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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Detonation

Detonation \Det`o*na"tion\ (d[e^]t`[-o]*n[=a]"sh[u^]n), n. [Cf. F. d['e]tonation.] An explosion or sudden report made by the instantaneous decomposition or combustion of unstable substances; as, the detonation of gun cotton.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
detonation

1670s, "explosion accompanied by loud sound," from French détonation, from Medieval Latin detonationem (nominative detonatio), from Latin detonare "to thunder down, to release one's thunder, roar out," from de- "down" (see de-) + tonare "to thunder" (see thunder (n.)). Sense of "act of causing to explode" (mid-18c.) developed in French.

Wiktionary
detonation

n. 1 An explosion or sudden report made by the near-instantaneous decomposition or combustion of unstable substances as, the detonation of gun cotton. Specifically, combustion that spreads supersonically via shock compression. 2 engine knocking, an improper combustion in internal combustion engines

WordNet
detonation
  1. n. a violent release of energy caused by a chemical or nuclear reaction [syn: explosion, blowup]

  2. the act of detonating an explosive

Wikipedia
Detonation

Detonation is a type of combustion involving a supersonic exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front propagating directly in front of it. Detonations occur in both conventional solid and liquid explosives, as well as in reactive gases. The velocity of detonation in solid and liquid explosives is much higher than that in gaseous ones, which allows the wave system to be observed with greater detail (higher resolution).

A very wide variety of fuels may occur as gases, droplet fogs, or dust suspensions. Oxidants include halogens, ozone, hydrogen peroxide and oxides of nitrogen. Gaseous detonations are often associated with a mixture of fuel and oxidant in a composition somewhat below conventional flammability ratios. They happen most often in confined systems, but they sometimes occur in large vapor clouds. Other materials, such as acetylene, ozone, and hydrogen peroxide are detonable in the absence of oxygen; a more complete list is given by both Stull and Bretherick.

Processes involved in the transition between deflagration and detonation are covered thoroughly for gases by Nettleton.

Detonation (band)

Detonation is a Dutch melodic death metal band, with members from the Netherlands and the United States. In recent years the band has gravitated towards a melodic death metal sound.

Detonation (disambiguation)

Detonation is a process of combustion in which a supersonic shock wave propagates through a body of material.

Detonation may also refer to:

  • Engine knocking, a manifestation of improper combustion timing in internal combustion engines
  • Detonation (band), a Dutch melodic death metal band

Usage examples of "detonation".

In the still-glowing afterwash of nuclear detonations, Tasia saw a greater concentration of the enemy than humans had ever faced before.

A laser detect absent a magnetic detection would be a valid detonation signal, since the weapon would assume that either the magnetic sensor had failed, or that an antimagnetic anomaly device was in use.

The default detonation point had been selected as the centro id of the northern third of the TPC, under the assumption that the probability held that the target would have run away from the missile rather than toward it.

Baikonur Cosmodrome and the Russian shuttle fleet hit the Kremlin with all the force of a nuclear detonation.

From a distance of a few feet he fired his revolver at the invisible door-lock, and the detonation nearly deafened him, while his bullet caromed harmlessly from a steel plate beneath that porous white substance.

Devils in pursuit of Jaguarundi had stopped and whirled at the sound of the detonations.

The Kaliningrad had had no accurate range at the time of launch so the Magnum swam out the bearing line toward the aim-point--the point that the target, hull number 666, was expected to be at expected detonation time, ten minutes after launch.

It was a bolt-action rifle, which he appreciated because the total lockdown of a closed bolt gave that tiny extra stability at the moment of detonation.

Ural, Samara, Ufa, Izhevsk, Perm, Magnitogorsk, Tagil, Ukhta, Ifdel, and many other Russian cities with the first wave of detonations.

Fortunately, DeLillo also manages detonations more optimistic than bombings, yet more historically palpable than a myoclonic jerk.

Beside Nazim, the bot had opened its seams, spewing more light and creating the look of a fragment bomb frozen at the moment of detonation.

Detonations and falls were heard on all sides, great overthrows of icebergs, which altered the whole landscape like a diorama.

An instant later, simultaneous proton detonations broke the spines of both ships.

Danni looked and saw the white spheres of three proton detonations winking back into nothingness.

For the most part, the Yuuzhan Vong suicide squads were forcing the pilots to hit the same area, and the largest detonations were already causing forks of disruption static to dance across the shield.