explode, v.
(ɛkˈspləʊd)
[ad. L. explōdĕre, explaudĕre to drive out by clapping, hiss (a player) off the stage, f. ex- out + plaudĕre to clap: cf. applaud, plaudit. Cotgr. 1611 has Fr. exploder in sense 1.
With the non-Lat. senses 4–6 cf. late L. displōdĕre (see displode) used of the bursting of a bladder. Senses 5 and 6, now the prevailing senses, are not recognized by Johnson.]
† 1. a. trans. To clap and hoot (a player, play, etc.) off the stage; hence gen. to drive away with expressions of disapprobation; to cry down; to banish ignominiously. Also fig. Const. from, out of, and with double obj. Obs.
| 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. Democr. to Rdr. (1651) 19 Vertue and Wisdom..were hissed out, and exploded by the common people. 1663 Cowley Verses & Ess. (1669) 69 Why they did not hiss, and explode him off the Stage. 1670 Moral State Eng. 12 Religion is a thing they explode conversation. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones iv. vi, In the playhouse..when he doth wrong, no critic is so apt to hiss and explode him. a 1785 Glover Athenaid xxx. 94 Of justice and religion..He [Enoch] spake exploded. 1823 Lamb Elia, Artif. Comedy Wks. 402 Congreve and Farquhar show their heads once in seven years only, to be exploded and put down. [1849 W. Fitzgerald tr. Whitaker's Disput. 21 Who would not cry out against and explode the patrons of Cerinthus.] |
† b. To mock at, deride. Obs. rare.
| 1618 Chapman Hesiod ii. 570 When thou hast once begun to build a house, Leav't not unfinish'd, lest the..Ill-spoken crow..from her bough thy means outgone explode. |
† c. Of a thing: To cause to be hooted (off the stage). nonce-use.
| 1768 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) I. 335 The absurdity..was so glaring, that it has quite exploded that notion off the stage. |
2. To reject with scorn (an opinion, proposal, custom). Also in weaker sense: To reject, discard. Obs. exc. in pass., which is still occas. used with the sense: To be disused, to be rejected as obsolete (cf. 3).
| 1538 Leland Itin. V. 56 When Glan is set with a worde præceding G is exploded. 1609 Bacon Case of Post-nati Wks. 1803 IV. 343 But the court una voce exploded this reason, and said [etc.]. 1696 Tryon Misc. xliv. 99 Not that I wholly Explode Astrology; I believe there is something in it. 1739 C. Labelye Short Acc. Piers Westm. Bridge 46 This Method of building..having been exploded by the Hon. Board as insufficient. 1790 T. Bewick Quadrupeds (1807) 55 This breed is now nearly exploded, being considered..as unprofitable. 1822 J. Imison Sc. & Art I. 132 These effects..were formerly attributed to suction; a word which ought to be exploded. 1850 Daubeny Atom. Th. iii. (ed. 2) 94 As new views came into vogue, or old errors became exploded. 1861 Elsie Garrett in Gd. Words 410 The old airs..are exploded for Italian bravuras. |
3. To cause to be rejected; to bring into disrepute; to expose the hollowness of; to discredit; † to bring into disuse.
Now often associated with sense 6; hence it tends to be restricted to cases in which the fig. use of that sense would be applicable.
| a 1635 Naunton Fragm. Reg. (Arb.) 43 The Priests forged Letter..was soon after exploded by the Priests own confession. 1764 Mem. G. Psalmanazar 203, I was farther hired to explode their doctrine of predestination. 1762–71 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) III. 173 The famous crown-piece..did not explode the others. 1808 Med. Jrnl. XIX. 266 Cullen..laboured to explode the humoral pathology. 1846 Wright Ess. Mid. Ages I. iii. 97 Their existence has entirely exploded the old notion that England never possessed any native romances. 1872 Liddon Elem. Relig. i. 30 When the idol has been pulverized and the lie is exploded. 1881 Williamson in Nature No. 626. 607, I thought that I had thoroughly exploded that fallacy. |
† 4. a. To drive forth (air); to emit. b. To drive out with violence and sudden noise. Obs.
