From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Explosive \Ex*plo"sive\, adjective [Cf. F. explosif.] Driving or bursting out with violence and noise; causing explosion; as, the explosive force of gunpowder.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
1. An explosive agent; a compound or mixture susceptible of a rapid chemical reaction, as {gunpowder}, {TNT}, {dynamite}, or {nitro-glycerine}. [1913 Webster +PJC]
2. A sound produced by an explosive impulse of the breath; (Phonetics) one of consonants p, b, t, d, k, g, which are sounded with a sort of explosive power of voice.
Note: [See Guide to Pronunciation, [root] 155-7, 184.]
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
adjective
1: tending or serving to explode or characterized by explosion or sudden outburst; "an explosive device"; "explosive gas"; "explosive force"; "explosive violence"; "an explosive temper" [ant: {nonexplosive}]
2: liable to lead to sudden change or violence; "an explosive issue"; "a volatile situation with troops and rioters eager for a confrontation" [syn: {volatile}]
3: sudden and loud; "an explosive laugh"
noun
1: a chemical substance that undergoes a rapid chemical change (with the production of gas) on being heated or struck
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
166 Moby Thesaurus words for "explosive": Ballistite, TNT, agitable, alarming, allophone, alveolar, anxious, apico-alveolar, apico-dental, articulation, aspiration, assimilation, bad, banging, bilabial, blasting, bursting, cacuminal, cellulose nitrate, cerebral, chancy, check, combustible, consonant, continuant, cordite, cracking, crashing, critical, dangerous, dangersome, delicate, dental, detonating, dicey, diphthong, dissimilation, dynamite, edgy, emotional, emotionally unstable, epenthetic vowel, eruptive, excitable, explodable, exploding, explosible, fiery, flapping, fraught, fraught with danger, fulminating, gelignite, glide, glottal, glottalization, gunpowder, guttural, hasty, hazardous, high explosive, high-mettled, high-spirited, high-strung, highly emotional, hot, hot-tempered, hotheaded, iffy, inflammable, irascible, irritable, jeopardous, knocking, labial, labialization, labiodental, labiovelar, laryngeal, lateral, lingual, liquid, manner of articulation, melinite, menacing, mettlesome, modification, monophthong, morphophoneme, mute, nasal, nasty, nervous, nitrocotton, nitroglycerin, occlusive, palatal, parasitic vowel, parlous, passionate, peak, peppery, periculous, perilous, perturbable, pharyngeal, pharyngealization, phone, phoneme, plastic, plastic explosive, plosive, popping, powder, precarious, prickly, prothetic vowel, quick, quick-tempered, rapping, retroflex, segmental phoneme, semivowel, sensitive, serious, shaky, short-tempered, skittish, slapping, slatting, smokeless powder, sonant, sonority, speech sound, spunky, startlish, stop, surd, syllabic nucleus, syllabic peak, syllable, tapping, tense, threatening, touch-and-go, touchy, transition sound, trinitrotoluol, triphthong, ugly, uncertain, unpredictable, unsound, unstable, velar, villanous saltpetre, vocable, vocalic, vocoid, voice, voiced sound, voiceless sound, voicing, volatile, volcanic, vowel
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