explosive
UK /ɛkˈspləʊsɪv/ · US /ɛkˈsploʊsɪv/ adjective, noun
Forms explosives
- adjective Able to, or likely to, explode. “an explosive device”
- adjective Having the character of an explosion. “an explosive fire”
- adjective (cellular automata) Of a specific cellular automaton rule, tending to exhibit infinite and unpredictable growth when starting from finite random patterns.
- adjective (figurative) Rapidly accelerating. “explosive movements”
- adjective (figurative) Shocking; startling. “an explosive accusation”
- adjective (slang) Easily driven to anger, usually with reference to a person. “He has an explosive personality.”
- adjective (phonetics, archaic) Synonym of plosive. “the explosive consonants”
- noun Any explosive substance.
- noun (linguistics, dated) A plosive.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From Latin explōs-, stem of the perfect passive participle of explōdō + the suffix -ive.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Driving or bursting out with violence and noise; causing explosion; as, the explosive force of gunpowder.
- noun An explosive agent; a compound or mixture susceptible of a rapid chemical reaction, as gunpowder, or nitro-glycerine.
- noun 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.
Etymology [Cf. F. explosif.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “explosive”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details