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.
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But it was also a sign of an explosive problem for the industry that was about to detonate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Their explosive payloads did not detonate, and it’s entirely possible they were never meant to.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
An attempt to detonate or diffuse the bomb failed, so Officer Brian Murray and three others were lowered into the crater.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
The leaked Internal Affairs report said there was a mistaken “universal belief” within the bomb squad that the containment vessel could safely detonate up to 40 pounds of explosive materials.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 27, 2026
Peeta sets his back on the table with such precision you’d think it might detonate.
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
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When a nuclear weapon detonates or a serious reactor accident occurs, an immense burst of energy is released in less than a millionth of a second.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 3, 2026
But every year, as wrapping paper detonates across the living room and a small mountain of objects emerges—some beloved, some baffling—I have the same unseasonal thought: This is wildly inefficient.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2025
No one detonates a room with honesty and irritation quite like Bill Burr, and his latest, “Drop Dead Years,” shows the comedian in his fully evolved form.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 10, 2025
If Wilder detonates early and finishes Herndon quicker than Torrez did, expect someone somewhere to shout: "He's back!"
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2025
Halftime Right after you glance at April waving from the bleachers, your stomach detonates: KABOOM! and you lose it right there behind the bench in Pernell’s gym bag.
From "Booked" by Kwame Alexander
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When munitions are detonated underwater, the blast can spread contaminants through the surrounding environment.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026
The defense ministry said no military weapons had been detonated.
From Barron's ● Sep. 5, 2026
Video footage on social media showed large secondary explosions, suggesting stored ammunition was detonated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
Instead, the round detonated prematurely at 453 meters, or about 1,486 feet, in the air, around 3,300 feet from its firing location, according to the report.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2026
Indeed it was seeing her in Shakespeare’s play at the Paris Odeon that detonated the infatuation in the first place.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
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"It depends on the area where the wreck and munitions lie. Currents and seabed morphology play a major role. In some cases, detonating them can do more harm than good," she explains.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026
In 2024, Los Angeles paid $21 million to resolve claims stemming from an incident three years prior where city police blew up a South L.A. neighborhood while detonating a cache of fireworks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
The drone, designed by Perennial Autonomy, a company backed by former Google CEO and billionaire Eric Schmidt using Ukrainian engineers, destroys other drones by detonating close by and has proven popular in Ukraine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026
If your goal is to save money on taxes, detonating the tax torpedo is not ideal.
From MarketWatch ● May 8, 2026
As I was preparing for this book, I wrote an article for The Daily Telegraph, hoping to elicit a few punctuation horror stories, and it was like detonating a dam.
From "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" by Author
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Vocabulary lists containing detonate
A Separate Peace
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Unit 4: Powerful Openings
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All the Light We Cannot See
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