he exploded amongst the astonished market-people with shrieks of yelling laughter."
— 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:
"When pigeons can come to a spot day in and day out for a guaranteed meal, their populations explode."
— 2016, Nathanael Johnson, Unseen City, →ISBN, page 19:
"Despite these products typically costing more, the market for organic food has exploded over the last couple of decades."
— 2025 April 1, Greg Rosalsky, “Crumbling trust in American institutions: A MAHA activist takes on Girl Scout cookies”, in NPR:
"[W]henever the person who is possessed of [natural goodness] doth what is right, no ravished or friendly spectator is so eager or so loud in his applause: on the contrary, when he doth wrong, no critic is so apt to hiss and explode him."
— 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The old gas cylinder might ____ if it gets too hot in the sun.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
If the pressure inside the tank becomes too high, it could potentially ____ and cause damage.