C17: from Latin displōdere from dis-1 + plaudere to clap
explode in British English
(ɪkˈspləʊd)
verb
1.
to burst or cause to burst with great violence as a result of internal pressure, esp through the detonation of an explosive; blow up
2.
to destroy or be destroyed in this manner
to explode a bridge
3.
(of a gas) to undergo or cause (a gas) to undergo a sudden violent expansion, accompanied by heat, light, a shock wave, and a loud noise, as a result of a fast uncontrolled exothermic chemical or nuclear reaction
4. (intransitive)
to react suddenly or violently with emotion, etc
to explode with anger
5. (intransitive)
(esp of a population) to increase rapidly
6. (transitive)
to show (a theory, etc) to be baseless; refute and make obsolete
7. (transitive) phonetics
to pronounce (a stop) with audible plosion
Compare implode
Derived forms
exploder (exˈploder)
noun
Word origin
C16: from Latin explōdere to drive off by clapping, hiss (an actor) off, from ex-1 + plaudere to clap
displode in American English
(dɪsˈploud)
transitive verb or intransitive verbWord forms: -ploded, -ploding
archaic
to explode
Derived forms
displosion (dɪsˈplouʒən)
noun
Word origin
[1660–70; ‹ L displōdere, equiv. to dis-dis-1 + -plōdere, comb. form of plaudere to clap]This word is first recorded in the period 1660–70. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: adhesive, ballet, interleave, saturated, vocalize