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1. A violent release of energy caused by a chemical or nuclear reaction
   - detonation, blowup, blow-up
    
2. The act of exploding or bursting
   "the explosion of the firecrackers awoke the children";
   - burst
    
3. A sudden great increase
   "the population explosion"; "the information explosion"
    
4. The noise caused by an explosion
   "the explosion was heard a mile away"
    
5. The terminal forced release of pressure built up during the occlusive phase of a stop consonant
   - plosion
    
6. A sudden outburst
   "an explosion of laughter"; "an explosion of rage"
    
7. A golf shot from a bunker that typically moves sand as well as the golf ball

Derived forms: explosions

Type of: blowup [informal], blow-up [informal], change of integrity, discharge, ebullition, effusion, golf shot, golf stroke, gush, increase, noise, outburst, release, swing, tone ending

Part of: occlusive, plosive, plosive consonant, plosive speech sound, stop, stop consonant

Encyclopedia: Explosion