# explode

Pronunciation: say "ik-SPLOHD" US /ɪkˈsploʊd/, UK /ɪkˈspləʊd/

## Verb

1. To fly apart with sudden, violent force, as when something blows up or detonates.
   - Simple: To burst apart suddenly with a lot of force and noise.
   - _The fuel tank exploded seconds after the crash, sending debris across the highway._
   - _Grenades explode within moments of the pin being pulled._
2. To destroy a structure or object by setting off an explosion.
   - Simple: To destroy something by blowing it up with a bomb or blast.
   - _Demolition teams exploded the condemned tower in a controlled blast._
   - _Sappers can explode a bunker from a safe distance._
3. To bring something to a sudden, violent end.
   - Simple: To destroy something quickly and with great force.
   - _The collision exploded the sculpture into countless fragments._
   - _A single misstep can explode years of careful work._
4. To suddenly give voice to powerful emotion, especially anger, in a violent outburst.
   - Simple: To suddenly show very strong feelings, especially anger.
   - _She exploded at the meeting, shouting that no one ever listened to her._
   - _Crowds explode in fury whenever the referee makes a bad call._
5. To increase suddenly and dramatically in size, number, or intensity.
   - Simple: To grow very quickly in a short time.
   - _The city's population exploded after the new factories opened._
   - _Membership numbers explode whenever a celebrity endorses the app._
6. To emerge suddenly and forcefully into view or prominence.
   - Simple: To suddenly appear or come out of nowhere.
   - _The young striker exploded onto the international stage during the tournament._
   - _Fresh ideas explode from the team whenever they brainstorm together._
7. To represent something as an exploded view, with its component parts separated and shown in their assembly relationship.
   - Simple: To draw or show the separate parts of something spread out.
   - _The technical illustrator exploded the gearbox so each component was clearly visible._
   - _CAD programs can explode an assembly to reveal hidden fasteners._
8. To increase arbitrarily or without bound, growing larger without limit.
   - Simple: To keep growing bigger and bigger without any limit.
   - _As the denominator approaches zero, the function's value explodes._
   - _Small rounding errors can explode over thousands of iterations._
9. To split a delimited string of text into several smaller strings by removing the separator characters.
   - Simple: To split a piece of text into smaller parts at each separator.
   - _The parser explodes each record into fields using the tab character._
   - _Developers explode the CSV row to read its individual values._
10. To decompress data that was previously imploded, restoring it to its original form.
   - Simple: To unpack data that was squeezed down to a smaller size.
   - _The utility exploded the imploded payload before processing it._
   - _Older clients can explode these legacy archives without extra plugins._
12. To ejaculate; a vulgar slang use of the verb. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A vulgar slang word for releasing semen during orgasm.
   - _He gasped that he was going to explode._
   - _In the novel's crude bedroom scene, the narrator explodes within moments._
13. Of a die, to roll the highest possible face and trigger an additional reroll that is added to the total.
   - Simple: To roll the highest number on a die and then get to roll it again.
   - _Whenever a d10 explodes, you reroll and add the new result._
   - _In this system, dice explode on their maximum value, chaining into bigger totals._
14. To open all of an automobile's doors, hood, trunk, and hatches at once, typically for display or cleaning.
   - Simple: To open every door and hatch on a car at the same time.
   - _At the auction, the dealer exploded each car so bidders could inspect every compartment._
   - _Crews explode the display models every morning before the gates open._

## Verb

11. To disprove or debunk something, showing it to be false. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To prove that an idea or claim is false.
   - _The pamphlet set out to explode the superstitions of the age._
   - _New findings exploded the long-held belief about the planet's surface._

## Origin

First recorded around 1538, from the Latin verb explodere ("to drive out or off by clapping"), from ex- ("out") plus plaudere ("to clap; to applaud"). The sense was originally theatrical (driving an actor off the stage by making noise) and hence "to drive out" or "reject"; it came to mean to drive out with violence and sudden noise (around 1660), then to go off with a loud noise (around 1790), with the sense of bursting with destructive force first recorded around 1882.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/explode (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).