1. Cause to burst with a violent release of energy
   "We exploded the nuclear bomb";
   - detonate, blow up, set off
    
2. Burst outward, usually with noise
   "The champagne bottle exploded";
   - burst
    
3. Burst and release energy as through a violent chemical or physical reaction
   "The Molotov cocktail exploded";
   - detonate, blow up
    
4. Be unleashed; emerge with violence or noise
   "His anger exploded";
   - burst forth, break loose
    
5. Destroy by exploding
   "The enemy exploded the bridge"
    
6. Show a violent emotional reaction
   "The boss exploded when he heard of the resignation of the secretary"
    
7. Cause to burst as a result of air pressure; of stop consonants like /p/, /t/, and /k/
   "In English, we explode the 'p' in 'pin'"
    
8. Drive from the stage by noisy disapproval
   "The audience exploded the poor performer off the stage"
    
9. Show (a theory or claim) to be baseless, or refute and make obsolete
   "The new evidence exploded the myth of a flat Earth"
    
10. Increase rapidly and in an uncontrolled manner
    "The population of India is exploding";
    - irrupt

Derived forms: exploded, exploding, explodes

Type of: articulate, change integrity, change state, condemn, confute, destroy, disprove, enounce [archaic], enunciate, increase, pronounce, react, reply, respond, ruin, say, sound out, turn

Encyclopedia: Explode