detonate

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

If “One of Us” is an entertaining family saga of privilege and comeuppance, it is also a consummate novel of suspense in which revelations detonate with lethal accuracy.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 13, 2026

Proximity fuses are designed to detonate in the air when they are a certain distance from a target, experts say.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 21, 2025

Once the battery runs out, they will not detonate.

From BBC • Nov. 20, 2024

The military said that only the booster was activated, not the engine that takes over after launch, and not the warhead, so the missile could not travel far and the warhead could not detonate.

From New York Times • Apr. 4, 2024

Some of the mortar safety pins, which kept the priming mechanism from allowing the round to detonate on impact, had not been replaced.

From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge