detonate

«detonate» in Mova's school dictionary: To make a bomb or explosive go off on purpose — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

verb (detonate, detonates, detonated, detonating)

meaning for a pupil

1) To make a bomb or explosive go off on purpose. tree →

2) To explode suddenly with a loud bang. tree →

sense in the lessons

Used in stories about wars, mines and fireworks, in science about chemical reactions, and in news about bomb squads making old bombs safe; tells the reader something is blowing up on purpose; phrases: «detonate a bomb», «remotely detonated», «controlled explosion».

examples

• The bomb squad detonated the old shell in an empty field. tree →
• The fireworks detonated high above the river. tree →
• Engineers detonate explosives to knock down old towers. tree →
• The mine did not detonate, so the soldiers marked it with a flag. tree →
• In the film, the hero cut the red wire before the bomb could detonate. tree →
• Scientists showed how a tiny spark can detonate a gas cloud. tree →
• A wartime bomb found on a building site in London was safely detonated. tree →

note

Regular verb: detonated, detonating. Noun: detonation; the device that sets off a bomb is a detonator. Safety: never touch an old shell or strange metal object; tell an adult and call the police. Do not confuse with «decimate» or «devastate».

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «detonate» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.