| a. 1660 Boyle New. Exp. Phys. Mech. 352 The inspired Air..when 'tis exploded, carrys them away with it self. 1676 H. More Remarks 174 The smallest charge of Gun⁓powder will..explode the Bullet with equal force. 1731 E. Baynard Health (1740) 28 That air again the lungs explode When robbed of its nitrous load. |
| b. 1671 R. Bohun Wind 300 These Raging Minerals..are exploded with the greatest violence. 1679 Plot Staffordsh. (1686) 15 The effects of Lightning, exploded from the Clouds. 1712 Blackmore Creation v. (ed. 2) 257 The kindled Powder did explode The massy Ball. 1755 in Johnson. 1807 Southey Espriella's Lett. III. 324 Pieces of this [earth⁓coal] are frequently exploded into the room. 1813 Southey Nelson (1844) 154 The vast height to which they [masts] had been exploded. 1826 [see exploded ppl. a. 3]. |
5. a. intr. To ‘go off’ with a loud noise. Of gas, gunpowder, etc.: To expand violently with a loud report under the influence of suddenly developed internal energy; hence, of a charged jar, mine, etc. Of a boiler, gun, etc.: To fly in pieces, burst, from a similar cause.
| 1790 Gouv. Morris in Sparks Life & Writ. (1832) II. 96 All Europe is like a mine ready to explode. 1816 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art II. 232 Let one ball..touch the ball of the charged jar..the jar will then of course explode. 1858 Greener Gunnery 281 Place upon a plate a few grains of powder..As the plate becomes heated..the whole explodes. 1879 Tyndall Fragm. Sc. I. x. 319 They [rockets] exploded with a very loud report in the air. |
b. transf. and fig.
| 1817 Ld. Castlereagh in Parl. Deb. 279 A desperate conspiracy..which had..exploded already. 1840 De Quincey Wks. (1862) X. 179 We..rushed down forty-five stairs, and exploded from the house with a fury, etc. 1867 Baker Albert N'yanza II. 280 The effect produced made the crowd..explode with laughter. 1888 Burgon 12 Gd. Men II. v. 63 Conscious that I must certainly explode if he kept me for another half-minute. 1891 E. Peacock N. Brendon I. 63 ‘Confound him!’ or some stronger expletive exploded from the Earl's lips. |
c. Phys. To break out or burst forth into.
| 1882 E. G. Loring in Alien. & Neurol. (1887) VIII. 130 The irritation..may..develop gradually, or explode suddenly, into an actual inflammation. |
d. Of population: to increase suddenly or rapidly. Cf. explosion 4 b.
| 1959 N.Y. Times 15 Nov. 25/2 The population of the Bandung area has exploded from 167,000 in 1930 to 1,200,000 this year. 1962 Listener 15 Nov. 795/2 The relentlessly exploding population. 1965 New Statesman 30 Apr. 672/2 Population has ‘exploded’ only in the last three centuries because of our new-found science, technology and humanity. |
6. a. trans. To cause (a gas, gunpowder, also a magazine, mine, etc.) to ‘go off’ with a loud noise; to ‘blow up’.
| 1794 Sullivan View Nat. I. 192 In an exhausted receiver..neither can a bell be heard..nor gun-powder be exploded. 1807 T. Thomson Chem. (ed. 3) II. 110 When oxygen and hydrogen gas are exploded. 1875 Ure Dict. Arts II. 762 The gun-cotton was exploded under the pressure of a confined space. 1890 Spectator 15 May, On Tuesday night, Lord Randolph Churchill exploded his little mine. |
b. transf. and fig.
| 1822, 1832 [see catamaran 2]. 1842 S. R. Maitland Notes Foxe's Martyrs ii. Mr. Cattley..exploded all this conceit and insolence upon a matter which, etc. 1850 Redding Yesterday & To-day (1863) III. 42 So he took out his snuff⁓box, once more at his ease, Inhaled a full pinch, and exploded a sneeze. 1864 Lowell Fireside Trav. 256 They [Italians] explode each other on mere contact..like two hostile gases. 1878 Simpson Sch. Shaks. I. 11 The plot was exploded by the committal of Somerset..to the Tower. |