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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Last month, Germany said Russia was responsible for a drone attack on an airport in Leipzig, in which an explosive failed to detonate close to Ukrainian cargo planes.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
Their explosive payloads did not detonate, and it’s entirely possible they were never meant to.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
Alternatively, specially-equipped vessels, drones or aircraft mimic the magnetic fields, pressure or noise created by a passing ship to detonate the mines before they can do any harm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 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
And that is to melodramatically push the detonate button.
From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
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It detonates just as they get close, apparently shocking even Berezovska with its force.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
She’s known for a soft, whispery vocal tone that occasionally detonates into a scream—here, it’s robotized via vocoder to suggest coldness and distance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
In these events, an incoming object such as a comet detonates above the ground, releasing intense heat and shockwaves that reach Earth's surface.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 19, 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
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
US President Donald Trump previously said on Truth Social that "all mines have been removed and/or detonated from within the International Waters of the Strait of Hormuz", citing the US Navy.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
Blasts, initially thought to be exploding gas cylinders, may have been World War Two explosives detonated by the heat of the fires, the local fire commander told local media.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Questions about safety, data provenance, copyright and geopolitical risk arrived only after the model had already detonated across the market.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Andrei Sakharov, father of the Soviet Union’s hydrogen bomb and designer of the largest explosive ever detonated on earth, did his part to save the world, too.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
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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
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
The setting needn’t be explicitly Norway, but the stultifying strictures of this middle-class world must be in place for Ibsen’s vision to have its detonating effect.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 25, 2026
Twenty minutes of laser engagement and detonating battle shuttles later, she’s fast asleep.
From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson
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Vocabulary lists containing detonate
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