 3 definitions found
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
explosion
noun
1: a violent release of energy caused by a chemical or nuclear
reaction [syn: {detonation}, {blowup}]
2: the act of exploding or bursting something; "the explosion
of the firecrackers awoke the children"; "the burst of an
atom bomb creates enormous radiation aloft" [syn: {burst}]
3: a sudden great increase; "the population explosion"; "the
information explosion"
4: the noise caused by an explosion; "the explosion was heard a
mile away"
5: the terminal forced release of pressure built up during the
occlusive phase of a stop consonant [syn: {plosion}]
6: a sudden outburst; "an explosion of laughter"; "an explosion
of rage"
7: a golf shot from a bunker that typically moves sand as well
as the golf ball
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Explosion \Ex*plo"sion\, noun [L. explosio a driving off by
clapping: cf. F. explosion explosion. See {Explode}.]
1. 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.
2. A bursting with violence and loud noise, because of
internal pressure; as, the explosion of a gun, a bomb, a
steam boiler, etc.
3. A violent outburst of feeling, manifested by excited
language, action, etc.; as, an explosion of wrath.
A formidable explosion of high-church fanaticism.
--Macaulay.
4. a sudden and substantial increase; a rapid acceleration;
as, the population explosion.
[PJC]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
91 Moby Thesaurus words for "explosion":
accelerando, acceleration, access, aggravation, backfire, bang,
bark, beefing-up, blast, blaze, blaze of temper, blowing up,
blowout, blowup, boom, burgeoning, burst, clap, concentration,
condensation, consolidation, convulsion, crack, crash, cyclone,
deepening, detonation, discharge, disconfirmation, disproof,
disproval, disproving, enhancement, eruption, exacerbation,
exaggeration, expansion, expose, exposure, fit, flare, flare-up,
flash, fulguration, fulmination, fusillade, gale, gunshot, gust,
heating-up, heightening, high words, hurricane, increase,
information explosion, intensification, invalidation, irruption,
magnification, mushrooming, negation, outbreak, outburst, paddy,
paroxysm, pickup, pop, population explosion, redargution,
redoubling, reductio ad absurdum, reinforcement, report, sally,
salvo, scene, seizure, shot, spasm, speedup, step-up, storm,
strengthening, tantrum, tempest, tightening, tornado, upheaval,
volley, wax, whirlwind
|
