EXPLOSION • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Explosion

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/ɪksplˈoʊʒən/ Listen

noun

Explosion n.

The act of exploding; detonation; a chemical action which causes the sudden formation of a great volume of expanded gas; as, the explosion of gunpowder, of fire damp, etc.

A bursting with violence and loud noise, because of internal pressure; as, the explosion of a gun, a bomb, a steam boiler, etc.

A violent outburst of feeling, manifested by excited language, action, etc.; as, an explosion of wrath. "A formidable explosion of high-church fanaticism."

A sudden and substantial increase; a rapid acceleration; as, the population explosion.

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Etymology of 'Explosion'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Explosion" Quotes from Famous Books

... pampas. The shaking of the train had tired me to such an extent that I placed a pillow on the ledge of the open window, and was fast asleep with my head half outside the carriage, when I woke up startled by the sound of an explosion. I found myself covered with quantities of debris of rock. A huge stone, as big as a man's head or bigger, had been thrown with great force at the passing train by the strikers, and had hit the side ...

— Across Unknown South America • Arnold Henry Savage Landor

... of hickory at the same place last week it was so dark that he didn't notice the difference, and before he knew it he had a bigger fire than he had allowed. In the midst of a pleasant flow of conversation gas collected in the wood and caused an explosion which threw a passel of live coals on the bed. The house was soon a solid mass of flame. Mr. Beasley ...

— Nye and Riley's Wit and Humor (Poems and Yarns) • Bill Nye

... 1). This sucks up the gas stored in the gasometer and the water contained in the reservoir, and forces them into the sphere. This latter is of bronze, cast in a single piece, and the thickness of its sides prevents all danger of explosion. It is silvered internally, and provided with a powerful rotary agitator that favors the admixture of the water ...

— Scientific American Supplement, No. 514, November 7, 1885 • Various

... for defence had been made. As a result the forts fell, a large body of Tartar cavalry, which sought to stop the march of the allies with bows, arrows, and spears, being taught a lesson in modern war by the explosion of shells in their ranks. The capture of the forts left the way clear for a march on the capital, which was at once made, and on the 5th of October, 1860, a European army first came within view of this ...

— Historic Tales, Vol. 12 (of 15) - The Romance of Reality • Charles Morris

... be noted that the learned treatise of Professor Humperdinck upon the recent discovery of certain statutes found among the ruins of the Great New York Explosion is mistaken. The figure which he described among others of the woman blind-folded and with an arm extended as though holding something, does not represent as he calls it, "The poor blind girl begging," but a figure of the Goddess ...

— The Man in Court • Frederic DeWitt Wells

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