Word origins - 2ed. J. Ayto. 2005.
Detonate — Det o*nate, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Detonated}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Detonating}.] [L. detonare, v. i., to thunder down; de + tonare to thunder; akin to E. thunder. See {Thunder}, and cf. {Detonize}.] To explode with a sudden report; as, niter detonates … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Detonate — Det o*nate, v. t. To cause to explode; to cause to burn or inflame with a sudden report. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
detonate — index discharge (shoot) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 … Law dictionary
detonate — 1729, a back formation from DETONATION (Cf. detonation), or else from L. detonatus, pp. of detonare. Related: Detonated; detonating … Etymology dictionary
detonate — [v] set off bomb bang, blast, blow up, burst, discharge, explode, fulminate, kablooey*, let go, mushroom*, push the button*, shoot off, touch off, va voom*; concept 179 Ant. dismantle … New thesaurus
detonate — ► VERB ▪ explode or cause to explode. DERIVATIVES detonation noun. ORIGIN Latin detonare, from tonare to thunder … English terms dictionary
detonate — [det′ n āt΄] vi. detonated, detonating [< L detonatus, pp. of detonare, to thunder < de , intens. + tonare, to THUNDER] to explode violently and noisily vt. to cause (a bomb, dynamite, etc.) to explode detonation n … English World dictionary
detonate — verb ( nated; nating) Etymology: French détoner to explode, from Latin detonare to expend thunder, from de + tonare to thunder more at thunder Date: 1729 intransitive verb to explode with sudden violence transitive verb … New Collegiate Dictionary
detonate — verb Detonate is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑bomb Detonate is used with these nouns as the object: ↑bomb, ↑explosive, ↑mine … Collocations dictionary
detonate — UK [ˈdetəneɪt] / US [ˈdet(ə)nˌeɪt] verb [intransitive/transitive] Word forms detonate : present tense I/you/we/they detonate he/she/it detonates present participle detonating past tense detonated past participle detonated to explode, or to make… … English dictionary
detonate — [18] Detonate is related to thunder. It comes from the past participle of Latin dētonāre, a compound verb formed from the prefix dē ‘down’ and tonāre ‘thunder, roar’, which goes back to the same Indo European base (*ten , *ton ) as thunder. Latin … The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins
