explosiveadj.n.
/ᵻkˈspləʊsɪv/, /ᵻkˈspləʊzɪv/, /ɛkˈspləʊsɪv/, /ɛkˈspləʊzɪv/, U.S. /ᵻkˈsploʊsɪv/, /ɛkˈsploʊsɪv/, /ᵻkˈsploʊzɪv/, /ɛkˈsploʊzɪv/ A. adj.
1. That expels or propels something suddenly and violently; characterized by the expulsion or propulsion of something in this way.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming out > letting or sending out > [adjective] > ejecting > ejecting with violence or noise
belching1581
explosive1668
1668 Philos. Trans. 1667 (Royal Soc.) 2 601 Upon which Elastick or Explosive Power, he [sc. T. Willis] establishes his whole Doctrine of Convulsions.
1669 W. Simpson Hydrologia Chymica ii. 92 The virus cadaverosum..is with the explosive incoercible flatus thence arising, the efficient cause of all the Diseases of the genus nervosum.
1695 J. Woodward Ess. Nat. Hist. Earth 141 A kind of Natural Gunpowder, which, taking fire,..occasions..that subterranean Thunder..and, by the assistance of its explosive Power, renders the Shock much greater.
1725 R. Blackmore Treat. Spleen & Vapours 17 This explosive Labour of the Stomach, attended with these violent Eruptions..is likewise a notorious Effect of this Distemper.
1764 C. Meighan Treat. Nature & Powers Baths & Waters Bareges (new ed.) 15 Lightning seldom or never falls here; probably because the explosive impulse bears towards the more lax and yielding air of the plains.
1804 Monthly Rev. 45 App. 507 He successfully combats Freret's hypothesis, and that of Gassendi, which attribute their [sc. thunder-stones and meteors] appearance to the explosive force of volcanos.
1874 W. B. Carpenter Princ. Mental Physiol. i. i. 17 An expulsion of the offending particle by an explosive Cough.
1905 T. C. Chamberlin & R. D. Salisbury Geol. I. 580 Small mildly explosive vents that spatter forth little dabs of lava which form chimneys, or cones.
1969 Proc. Geologists' Assoc. 80 177 The peperites are the product of explosive projection of basaltic ejectamenta into steadily accumulating lime-mud.
2009 Irish Times 6 Mar. (Ticket section) 12/5 Inappropriate sexual grappling, explosive vomiting and lengthy stretches of wilfully misjudged absurdity.
2.
a. Having the capacity to explode, esp. if ignited; likely or liable to explode; designating a device that is designed to explode.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > [adjective] > explosive
fulminating1646
explosive1696
exploding1883
1696 W. Whiston New Theory of Earth iv. 349 These Caverns..are fit to receive and contain together Nitrous and Explosive, Sulphureous and Inflammable steams, in great quantities.
1733 J. Arbuthnot Ess. Effects Air Human Bodies i. 7 In some Places it [sc. dew] contains highly volatile and explosive Particles, so that in Distillation it has broke the Glass.
1757 A. Cooper Compl. Distiller ii. ii. 117 The more oily, tenacious, gummy, or resinous the Subject is, the greater the Danger..; because the Liquor is the more frothy and explosive.
1802 J. Priestley in Med. & Physical Jrnl. Oct. 307 Towards the end it [sc. the air] approached to the explosive kind.
1852 H. B. Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin II. xxix. 149 Miss Ophelia sat..as if she had swallowed some explosive mixture, and were ready to burst.
1904 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 86 i. 361 The ozonides are mostly highly explosive.
1973 ‘F. W. Dixon’ Shattered Helmet ii. 14 Someone made a clever imitation, concealing an explosive device.
2013 Sun (Nexis) 25 Oct. 7 He had experimented with explosive chemicals for his hobbies as a magician and firework maker.
b. figurative and in figurative contexts. Likely to produce a hostile or violent reaction; (of a temper, situation, etc.) likely to become suddenly violent or dangerous.
ΚΠ
1796 E. Burke Let. to Noble Lord 28 Democratick, explosive, insurrectionary nitre.
1842 Brother Jonathan 1 Oct. And where was Isidora? The question was often on my lips; but my companion was a gentleman of such explosive temperament, that I dare not hazard the inquiry.
1865 C. Merivale Hist. Romans under Empire (new ed.) VIII. lxiv. 101 The nobles..might have nursed an explosive spirit of discontent.
1908 Jrnl. Educ. (Univ. of Boston School of Educ.) 29 Oct. 461/2 An explosive situation. The situation in the Balkans is such that no one can predict with confidence what a day may bring forth.
1943 Far Eastern Surv. 12 18/1 The national unity built by Labor, which alone could have tackled a subject that was potentially so politically explosive.
1960 A. MacLean Night without End xi. 185 I knew the explosive temper that slumbered under that placid exterior.
2013 Pioneer (India) (Nexis) 21 Apr. The authorities will have to find ways to contain that explosive thought.
c. Designating an item of clothing which has been fitted with an explosive device and is worn on the body as a bomb, esp. by a suicide bomber, as explosive belt, explosive vest, etc.Some examples of this sense may be interpreted as attributive uses of the noun (in sense B. 2).
ΚΠ
1959 Winnipeg Free Press 2 Apr. 1/5 He persuaded the man to accompany him to the surface and it was only then that the miner was relieved of his explosive belt.
1976 Edwardsville (Illinois) Intelligencer 6 Jan. 7/5 Would-be bank robbers rig a bank manager with an explosive vest they can detonate by remote control if he disobeys them.
1999 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 20 Dec. 10 No walk-through metal detectors which would have revealed the ball-bearings packed inside the explosive vests were installed at either venue.
2002 Times (Nexis) 5 Mar. When his bullets ran out and an explosive jacket failed to go off he took out a knife and began stabbing customers at random.
2014 Daily Mirror (Nexis) 29 Apr. 14 [He] said via video link his mission was to detonate explosive shoes on a transatlantic flight.
3.
a. Forced out or produced by an explosion; (more generally) of or relating to an explosion, designating an explosion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming out > letting or sending out > [adjective] > ejecting > ejected by explosion
exploded1695
explosive1735
1735 J. Thomson Antient & Mod. Italy Compared: 1st Pt. Liberty 312 From the red Abyss New Hills, explosive, thrown.
1794 R. J. Sulivan View of Nature I. ix. 76 The explosive matter finds its way laterally, and thence forms little mountains.
1841 Athenæum 11 Sept. 717/1 If it took place at the bottom, the time for the explosive wave to reach the safety valve would be the sum instead of the difference of both velocities.
1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) II. 761 Gun-cotton has about three times the explosive rapidity of gunpowder.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) 109 They combine with explosive violence, if exposed to sunshine.
1959 F. M. Byers Geol. Umnak & Bogoslof Islands 359 In May of 1796, eruption of explosive debris and the extrusion of a viscous lava dome built an island about a quarter of a mile south of Ship Rock.
2015 Christian Sci. Monitor (Nexis) 1 July Researchers initially blamed the holes on explosive events,..but found that even large explosions could only leave craters a few meters in diameter.
b. Phonetics. Of a consonant sound: produced by sudden and rapid expulsion of breath; = plosive adj. Cf. implosive adj. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > speech sound by manner > [adjective] > stop > plosive
explosive1765
implosive1877
plosive1902
plosional1961
1765 J. Elphinston Princ. Eng. Lang. Digested II. iii. vii. 181 Of contempt: fy, faugh, or foh! poh! pugh! pish! pshaw! with the explosive hiss or 'ss.
1854 J. S. Bushnan in J. Wylde Circle of Sci. (c1865) I. 289/1 The explosive consonants, b, d, g, p, t, and k.
1878 W. H. Stone in G. Grove Dict. Music I. 459 Alternating the linguo-dental explosive T with another explosive consonant produced differently.
1902 E. W. Scripture Elements Exper. Phonetics iv. xxxiii. 491 In isolated words the explosive consonants are slightly shorter than the fricatives.
1956 Compar. Lit. 8 53 Verbs such as ‘tossed’, ‘undulate’, and ‘drips’ serve to enhance the feeling of movement, as do frequent words with explosive consonants.
2004 Eng. Jrnl. 93 32 Liquid consonants affect the reader differently than explosive consonants.
4.
a. Resembling or evocative of an explosion in suddenness, violence, loudness, speed, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > [adjective] > explosive > of or relating to explosions
explosive1766
1766 Philos. Trans. 1765 (Royal Soc.) 55 221 The air rushed out of it with an explosive noise, and more than ordinary violence, driving the water with great force.
1844 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit liii. 613 He..entertained them..with some comic passage or other..so that explosive laughs were constantly issuing from the sideboard.
1895 Munic. Reg. (Pittsfield, Mass.) 127 That inner law which unfolds one plant by quick vigorous, explosive growth, and another by delicate expansion and subtle radiation.
1940 Nature 17 Aug. 219/2 The methods of protection of the ears against explosive sounds are very simple.
1986 Toronto Star (Nexis) 21 Apr. b1 Instead of building to one grand explosive finale of song and dance, it [sc. the film] implodes early on.
1994 Computer Bull. June 3/1 Progress is explosive and the participants are creating new applications at such a rate.
2014 D. Kohlrieser in C. C. Kaeding & J. R. Borchers Hamstring & Quadriceps Injuries in Athletes xii. 137 Explosive acceleration and sprinting should be avoided and only included in rehabilitation program once athlete passes all return-to-sport criteria.
b. Golf. Designating a stroke or shot where the ball is made to jump out of a bunker by forcefully hitting the sand behind it. Cf. explosion n. 8.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > golf > [adjective] > types of stroke
heeled1887
lofted1887
sliced1890
sclaffy1896
foozled1899
lofting1905
duffed1906
holeable1909
socketed1911
explosive1912
chipped1916
fluffed1923
missable1924
bump-and-run1978
1912 B. Darwin in H. G. Hutchinson New Bk. Golf i. v. 109 The explosive stroke, skilfully played with a nice judgment of the amount of sand to be taken, can be made to drop the ball as dead as a stone.
1924 C. J. H. Tolley Mod. Golfer x. 149 If you are lying badly..the ball must be dug out, and the method employed is called an explosive shot.
1966 B. Jones Bobby Jones on Golf i. 3 In this situation, an explosive shot or blast was of no use.
1999 A. Palmer Golfer's Life vii. 154 I hurried to the ball and struck an explosive shot that sent it flying out of the sand.
B. n.
1. Phonetics. A consonant sound produced by a sudden and rapid expulsion of breath; = plosive n. Now somewhat rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > speech sound by manner > [noun] > obstruent > stop > plosive
explosive1773
explodent1848
implosive1880
plosive1897
1773 J. Herries Elements Speech i. ii. 29 He demonstrated the vowels and half-vowels, to be articulations of voice, the aspirates, to be articulations of breath, and the mutes of explosives, to partake in the quality of neither.
1878 W. H. Stone in G. Grove Dict. Music I. 459 Alternating the linguo-dental explosive T with another explosive consonant produced differently.
1883 I. Taylor Alphabet II. viii. §2. 144 (note) The law of least effort requires that the vowel should precede continuants and follow the explosives.
1921 Amer. Jrnl. Philol. 42 352 The voiced explosive -b-.
1986 Anthropol. Linguistics 28 139 The implosive may occur after a syllabic nasal but may not be prenasalized, while the explosive occurs prenasalized but not after a syllabic nasal.
2. An explosive substance, object, or device. Also as a mass noun: explosive material. See sense A. 2.In quot. 1836 in figurative context.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > explosive material > [noun]
fulminant1807
explosive1836
fulminator1861
1836 Courier 4 Oct. 2/3 Lord Lyndhurst, with a reckless levity, threw a burning brand of insult into a magazine of explosives.
1881 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1880–1 9 131 The principal explosives used in mining are gunpowder,..nitroglycerin, [etc.].
1948 Bakersfield Californian 28 Oct. 21/1 The desperadoes set off a charge at the front end of the mail car, but they had used too much explosive.
1975 S. King Salem's Lot i. iii. 70 If you're fixing up to make moonshine or LSD or explosives for some hippie radical outfit, that's your own lookout.
2010 Daily Tel. 1 Nov. 2/1 The white odourless explosive had been stuffed into a toner cartridge.
Compounds
explosive cyclogenesis n. Meteorology a phenomenon or process characterized by rapid and sustained falling of barometric pressure in the centre of an extratropical cyclonic weather system, indicative of the strengthening of the cyclone into a powerful storm.
ΚΠ
1953 Meteorol. Monogr. 2 vi. 18/2 Wintertime conditions when the primary planetary wave activity is often initiated by explosive cyclogenesis in the troughs.
2001 Ecology 82 2572/1 Powerful and large extratropical cyclones, capable of producing hurricane force winds, can develop rapidly in the east Pacific Ocean through a process referred to as explosive cyclogenesis.
2015 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 10 Jan. 30 The former weatherman Michael Fish yesterday declared Britain was experiencing ‘explosive cyclogenesis’, which sounds like a rejuvenating skincare regime but is an area of low pressure descending rapidly.
explosive ordnance disposal n. the removal and safe detonation of unexploded and delayed-action bombs or explosives; frequently attributive; cf. bomb-disposal n. at bomb n. Compounds 2.
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1948 Long Beach (Calif.) Press-Telegram 1 Oct. a 16/2 The Explosive Ordnance Disposal School at the Naval Powder Factory, Indian Head, Md.
1965 Jrnl. Criminal Law, Criminol., & Police Sci. 56 553/1 Military Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams throughout the world are often called upon by local police and fire agencies to dispose of commercial explosives and homemade explosives and bombs.
2004 High Mountain Mar. 84 (advt.) Responsibilities include the training and leadership of staff who are required to conduct safe mineclearance [sic] and explosive ordnance disposal.
2007 News Herald (Panama City, Florida) (Nexis) 28 Jan. The explosive ordnance disposal teams ‘render safe’ or defuse improvised explosive devices, or IEDs..along with unexploded munitions and anything else that might blow up.
explosive rivet n. a rivet which is clinched by exploding a small charge contained in its headless end, causing that end to expand or flare.Explosive rivets can be used when only one side of the joint is accessible.
ΚΠ
1925 Pop. Mech. Feb. 283/1 Explosive rivets that can be closed from the outside by setting off an inner powder cartridge have been patented by an English inventor.
1948 Aeroplane 3 Sept. 288/1 Such components—a development of the explosive rivets of Heinkel—were frequently applied to German guided missiles.
2005 U.S. Patent Applic. 2005/0242541 A1 Description 2/2 It is fixed permanently, for example via..blind or explosive rivets.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.1668